Question about Backcountry Navigator maps

Scoutn79

Adventurer
I am 99% sure I am going to buy BCN for use mapping on a tablet.
I have the trial version right now and am wondering about ariel/sat image clarity. I am used to the definition that you get when zooming on on Google Earth and notice that the free sat maps aren't near as clear when zoomed in as GE. Can someone tell me if the paid version of maps that I do not have access to yet are more clear when zoomed in?

I also read where the newest version allows you to freehand a route like you could in Nat Geo TOPO, which I am used to and have used for 20 years or so. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

Thanks

Darrell
 
I have back country navigator and quit using it because my son had topo maps use and got great coverage on his phone without cell service, However I have yet to be able o duplicate his success on either, That being said I think I just need more practice and I need to figure out a few things 1 if I download to an sd card on Topomaps USA pro it gives a warning That says will delete files upon ejection of disc. or something like that so since it takes so long to down load I don't want to that . What I want to do is copy detailed maps of teethe west California Oregon Washington Nevada Colorado Utah etc. to a micro scan disc and then use that when I am using the app.. I can't figure out how to do this. So I am going to try backcountry explorer again. but if any of you read this and can point me in the direction of a tutorialthat will show how this is done. please point it out.
 
Frustrating

I just tried to download a bunch of tiles on back country explore hand after waiting for a while like ours came back in the download failed I was trying to download it to microSD card 32 gig plenty a room on the card I don't know why it failed this whole thing of tablets for GPS seems to be more trouble than it's worth I'm beginning to wonder that if it is not better to just buy break down and buy something like the Magellan explorist fthe Lowrance or something like that at this point I think somebody can make some bucks downloading large portions of topo maps to order cause I'm ready to pay for it I'm so frustrated right now the only advantage that I see of a tablet over a standalone GPS is the screen size so I'm hoping somebody can tell me what I am doing wrong because I have no clue at this point I've tried it on back country explore I tried it on Topo Maps+ USA and I just don't know what's going on
 

Menard_LaPue

New member
Hi Jeep,

I am new to BCN so I can feel your pain - especially when you try and tackle the 188 page user manual. I did get BCN to work with stored topo maps, saved on my SD card and here is what I did. BTW, storing maps as tiles turned out to be worthless for a lot of reasons, one being that I ran into some brick wall called "4 GB maximum storage per folder", plus the entire scrolling and saving thing is tiresome, slow, and in the end, worthless.

However,

1 Get the SD card to be your storage area - BCN open - Upper Left - three horizontal bars - Settings - STORAGE OPTIONS - tap, tap, External Storage Card.

2 Download Topo maps, one entire state at a time - MAP LAYERS - Prebuilt Map - What's This? (in blue letters). Then, INSTALL A THEME (Never understood the difference in the themes from the instructions, but I selected one called elevate.xml.
 

Menard_LaPue

New member
Then, once again, Prebuilt Map - "What's This" - CLICK TO FIND A DOWNLOAD.... This opens OpenAndroMaps Select your country, select a state to download - BUT WAIT - THERE IS MORE WEIRDNESS OF INSTRUCTIONS - You might think, at this point that you click the Download button, but NO you don't. You actually click the "+" button to select the BCN file format. Then click the Download button. You get confirmation of downloading at this point if all is well. Wait a half hour, then:
 

Menard_LaPue

New member
3) Now load your downloaded map into the program - Map Layers - Prebuilt Maps - Browse (big green button), find your map. It was a little weird finding it, since the names of the files in the directories have different names depending on which program you access the file structure from, but hunt around for something like "Nevada.map".

Enjoy
 

captadv

Spectator
I found BCN on Android blinked, redrew the whole screen in a away that was distracting. Switched to Gaia GPS. With Gaia the layers are better and you can build your own on mapbox studio.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

Magellan TRX

Magellan GPS Marketing
I just tried to download a bunch of tiles on back country explore hand after waiting for a while like ours came back in the download failed I was trying to download it to microSD card 32 gig plenty a room on the card I don't know why it failed this whole thing of tablets for GPS seems to be more trouble than it's worth I'm beginning to wonder that if it is not better to just buy break down and buy something like the Magellan explorist fthe Lowrance or something like that at this point I think somebody can make some bucks downloading large portions of topo maps to order cause I'm ready to pay for it I'm so frustrated right now the only advantage that I see of a tablet over a standalone GPS is the screen size so I'm hoping somebody can tell me what I am doing wrong because I have no clue at this point I've tried it on back country explore I tried it on Topo Maps+ USA and I just don't know what's going on

The Magellan TRX7 comes pre-loaded with a topo map of lower 48 states and Canada.
 

Bob95065

New member
I generally like BCN but I don't like the limited file size. It would be ok if I were I hiker but I use it for off-road navigation. I need bigger areas.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1" with a 128MB SD card. I made a dash mount for my truck. It is a big step up from my old monochrome Magellan with a 3" screen.

Bob
 
I did the same thing but went with topo usa? or is ti usa topo same tablet and a 128 card put most of the west on it with plenty of room to spare on the card.
 

Bob95065

New member
I did the same thing but went with topo usa? or is ti usa topo same tablet and a 128 card put most of the west on it with plenty of room to spare on the card.

Where did you get the maps? Can you please post the web site?

I really like the ArcGIS maps that BCN offers. Are these maps equivalent or better?
 

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