Review - NATMAP Digital 1:250000 maps

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

This is a review of of "NATMAP Digital Maps" (2008 version)(a two DVD Set) , which shows all of Australia with 1:250,000 topographic maps, as currently available at a typical retail price of about $100. The version of this software which is currently sold by retailers also contains some updated software with a 2011 vintage.

For brevity, this review will be divided into three sections, "The Good, The OK, and The Ugly", explaining the desirable and the less desirable features of this sofware.


The Good

- Plots all of Australia (in a raster format) at a scale of 1/250,000 on a seamless (without map borders) virtual topographic map, including all of the >500 published topographic maps at this scale.
- quick and easy Pan & Zoom over the map (very similar to this feature as found in other electronic charting software).
- high map quality (minimal compression).
- very quick and easy access to 1:250K topographic mapping of any place in Australia; you can search for places and locations by Name or Lat/Long or by clicking at a place on a small scale Key/Index map.
- contains an overlay/underlay feature which allows you to underlay a Landsat 7 satellite image of Australia beneath the 1/250000 topographic maps of Australia, and to vary the transparency between the two layers so that you can get a useful mixed "topographic map + satellite image" view of an area. Alternatively, you can switch quickly between the satellite image and the topographic map of an area, so as to compare them.
- quickly and easily measure accurate distances on the map, and you can also measure distances between multiple points along a route.
- can print out and save maps in jpg, tiff, bmp, png formats.
- can overlay information from GIS software
- can be used together with GPS software for real-time navigation (I have not assessed this feature)


The OK

- while the Graphical User Interface is fairly standard and quite intuitive, more thought could have been given to making the user experience easier, with poorly thought out icon placement and size, and too many widely-spaced mouse clicks being necessary to achieve important and frequently-used tasks. The lack of Right Mouse Button shortcuts tends to slow things down a bit, and there is no "back" command to enable quick access to previously viewed maps.
- this software is ageing, and slightly buggy, and the interface is noticeably sub-optimal, so the user has to work a little harder than she/he does when using mass-market commercial software. Also, the map data on the DVDs is available online for free, albeit in a very much less convenient form. In this light, the $100 retail price is somewhat more than you would pay for a lot of other Very Useful semi-commercial software and shareware products. (I bought mine for about $60, secondhand, and this is probably closer to what the product would be worth in the open market.)


The Ugly

- occasionally finicky and buggy, especially in respect of the particular Operating System and Web Browser that have to be used with this mapping software. I installed the recommended Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6, and found that this mapping software wouldn't work in my particular software installation of these applications. On the other hand, with Windows 7 or Windows 8, together with other browsers or browser versions, it was easy to get the mapping software to work.
- The notes on back of the DVD Case, and the Quick Help Guide included with the DVDs, do not exactly apply to the software as included in the box. This is very amateurish. The documentation applies to the 2008 and earlier versions of the software, but there is some 2011 software included in the box. Also, Browser and Operating System compatibility is incorrectly given on the back of the case.


The Verdict

As someone with an enduring fascination for the Australian Landscape, and as an enthusiastic geographer and geology student with a love of exploring the back roads and the back country, I have got endless hours of interest from this application. It has been of great value in exploring the land surface of Australia, finding new observing sites, analyzing geological features, studying the variation of light pollution with location on the maps, and planning adventures along routes that were previously unknown to me. This is an excellent tool for a large number of map-related activities, for instance : : :
route and adventure planning ; use as a road atlas which is far superior to even the best tourist maps when it comes to including nearly all of the back roads (obviously, supplemented with Road Surface information from more recent sources) ; exploring obscure and fascinating corners of our Island Continent ; geology, geomorphology (landforms) ; finding observing sites ; distance measurement ; overlaying data from other GIS ; etc. , etc.

My preference in using this product is to use it with large and high resolution (high pixel density) display screens. I also found that the maps looked particularly good on the very latest generation of Tablet-laptop (convertible) & Laptop & Ultrabook computer screens, because of their very high density of pixels.

This is an accurate and professional product which has a large map database; this is wonderful data, and there is lots and lots of it on the DVDs! This software is suitable for both recreational and professional use, though it is a bit rough around the edges, and it is quite costly considering the competition from other available mapping tools (some of them free). However, the 1:250,000 topographic maps are arguably the best solution for clearly showing you the lay of the land and the back roads, in every part of Australia.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Robert,

The issue with these maps is that they are out of date. Back in the 80's I was using paper copies of these maps which I think were last updated in the 60's. Offhand I can think of two occasions when we attempted to follow tracks which just petered out and disappeared. On one occasion it could have been dangerous. Another time we wound up on an unmarked track which fortunately was a shortcut to where we were going, but we didn't know that.

Our inexperience, overconfidence and naivety was also a contributing factor in us getting ourselves somewhat misplaced, and or course we didn't have a GPS. However the biggest issue was us believing something which should be accurate but isn't. I've just checked a digital 2011 version of these maps and those three errors are still there. I also pick up another one as I scanned across the map. In remote areas minor tracks get covered by sand or washed away, they fall into disuse and degrade and other tracks get opened up to replace the older tracks or to reach new destinations. They still have a place as they may contain detail missing from other maps but I will never rely solely on a topo map for track navigation. Maps by HEMA (for all of Aust) or Rooftop (for the high country) and probably some other specialist maps (I'd be glad to hear of any) are much more up to date and the information better reflects where you can go and what the road/track will be like.

cheers,
David

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

Robert,

The issue with these maps is that they are out of date. Back in the 80's I was using paper copies of these maps which I think were last updated in the 60's. Offhand I can think of two occasions when we attempted to follow tracks which just petered out and disappeared. On one occasion it could have been dangerous. Another time we wound up on an unmarked track which fortunately was a shortcut to where we were going, but we didn't know that.
cheers,
David

David,

I should have mentioned the age of the data in my review.
Agreed, the tracks have often changed since the maps were published.
But there is a little something called a compass to check the bearing of a track that you are on!! (hahaha).

However, In my experience, the formed roads have, for the most part, stayed much the same.

In many ways, Australia is still very much the unknown continent, in that nobody can really tell you what exactly you are going to see when you stand on a particular ridge or in a particular place.

Because, in reality, a lot of mapping of the Australian back country is often inaccurate, it is always best to use a variety of data sources for navigation, as you have indicated in your post.

So, for those who are only used to city mapping (which tends to be accurate), one just has to get used to the fact that it could look quite different on the ground, no matter which map you use.

I always cross-check my route with all available mapping, for instance Google Maps and Hema maps. (in particular, with a recent satellite image)

However, I never really expect the mapping to conform exactly to what I am actually going to find on the ground.

Yes, the 1/250K topo maps are far from perfect, but the same goes for all the other available mapping.

For me, these topo maps remain a useful engine for exploring the landscape of Australia.

There may be people out there who do more bush navigation than I do, and who can therefore comment more accurately on the age and reliability of the various mapping sources for Australia.

Cheers,
Robert

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

HEMA maps have produced a mapping and navigation application for mobile devices, which has much more detailed (and hopefully much more up-to-date) topographic mapping than the old 1:250000 topographic maps that a lot of us have been using on driving holidays and exploratory trips in order to visualize the landscape.

The scale of the new maps is 1:150,000 , which should be a vast improvement over what was previously available for national (electronic) mapping.

This application is still somewhat unstable and buggy at present, but it is a big improvement on the national mapping that was formerly available in electronic form.

http://www.hemamaps.com/explore/news...ma-explorer-v3

cheers,
madbadgalaxymam

[sil (Steve)]

I find apps using the openmaps database to be great. maybe not as complete or pretty as the larger commercial ones. But as its built from publically submitted track data its more representative of what you'll find where there is coverage. Even just around home its a great way to find cycle paths and walking tracks in your neighbourhood that you may not spot ordinarily. Especially when you head to the unknown have multiple sources of information to refer to.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by sil

Especially when you head to the unknown have multiple sources of information to refer to.

'the unknown' pretty much summarizes much of the Australian continent.

As you no doubt know if you enjoy exploring back roads, the geology and landscape and biology of our land is little known and little understood, in most places, though one might find the odd bit of information about it.
(for instance consider the fact that the big, recently active, volcanic field in Victoria has only had one or two comprehensive studies)

Perhaps this is why I have strayed away from studying galaxies for a few years, and now spend nearly all of my free time studying, reading about, thinking about, and observing, many and various parts of the vast dry island continent.

cheers,
Robert

[rogerco (Roger)]

If you Google "LPI webservices" you will find that the Land and Property Information service is now producing free web based data that can be used with a number of GIS packages including the free QGIS package for which they give full instructions. While the data can be a few years out of data and up to twenty metres or more out it is reasonably accurate and you will not have the usage issues you have with the reviewed product which in my experience simply doesn't work with later versions of windows. The above also works with a Mac or Linux but you do need continuous internet access so there are limitations for mobile use. LPI do sell GIS data in LGA bundles for about $70 which gives you offline access to the GIS data and is useful if you are studying a particular area.