News - latest update 31/08/2017


News items:

31/08/2017 - Switch to open mapping sources now completed
Return to top

(UK blog readers [primarily] ...)
I have now edited all my blog posts so that these now show the following link in post headings: 'Tracklog overlay - OSM – ViewRanger -:- OS – WheresThePath'. This now replaces what were links ('OS1' & 'OS2') to my tracklogs overlaid on Ordnance Survey maps as previously provided by Ordnance Survey and Bing Maps web sites, services which are no longer available. The last four news items (see below) referred to the demise of these services. The new 'OSM - ViewRanger' link presented on my blog posts provides a tracklog overlaid on various 'open source' mapping providers, selectable at time of viewing. As previously mentioned, I recommend the 'ViewRanger Landscape' map layer be chosen.

The new tracklog map overlay that I provide works well. An enhanced capability of the ViewRanger mapping service is its means to provide, in addition to the track overlay, Flickr photo markers that present on the map the photos taken during an outing (see previous news item below for an information link regarding this service). It has one significant advantage over previous Ordnance Survey map overlays, in that mapping is provided worldwide. That means that my posts, such as '20 October – 08 November 2016 – Autumn trip to Germany visiting Helen and Laura', that relate to non-UK activities, can now show my tracklogs on a map. I have found the quality of the maps of a very high standard. I have only one minor grievance in that I find the ViewRanger mapping service does not function well on a tablet PC, in that it is impossible to scroll the map from the touch-screen without the use of a mouse. Most Internet-based mapping services (e.g. Google, Bing, OpenStreetMap, etc.) are able to provide this functionality on a touch-screen device, so hopefully this feature will be incorporated in a later revision of the service from ViewRanger.

The only regret I have is that Ordnance Survey no longer make it possible for me to present a UK tracklog on detailed Ordnance Survey mapping on my blog. I believe this is possible if you have purchased the appropriate Ordnance Survey map regions from ViewRanger.

It has been a significant task for me to re-edit all my blog posts in the way I have described above. If, in the process of my doing this, you discover I have corrupted a blog post link which has now become broken, then I would be grateful if you would notify me of this via my 'Contact Form' so that I might make the necessary correction. Any other comments you might have regarding the process would also be most welcome.

20/07/2017 - Switch from Ordnance Survey to open mapping sources
Return to top

(UK blog readers ...)
In my last news bulletin (see below) I reported the breakage of various links that had provided access to my tracklogs on Ordnance Survey mapping. I can now introduce the alternative that I've chosen to replace these links. My latest blog postings contain a 'Tracklog overlay - OSM – ViewRanger' link. This link will display my tracklog for that day's excursion on an open mapping source, along with Flickr photo markers that present the photos taken during the outing. I recommend the 'ViewRanger Landscape' mapping layer be selected as this is very detailed, showing clearly, amongst other map detail, contours, paths and landscape features. There are numerous other map layers available which can be selected whilst viewing my tracklog online (for other mapping layer options, see: Free Global Maps [ViewRanger]). ViewRanger does not provide a tracklog file download capability; my tracklogs can be found for download using the 'Tracklog Download' link provided on my blog (see column on right)

My blog post '20 October – 08 November 2016 – Autumn trip to Germany visiting Helen and Laura' is the first to be converted using the technique described above. It is my intention to modify all previous blog posts of mine so that they reflect this newly adopted approach to mapping. Until such time as I achieve that, the OS1 and OS2 links on older blog posts remain broken.

I am pleased with this new approach. I think ViewRanger has provided a really useful facility for sharing tracks and photos in what they describe as these 'Trip Stories' [ViewRanger]. One advantage the open mapping provides over Ordnance Survey is that it is worldwide, and therefore, as in the blog post quoted here, I am able to use this technique whilst travelling abroad. The ViewRanger mobile app is in itself a very powerful and free navigation app for mobile phones (Android, iOS and Amazon Fire). I however use a Windows mobile phone, and unfortunately no app is provided for this product. The only regret I have is that Ordnance Survey no longer make it possible for me to present a UK tracklog on detailed Ordnance Survey mapping on my blog.

If you have any comments you would like to make regarding this approach to mapping, then I'd be pleased to hear from you. Or, if you should have any questions regarding the technique that I now use, then I will happily try my best to answer these. Please use the 'Contact Form' that I provide on this blog to contact me.

23/01/2017 - Ordnance Survey mapping 'OS 1' & 'OS 2' links broken
Return to top

(UK blog readers ...)
In August of 2015 I voiced doubts about whether it would continue for me to be possible to show my walk and cycle routes on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps in the future (see news item below). Well, the day has arrived when, as I predicted, the means for me to do provide OS maps based routes has been almost entirely lost. The 'OS 1' and 'OS 2' links to map provision mechanisms previously provided by Ordnance survey ('OS 1') and Bing ('OS 2') no longer work. The Bing map mechanism ceased to work around the beginning of 2017 (at the time of replacement of the old mapping facility), whereas the Ordnance Survey facility had been removed some time ago. For the moment, the 'OS 3' links (Where's The Path) continue to work. This provides access to OS 1:50,000 scale (Landranger) maps, but not the 1:25,000 scale (Explorer) maps. An additional limitation of this facility from Where's The Path ('OS 3' link) is that it uses a mapping facility from Ordnance Survey that has a daily usage cap, and therefore, on busy days, this may well be exceeded, and in which case the OS maps will not be shown. If you should experience this restriction, it is possible to use an alternative mapping source made available in Where's The Path from a drop-down list (near top/centre of map display), of which I think Open Cycle Maps ('OSM Cycle') is one of the best. Open Cycle Maps has a high level of detail, shows foot and cycle tracks, and map contours, but does not show public rights of way or field boundaries.

The map issues mentioned above are those most likely to affect any person viewing my blog. An incidental issue affecting me is that, with the removal of the old mapping facility from Bing, I have lost the means to plot my walk and cycle routes on OS maps online and for free in a web browser. The alternative mechanism I am most likely to adopt is to use the route plotting mechanism of Outdoor Active, an excellent web site for doing this, and one that provides many walk and cycle route ideas provided for view and download from other users of the site. Using this web site, I am able to plot planned routes on Open Cycle Maps, my preferred alternative map source option to the 1:25,000 maps from OS. Another alternative mapping source I'd recommend for consideration is that offered by ViewRanger (ViewRanger Landscape maps are particularly good).

Yes, there are pay-to-use facilities provided by Ordnance Survey, but these are costly, and they bring with them many compatibility issues (unavailable on Windows mobile phone, cannot be loaded to Garmin handheld GPS, OS mobile digital map downloads cannot be used with OS Mapfinder on the desktop, no entitlement to future map updates, etc.) that dissuade me from using them. To my mind, we have got ourselves into a rather sorry state with map provision in this country, which is particularly saddening when one considers we actually have some of the best mapping in the world at our disposal. And, at a time when the country really wants to be getting people outdoors and active, the lack of proper digital map provision is most woeful. It seems to me the commercial imperative wins over usability, quality and availability of service. But, time now for me to get off of my soapbox.

Although, in mitigation I'd like it to be noted that it is not of my doing, I do apologise for the failed links and reduction in service that I am now able to provide via my blog. I will endeavour to tidy up the now broken map web links on my blog posts at some time in the not too distant future.

And one final matter: I had provided guidance on how to plot walk/cycle routes on OS maps on the web using services provided by Ordnance Survey and Bing Maps. These facilities have now been removed and that has meant that such route planning is no longer available for free as it once was. I have therefore removed this from my web page 'GPS Route Planning'. This page now has only one sub-page, that describes how a walk/cycle route can be automatically derived from the GPS tracklog that I provide from links on each of my blog posts.

24/10/2015 - Ordnance Survey mapping from Bing via 'OS 2' links
Return to top

(UK blog readers ...)
It is possible that attempting to view my walk and cycle routes on Ordnance Survey mapping from Bing via 'OS 2' links on my blog posts won't immediately present my routes as intended. If this should happen, the probable reason for this will be that you are viewing the 'Bing Maps Preview'. You will be aware of that from the fact that a 'Leave Preview' button will be presented in the bottom-right corner of the map page. If this should be the case, merely click this 'Leave Preview' button, and my walk/cycle route tracklog will be displayed overlaid on Ordnance Survey maps as intended when the 'OS 2' link is clicked.

Things have improved since the earliest form of the Bing Maps Preview, in that Ordnance Survey mapping has now been made available. However, the facility to present a route overlaid on Bing Maps Preview is not available at present. I say at present, as it appears that Bing Maps Preview is a job-in-hand, in that it is evolving over time, and new features are being added as time goes by. I have provided feedback to Bing, that this feature is currently lacking from their Maps Preview, and hope that in due course this will be attended to. In the meantime, escaping from the Maps Preview will take you back to the earlier version of Bing Maps, which remains capable of displaying route overlays on Ordnance Survey maps.

01/08/2015 - Ordnance Survey mapping 'OS 1' links broken
Return to top

(UK blog readers ...)
Sadly, the 'OS 1' links, that previously presented my walk and cycle routes on Ordnance Survey Leisure Maps will, from 1st August 2015, no longer work. Ordnance Survey have closed the 'OS Getamap' service and replaced it with 'OS Maps'. Unfortunately, whereas OS Getamap could be used to present my walk and cycle routes publicly on OS Leisure Maps (1:25,000 'Explorer' & 1: 50,0000 'Landranger' scales), OS Maps does not have that capability. The new service simply does not provide this functionality. Wondering why this should be? It is of course, sadly, all about money making, not about providing a useful service to the public. The capability in Getamap was probably viewed as a mistake, as walk and cycle routes could be viewed on OS Leisure maps on the Internet free of charge. With the replacement of OS Getamap with OS Maps, Ordnance Survey no longer provide any means to publish walk and cycle routes overlaid on Leisure maps. This, I feel, is a great loss. Thankfully, at the moment, my walk and cycle routes can still be viewed on OS Leisure maps via Bing Maps by using the 'OS 2' link on my posts, or via Where's The Path by using my 'OS 3' link on my posts. Whether the provision of OS maps from these mapping services will continue into the future is anybody's guess (I notice the 'new Bing Maps' preview doesn't feature OS maps, but whether this is because it is a preview and not a full release, I do not know). I will at some time in the future change my blog posts so that the OS 1 links do not fail. I'll provide a news item here once I have done so. I am currently contemplating using OpenStreetMap in future (I'm open to suggestions). So, as I say, rather a shame to see things getting worse, but I conclude this to be just another aspect of the age of austerity in which we live.

Addendum: I've started adding a Runtastic link to my walk/cycle blog posts. Runtastic is an activity tracker app that I use on my smartphone. I mention it here because, in addition to the statistics it provides, it also shows my tracklog on Open Street Map (OSM) and Open Cycle Map (OCM). Although lacking public rights of way, these maps are very detailed. And, in some cases, actually prove better than Ordnance Survey, in that paths are shown in public spaces (national parks, etc.), public parks, and private (e.g. National Trust, etc.) special access areas, that aren't shown on Ordnance Survey. If you should wish to do your own route plotting using OSM or OCM, I recommend taking a look at the Outdoor Active web site. A smartphone app (iOS & Android) is provided for use in conjunction with this web site. The app provides route navigation in the field. I am currently using the partner app, GeoMeterPro (available from the Windows store), built for Windows Phone use, that provides similar functionality.

11/05/2015 - Link to my fitness profile added to right menu bar
Return to top

I record my fitness events in Runtastic on the Internet. This site provides the means to maintain an exercise profile which gives a guide to my overall fitness. I have added a 'Fitness Profile' link to the right menu bar of my blog. This provides access to my fitness record. I've recently installed the Runtastic mobile app on my phone, and this is able to automatically track a number of my events such as walking and cycling. It's a well put together web site and app, and although I've no experience of other such offerings, I can say Runtastic does the job for me. Keep a check on my fitness by clicking on the link I've provided.

09/02/2015 - Silverlight/Internet Explorer 11 issue fully resolved
Return to top

The Silverlight/Internet 11 compatibility issue affecting OS Getamap (the 'OS 1' link on my blog posts) that I reported on 9th December 2013 (see below) appears to be fully resolved. There had been an outstanding issue at the time of my last news item (see below), but this appears to have been corrected now. A test undertaken today on a Windows 7 64 bit machine successfully presented the OS Getamap from an 'OS 1' link.

30/01/2014 - Silverlight/Internet Explorer 11 issue (not fully) resolved
Return to top

The Silverlight/Internet 11 compatibility issue affecting OS Getamap (the 'OS 1' link on my blog posts) that I reported on 9th December 2013 (see below) appears to be resolved; at least it is for me. I think the resolution has come about through installation of Windows updates from Microsoft. This morning I applied the latest updates to my Windows 7 computer and upon retesting Getamap, having first removed 'www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk' from the Internet 11 compatibility list, I found that Getamap was loading correctly.

It's difficult to determine whether my interpretation of events is accurate as Microsoft updates are less than conclusive in their descriptions. It is equally possible that Ordnance Survey have applied changes to the Getamap application in an effort to resolve the issue. What I would recommend is, if you are continuing to experience issues with Getamap, you make sure the latest updates available from Microsoft are applied to your system.

Hopefully the problem is now fully resolved and you are now able to view the Ordnance Survey mapping of my routes that I make available from Getamap via the 'OS 1' link on my blog posts.

Addendum: Sadly I have discovered things are not all that they might be. Having conducted a test of this issue on a Windows 7 64 bit machine today I have discovered that the problem still persists in this environment. The Windows 7 64 bit machine was fully patched with the latest updates from Microsoft. I operate a Windows 7 32 bit machine, and though this problem seems to have been resolved in this environment, clearly there remains work to be done by someone somewhere. If things improve in the Windows 7 64 bit environment I'll post an update here in my blog news section. Technology!

09/12/2013 - Silverlight/Internet Explorer 11 issue
Return to top

I've become aware of an issue affecting one of the map displays available from my blog posts, that from the 'OS 1' links. These links connect with the getamap service from Ordnance Survey. There is currently an issue with regard to the operation of Silverlight within the latest version of Internet Explorer, version 11. On attempting to access this service I was, rather frustratingly, getting "Your browser is not compatible with getamap, please upgrade your browser to a more recent version" message returned.

I reported this to the Ordnance Survey support team. They acknowledge the existence of a "common issue stemming from a recent browser update by Microsoft". I was advised by them to add "http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/" to the Compatibility View settings of Internet Explorer 11 (from Tools option). Having done this I discovered I could once again gain access to getamap from the Ordnance Survey.

Why this alteration to browser settings should be necessary to make the Ordnance Survey getamap service work, when other Silverlight web sites are working correctly, I do not know. However, making this minor change should provide a temporary work around that will get getamap working till such time as the fundamentals of this issue become resolved by the parties involved (i.e. Microsoft and Ordnance Survey).

21/06/2012 - Revamp of blog headings
Return to top

I've revamped all the blog headings such that each post now includes a GPS Tracklog Download 'Google Drive' link, which is important to the GPS Route Planning notes that I mentioned in my previous news item.

18/06/2012 - Route Planning Notes
Return to top

I'm in the process of compiling guidance notes for anyone interested in deriving a GPS route from any of my tracklogs. This is work in progress, so please bear with me.

You'll find my GPS Route Planning notes from this link. I believe they are good enough to work from, once you have gained access to my tracklog in which you have an interest.

As of yesterday's walk 17 June 2012 – Walk: Torquay, Cockington and Paignton (10.6 Miles) I've implemented a revised blog template with improved blog headings. My GPS Route Planning notes refer to this style of heading. What I now need to do is find time to ripple through my old blog posts and revamp each heading to this new style. Until such time as I've done this, the best course of action to access my tracklogs, in the absence of a 'Google Drive' download link, will be to download a local copy of my GPX file to your PC and derive a route from that.

I do aim to revamp my blog headings within the next few days, so if you should experience difficulty with using a local file, please revisit this site soon, by which time I would hope to have Google Drive download links on all of my blog posts.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)