Sat Nav without maps...

[Spinal]

Interesting question...

How do I use a sat nav if no-one has mapped the area I'm going to use it in? (or more accurately, the most accurate map there is is to 50km:1cm and dates back quite a few years)

The region is questions is :
Morocco -> south to Mali (so most of western africa)

I was thinking maybe Google earth, caching all the maps beforehand and then hoping I don't lose the cache... but is there a neater solution?

M.

 

[Sp!ke]

You use a combination of paper maps and a proper Garmin type GPS with waypoints you've preset from working with the map.

To be honest, Morocco has been done by so many that all the waypoints you need are available to download on the web.

Here's a free one for Morocco.

Lots more here

 

[Spinal]

Thanks - that's great!

I was getting worried as I've bought just about every paper map I could find, and they seem all based on either a flyover survey or on the French colonial maps.... neither of which I trust too much!

I don't have a Garmin unit though (I use a TomTom) - and it seems that everyone is garmin-oriented when it comes to expeditions, so I need to get a Garmin unit...

Also, I've found garming do a "worldmap" disk, which is a little more than a set of cities, but it sounds helpful to figure out which direction to go in!

m.

 

[st13phil]

Take a look at the Wanderlust World Map project where you'll find lots of GPS cartography for the less mainstream areas of the world.

And yes, you do need to get a Garmin