Need help with offline mapping

[MOguy]

You can send a portable drive to the USGS and they will fill it with whatever maps you ask for and send it back. Those are in geoPDF format, which Avenza (among other apps) uses. The full data storage requirement is about 1.9 TB, so it's a bit more than your tablet can handle, but if you know you're only looking data that cover a certain region or specific states, you can ask the USGS for just those data.

Can I get a bulk order of USGS topographic maps in PDF format for a state or the entire country?

Yes. Bulk delivery is available for maps from the US Topo collection (produced 2009-present) and the Historical Topographic Map Collection (produced 1884-2006).

www.usgs.gov

I have a Walmart smart phone and a 5 year old tablet. Internet sucks my way so no point in upgrading anything that is internet based. Rand McNally makes a topos (in book form) that work fine. https://store.randmcnally.com/atlases.html

I know the apps are great, and I like the apps I have but paper maps more appealing to me.

 

[Other Orb]

I have a Walmart smart phone and a 5 year old tablet. Internet sucks my way so no point in upgrading anything that is internet based. Rand McNally makes a topos (in book form) that work fine. https://store.randmcnally.com/atlases.html

I know the apps are great, and I like the apps I have but paper maps more appealing to me.

I totally understand. I grew up off-grid and don't like to rely on anything that requires a signal.

I carry my USGS topo maps in my truck at all times. I also carry an old, out-of-service smart phone with Avenza and other apps and my digital maps.

The maps and app, once installed, don't require anything other than a GPS signal (and a charged battery) to work and even the GPS signal is optional (signal loss means you use the geoPDF map as you would a paper map albeit with a much smaller viewing area). The paper maps don't require anything other than a knowledge of how to use them and a compass if necessary.

Both have their uses, neither is infallible.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Internet for some people is getting worse and worse. I live rural. My speed went from about 1.5 mbps to about .5mbps. I have Century Link. When I called an complained they said it will not get any better, it is beyond capacity and they won't do anything about it. The best they would do it give me $10 off a month. Nobody has land line in my area for years because Century Link won't maintain it. Their inter net services seems to be heading in that direction. Access to it is limited, if I drop it Century link I won't get it back, they are not taking new customers. The only option is a hotspot on my cell phone. Hughes net won't show up and there is some service through direct tv and the people in my area who have it say it goes out allot.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. CenturyLink is the result of consolidating RBOCs (like US West/Qwest, Wisconsin Bell) and ILECs (like Centel, Pacific Telecom, Sprint/Embarq) and is one of really just 3 ILEC/RBOCs left (AT&T and Verizon being the others). These are the companies that run just about all the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) that is the traditional physical copper telephone circuits around the country. They operate under an FCC mandate that goes back several decades that every address can get a dial tone (which you pay for currently as the Universal Service Fee). But that's only a copper analog telephone, not telecommunication services like cell phones or Internet. Those are not (yet anyway) regulated to be common carrier monopolies like AT&T and Bell were.

At least half of American households dropped a landline altogether and something like 75% of businesses have gone VoIP. Last I saw it was 3% of users still using dial-up and those 3% make up a tiny fraction of the revenue generated by Internet access. So there's zero incentive for CentryLink to spend one dime maintaining the infrastructure and they are pretty much just farming the existing landline customers to bolster their IP operations at Level 3 and Savvis. I doubt they care beyond keeping the number of FCC complaints below some threshold. Even the FCC really couldn't care less about PSTN customers as long as no Congressman gets a wild hair I suppose.

I have no idea why Hughes wouldn't want to sell you access, but they are a pretty big satellite Internet provider, well over a million mainly rural customers. They do augment with LTE so perhaps they think since you already potentially have access that way that they couldn't compete against a cell phone company in your area. A 4G/LTE hotspot is going to be pretty similar in speed and data capacity and eventual throttling.

There are other satellite Internet companies, Wildblue (Viasat) for example. Or perhaps there's a fixed microwave wireless company in your area. Those tend to be small companies that provide service to a geographic location that otherwise has none.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I totally understand. I grew up off-grid and don't like to rely on anything that requires a signal.

I carry my USGS topo maps in my truck at all times. I also carry an old, out-of-service smart phone with Avenza and other apps and my digital maps.

The maps and app, once installed, don't require anything other than a GPS signal (and a charged battery) to work and even the GPS signal is optional (signal loss means you use the geoPDF map as you would a paper map albeit with a much smaller viewing area). The paper maps don't require anything other than a knowledge of how to use them and a compass if necessary.

Both have their uses, neither is infallible.

For a long time we carried a pilot's case full of maps and MVUMs and a few key guidebooks. But it got unruly and I have/had to continuously rotate what was in there to have the right mix of references for any particular place we might want to explore. We usually have all the Trails Illustrated maps for CO and bordering areas in WY and UT. I would keep the CO, UT, WY, NM and AZ Delorme Gazetteers.

But seriously, all this fits on a 32 GB SD card now you can stick in the glovebox. The printed Gazetteers still come because I don't want to spend money replacing what I already have. When we're out exploring roads and trails (which is getting harder to do since every agency seems intent on signing and directing every mode of travel anyway) we figure it out just as often digitally as using old printed references.

I do still buy printed Trails Illustrated maps and atlases periodically. It's mostly as targeted back up incase of dead batteries or electronics failing than as primary navigation to be honest. I don't really get paper copies of USGS maps anymore, just digital topos with OSM data compiled in on a dedicated device or an old phone.

I'll build a track and lay in a few waypoints to somewhere that looks interesting, which is what we follow instead of a written or highlighted route. It's just an adaptation of how we've always done it. When I leave the track I thought would work I can always follow the breadcrumbs back if the explored route doesn't work out. If the new field followed one does work then I have a good record of how I got there for the future.

 

[MOguy]

This is exactly what I'm talking about. CenturyLink is the result of consolidating RBOCs (like US West/Qwest, Wisconsin Bell) and ILECs (like Centel, Pacific Telecom, Sprint/Embarq) and is one of really just 3 ILEC/RBOCs left (AT&T and Verizon being the others). These are the companies that run just about all the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) that is the traditional physical copper telephone circuits around the country. They operate under an FCC mandate that goes back several decades that every address can get a dial tone (which you pay for currently as the Universal Service Fee). But that's only a copper analog telephone, not telecommunication services like cell phones or Internet. Those are not (yet anyway) regulated to be common carrier monopolies like AT&T and Bell were.

At least half of American households dropped a landline altogether and something like 75% of businesses have gone VoIP. Last I saw it was 3% of users still using dial-up and those 3% make up a tiny fraction of the revenue generated by Internet access. So there's zero incentive for CentryLink to spend one dime maintaining the infrastructure and they are pretty much just farming the existing landline customers to bolster their IP operations at Level 3 and Savvis. I doubt they care beyond keeping the number of FCC complaints below some threshold. Even the FCC really couldn't care less about PSTN customers as long as no Congressman gets a wild hair I suppose.

I have no idea why Hughes wouldn't want to sell you access, but they are a pretty big satellite Internet provider, well over a million mainly rural customers. They do augment with LTE so perhaps they think since you already potentially have access that way that they couldn't compete against a cell phone company in your area. A 4G/LTE hotspot is going to be pretty similar in speed and data capacity and eventual throttling.

There are other satellite Internet companies, Wildblue (Viasat) for example. Or perhaps there's a fixed microwave wireless company in your area. Those tend to be small companies that provide service to a geographic location that otherwise has none.

Most installers out my way are independent contractors whether it is Lowes and carpet, satellite (TV and internet) even our mail delivery is handled by a contractor and almost every one of them sucks and sucks hard. Our fire department is volunteer and for a while we didn't even have a fire truck that worked. After a Go Fund Me account and a little publicity people stepped up.

Viasat is the one directv offers and people aren't too happy with it. I have contacted them and they talk a good story but until they step it up I will stick with the crap I have, at least it is consistent. The electric company is working with some other tech for some sort of Internet, maybe that microwave you speak. Our electric company is excellent so if/when they offer it in my area I will go with that.

Cell service is fine at my house (except some areas in the basement) but no 4G. The hot spot form my cell phone is about as good as the DSL internet I get. Depending on the time of day one maybe better than the other, after a while the internet from the phone slows way down.

We are not off the grid, we do have an electric company and a water company and they are excellent. All the employees are local.

I love living in the woods and I will deal with these little problems.

 

[Airmapper]

We are not off the grid, we do have an electric company and a water company and they are excellent. All the employees are local.

I love living in the woods and I will deal with these little problems.

Legit satellite internet is on it's way....who knows for better or for worse or what it will cost, but it's coming.

Elon Musk has a 2027 deadline to surround Earth with high-speed Starlink internet satellites — but the service would work far sooner than that

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that, while the company's Starlink internet network calls for 12,000 satellites, only 1,000 are needed to make a profit.

www.businessinsider.com

I get the feeling with this stuff, downloading for offline use will become less appealing when you have high speed internet anywhere on the face of the earth, presuming the ground based end allows you to take it with you wherever.

 

[MOguy]

Legit satellite internet is on it's way....who knows for better or for worse or what it will cost, but it's coming.

Elon Musk has a 2027 deadline to surround Earth with high-speed Starlink internet satellites — but the service would work far sooner than that

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that, while the company's Starlink internet network calls for 12,000 satellites, only 1,000 are needed to make a profit.

www.businessinsider.com

I get the feeling with this stuff, downloading for offline use will become less appealing when you have high speed internet anywhere on the face of the earth, presuming the ground based end allows you to take it with you wherever.

That would be great.

 

[GregSplett]

Not at all. You, like so many others, assume that everyone lives in an area where high speed internet is a given. But a lot of us live where there is no high speed internet - there are no fibre optic lines within miles of where I live. So downloading a map of any size either takes way too long or just won't happen at all because the connection times out.

I tried using a spare Samsung Galaxy S5 as a GPS unit but waiting for hours to download a map did not work for me.

The only one assuming anything is you. I was dealing with Hughes.screw you 12 years ago because it was my only option. Why? Because I decided to buy the last house on the grid way out in the boonies of the Olympic Penninsula. I chose to live there. It was the price I paid for my decision. What are you stuck in moms basement? What I did not do is get on the Internet and cry foul that somebody else has better internet speed than I do. Like I said a smart ******** remark.

 

[DaveInDenver]

That would be great.

Great until there's no place left on the face of the Earth where you can't be reached, located and tracked. We'll never be able to be beyond the reach of Googleirsfacebookfbiapple. And we're willingly asking for it on devices we slave buy and look to gain every bit per second more than the Joneses next door.

 

[MOguy]

Great until there's no place left on the face of the Earth where you can't be reached, located and tracked. We'll never be able to be beyond the reach of Googleirsfacebookfbiapple. And we're willingly asking for it on devices we slave buy and look to gain every bit per second more than the Joneses next door.

A new word. Goo / gleirs / fac / ebo / ok / fbiap / ple
I always tell somebody were I go anyway. I would just like good internet if possible. There are always caves, you could go underground or just turn your phone off.

As far as the Jonses "next store", they are the Cross' and they moved there not to long ago and they only have their cell phones. The Jones across the road (Steve) he has the Direct TV crab but his cell data is more conistent, Pam on the otherside is still waiting for Hughes Net to show up. How to get good internet discusions are common then talking about the weather in my area.

 

[kmroxo]

@CreeperSleeper I use Caltopo to make my own maps. It is free unless you want to do some advanced stuff. From there you can print a map to paper AND pdf. The pdf is georeferenced which lets it work with Avenza. Avenza is also free if you don't upload more than a few maps at a time.

I roll with a large Rand McNally atlas, my printed maps for my trip area and the digital version on my iPhone/iPad. It is a really great system and pretty inexpensive.

 

[Superduty]

Check out Locus

 

[dougrz]

But seriously, all this fits on a 32 GB SD card now you can stick in the glovebox.

Since you're in CO, check out the state DNR's app. Does USFS 2016 and MVUM. Fast scrolling and very simple offline downloading.

Colorado Trail Explorer - Apps on Google Play

Colorado's Official Trail Map

play.google.com

Android link. I assume there's an iOS version.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Since you're in CO, check out the state DNR's app. Does USFS 2016 and MVUM. Fast scrolling and very simple offline downloading.

Colorado Trail Explorer - Apps on Google Play

Colorado's Official Trail Map

play.google.com

Android link. I assume there's an iOS version.

I have COTREX on my iPhone but I just haven't found it very useful due to the need to cache maps ahead of time or be online. It does seem to pull together several good map references, though, and has a pretty up-to-date and mostly correct trail database.

 

[Kerensky97]

Great until there's no place left on the face of the Earth where you can't be reached, located and tracked.

It's actually not that hard at all. Look on the side of your phone or tablet for a special button labeled "Power".
Problem solved.

If you can't turn that button off the problem isn't with the service providers.