QMapShack

[Bear]

Has anyone tried QMapShack from https://github.com/Maproom/qmapshack/wiki as an alternative to BaseCamp? It's attraction is that it's available as a Linux application so hopefully can be run on a cheap Chromebook when away from home with a bit of tinkering.

 

[Wapping]

Looks like you’ll be the first. Exciting times.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Is this the same Bear that built a schit sledge

If it is Nice to see you back

 

[Davey B]

Is this the same Bear that built a schit sledge

If it is Nice to see you back

No, another one.

 

[Bear]

And what's a "schit sledge" when it's at home?

To get back on topic: I spent the day experimenting and my initial conclusion is that QMapShack is way more challenging than Basecamp to use. Firstly, you need maps. Downloading zipped gmapprom.img files from OSM works fine once you've sorted out where to put them but copying one from a Nuvi didn't work as it doesn't support the NT map format. One good thing appears to be that duplicate tiles when several maps are activated causes no problems. Once you've got maps you need to sort out a routing engine. The MapQuest engine is pre-installed but that needs an Internet connection to work. There is also the Routino engine available but to use it you need to download a huge database (22Gb for all of Europe) which is then crunched very slowly to create what's needed. What's not needed can be deleted but extrapolating from the UK and Ireland, which was 1.2 GB to download, it's going to need about 10GB of disc space over and above the maps.

It seems to connect well to my antique Nuvi and Zumo. Certainly it finds track logs, including a few I wan't aware were on the Nuvi. How to save them and convert to routes for re-use will be for another day, as will be learning how to create a route from scratch and transfer it to a device.

My thinking behind this was that a cheap Chromebook that supported Linux apps might be more convenient when away from home. The reality is that the amount of data needed means that a cheap device won't hold enough and an expensive one defeats the object of the exercise. If you value open-source software (you can get the source code and modify it to your heart's content) over free but closed-source commercial offerings, or you're only prepared to run an open-source OS like Linux then QMapShack might suit but it's looking like too much work for an undefined benefit. I don't love BaseCamp but I can use it well enough to plot a route for the National Rally in less time than it takes to complete the event. Any suggestions for a Windows tablet with 64GB of storage and a USB-A connector?

 

[stever1]

Why not just use the Via Michelin app ?

 

[Bear]

Why not just use the Via Michelin app ?

Does it let me plan routes without an Internet connection?

 

[stever1]

Does it let me plan routes without an Internet connection?

Aah, you've got me there. I don't know.

 

[adventuredon]

would this make it easier? https://www.javawa.nl/gmtk_en.html

 

[Bear]

would this make it easier? https://www.javawa.nl/gmtk_en.html

Unfortunately not as QMapShack doesn't recognise Garmin's .gmap format. As best I can tell from a lot of reading around the subject someone reverse-engineered Garmin's original City Navigator file format, hence the availability of tools like http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/ As best I can tell the later City Navigator NT and NTU formats haven't been cracked yet. I fired QMapShack up esterday afternoon and it reverted to a scaling of 50m which meant waiting while a progress wheel crawled round befere allowing the scaling to be changed to something sensible. I concluded that if this was how it behaved on a reasonably powerful desktop then it had no hope on something cheap enough for a top box so I uninstalled it. It was an interesting idea but ultimately BaseBamp kicks it into a corner.