The OSM->Garmin converter, mkgmap, now includes a "marine" style that augments the default style with support for a good number of the seamark tags (lights, buoys, etc.).

This is a work in progress and will mature as the marine tagging matures (polite way of saying, why can't they bloody well agree on what tags to use).

The latest version of mkgmap can be found at http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/snapshots/

Haiti coast with light and wrecks:

Lights/buoys near Kiel:

… See full entry

User MCC kindly provided these instructions...

I'll explain the procedure I'm using and hopefully it will work for you.

1. With the Nuvi 255 locked onto its satellites press the car icon to get to the Location page (My Location, Nearest Address, Nearest Junction down the left hand side of the screen, buttons for Hospitals, Police Stations and Fuel down the right side.

2. This is the sneaky bit. Press the screen ONCE just beneath the words "Nearest Junction", then press the screen TWICE just beneath the words "My Location", then press the screen ONCE again just beneath the words "Nearest Junction". This won't work in indoor mode without a satellite lock.

3. You will now get the "secret" Logging Control page. Press the "Start Recording" button and it will start logging your trace. Press Stop when you have finished.

4. To retrieve your trace plug the Nuvi into your computer's USB port and use Windows Explorer to open the "debug" folder. Each trace will be saved as a "gps.bin" file in its own subfolder, each uniquely named like "20091023_061223".

5. To convert the Nuvi's gps.bin file to a generic gpx format file I'm using a programme called wNutrak which I found on the internet. Works a treat.

I've noticed that while my Nuvi is logging a trace the car icon on the screen tries to lock onto existing roads but the trace data itself is real. The logged points are also close enough together for good accurate mapping. Occasionally I do a three point turn on a road or track or nip a short way down an unmapped side road or track and these little manoeuvres appear perfectly on the traces when opened and viewed on Google Earth or uploaded to OSM.

From the Wiki (osm.wiki/Tag:junction%3Droundabout):

The segments in the way must go around the roundabout in the direction the traffic flows, but there is no need to tag them as oneway=*. The way should then be tagged with junction=roundabout.

Simple, isn't it?

Well, burtobot (aka me) has just finished its first pass through the nation's (GB mainland) roundabouts. My aim was to sanitise the roundabouts sufficiently so that they become usable from the routing point of view (correct roundabout direction, usable flare roads, etc.)

Having just fixed over 500 roundabouts, I am amazed (and not a little depressed) by the shoddy mapping some people are doing. True, a lot of roundabouts are real works of art (and would be great if they happened to have the right direction!), but far too many are just plain ugly and completely broken from the routing point of view.

So folks, even if you don't want/need a routable map, please take a few minutes to visit the roundabouts on the map in your location and fix up the problems you will find there.

Thanks,

Mark

If you are interested in generating maps for Garmin GPS units from OSM source and you haven't looked at mkgmap recently, you should.

The development branch has been very active of late and new features are appearing almost daily.

Recent versions are capable of generating tiled, routable maps directly from
OSM source.

Check out osm.wiki/index.php/Mkgmap

I posted this as a question to the JOSM bug tracker but no one has answered so I thought I would post it here to a wider audience.

Apologies if this is a FAQ but...

Using the current development version of josm...

If I have some current OSM data which I then edit (move stuff around, delete nodes, etc.) and then I ask for a download of the same area, josm downloads something but then doesn't update the display or even complain about conflicts, it's as if it just threw the downloaded data away.

What's happening? Why isn't it replacing the stuff I deleted and griping about the nodes I have moved?

Thanks in advance to any replies.

Mark (aka burto)