Tag Archives: GPX

A long journey

Over the years I have experimented with a wide range of navigation systems, each reflecting a particular stage in the technological evolution of digital mapping. My journey began with the bulky but legendary Garmin 60 CSX, a device that, despite its size, quickly became a classic among outdoor enthusiasts due to its reliability and precision – basically as Tom Tom for car navigation. At that time, creating and managing routes still required the rather clunky but indispensable Garmin BaseCamp software, where the first digital maps were painstakingly constructed and transferred to the device. Continue reading A long journey

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 3.10.2025, access 18.10.2025

Open Location Code

After many years of using OsmAnd, a much shorter time using Maps With Me and  for the last few years Guru Maps , I went back to OsmAnd last week. It can finally export GPX also on the road to feed my old Wahoo Elemnt Bolt which is still one of the best devices with its low energy consumption.

OsmAnd can now even create an overlay with Google Earth map tiles by going from Menu > Configure Map > Map Source > New

Name: Google Earth
Url: <a href="http://mts0.googleapis.com/vt/lyrs=s&amp;x={1}&y={2}&z={0}">http://mts0.googleapis.com/vt/lyrs=s&amp;x={1}&amp;y={2}&amp;z={0}</a>
Zoom: 1-18
Expiry: 259200 (0.5 year)

I was only struggling to import POIs from Google Maps or iOverlander but even this works when using Open Location Codes or

Plus codes are designed to be used like street addresses and may be especially useful in places where there is no formal system to identify buildings, such as street names, house numbers, and post codes. Plus codes are derived from latitude and longitude coordinates, so they already exist everywhere.[5] They are similar in length to a telephone number (e.g., 849VCWC8+R9) but can often be shortened to only four or six digits when combined with a locality (e.g., CWC8+R9, Mountain View, California).

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf 8.11.2024, access 18.10.2025