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TopoActive Europe - so what's the deal exactly..?

Former Member over 6 years ago

I downloaded at the weekend and am planning a hike in the Peak District in a couple of weekend's time, so liked the sound of it. But once I uploaded the course and attempted Navigating it (while sat indoors at home in London) the map seemed to lack any sort of detail whatsoever. Certainly no contours (which i thought was the whole point of Topo?) but hardly any markings at all. I have detail switch up to maximum in the settings. Is this because i am miles from the location and indoors, meaning only a 'lite' version of the map/distant location is loaded? Or am i missing the point? I guess to summarize my questions:
i) what does TopoActive bring to the party for F5+ users, versus the previous (OSM? 'Topo-Non-Active'?) version? but we already had routing, so is it just contours/elevation shading?
ii) but i don't see any contours! or any sort of detail whatsover. no markings for wooded areas/trail paths etc, just roads...which feels odd for a location near Edale, a very popular hilly hiking area. What's going wrong?
thank you for any thoughts.
-John

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Try the TalkyToaster maps: https://talkytoaster.me.uk/
You can get the full UK OS 1:50k with contours for about a tenner. Overlays on the Garmin one. Or you can get an extra one from Garmin for £150?
Really easy to install, instructions on his website.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Or try one of the various free alternatives, e.g. OpenTopoMap, Thkukuk or Freizeitkarte - which all have contour lines. You could even use the contour files from there with any other OSM based map. No need to pay for up-to-date maps.

0 blavla over 6 years ago

Or these:

http://frikart.no/index.html

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

http://alternativaslibres.org/en/

heres some more free ones updated weekly

0 Darre80 over 6 years ago

Can someone please post some pictures from like a Garmin and openstreet maps I dont see any differences but I dont know what to look for hahahahaha :)

0 Crispin_Ellisdon over 6 years ago

.......Garmin and openstreet maps I dont see any differences.....

The Garmin TopoActive maps are based on Openstreet maps (OSM) data, but Garmin supposedly augment the POIs and add some heatmap type routing data. All the other maps based on OSM will all look different again, based upon how each has been configured to display the OSM data (symbology etc.).

The TopoActive maps on the Fenix 5+ series include invisible digital elevation mapping (DEM) data, but don’t have visual contours. Only the very expensive Garmin Topo Pro maps have contours. I’ve found one of the simplest ways to add visual contours to the Garmin TopoActive maps is to go through the links suggested by others in this thread, and find a separate contours only map for the area you are interested in. These will display on top of the Garmin TopoActive map at the same time, but you do have to be zoomed well in to see the contours layer (a restriction Garmin have placed on Fenix 5X/5+ devices - probably to ensure the processor is not overloaded). Also of note, most free contour maps I have found have 20 or 25 metre contour intervals, but the Talkytoaster maps have 5 or 10 metre contour intervals. The Talkytoaster maps are also configured to make the OSM data easeir to view if you’re used to traditional paper maps. All this extra config is why they cost a very modest amount of money.

0 Darre80 over 6 years ago

Thanks Crispin_Ellisdon!