OpenStreetMap
Just got through my first set of batteries on my new toy. I must admit they lasted longer than I thought. I think this is due to the display being pretty clear in all sorts of light conditions and I hardly need to use the backlight function, a lot less than I thought I would when I first got the unit.
My only gripe with it is when I try to enter a waypoint where you press and hold the rocker key on the front of the unit, it does not always register, so you have to have several goes at it. Perhaps its just me with my big fingers and thumbs!
Been GPS tracing/mapping a lots "paths" in my area. This can get a bit confusing at times both in terms of 1. Paths not being signed/waymarked very well, farmers ploughing up footpaths and sign vandalism don't help. 2. Can't decide the best way to tag paths at the moment. I know that there 2 schools of thought on this, but both seem to have merit depending on your perception of things.
Discussion
Comment from EdLoach on 11 October 2010 at 10:45
Whichever you go with, you might find designation=public_footpath useful for public footpaths (and similar for bridleways). This means you can use whatever other tags seem most appropriate (for example I drove down a highway=track to a farm on Saturday which will also be tagged as a bridleway when I get around to it...)
Comment from Richard on 11 October 2010 at 13:57
The eTrex 'click' detection is very sensitive to movement. If you try really hard not to move the rocker in any direction while clicking, but simply to press down, it'll usually work. But that's a lot harder when you're walking (or cycling).
Comment from netman55 on 11 October 2010 at 15:15
designation=public_footpath is a new one on me, have seen foot=designated before.
From past experience (when I used to wear a process/work practice improvement hat) if you wanted someone to follow guidance, you needed to keep things simple otherwise they don't bother or do there own thing. Looking at the Wiki the highway tag for other than roads is getting too complex, so, for example, new comers won't bother or other people will do there own thing which will become a major headache.
To me if i see a sign that says: "Public Footpath RS80" it would seem logical to tag highway=foot (following on the way roads are tagged) and name/ref=RS80, the problems start when you want to indicate whats down that path. Hence why people get their knickers twisted in this area.
Yep the "click" detection is sensitive, keeping still and holding the unit level does help in my case, however gps in one hand and a 30kg (and still growing) dog in the other who wants to keep going means it don't happen all the time!
Comment from RichardB on 11 October 2010 at 16:42
highway=footway is the usual tag, not highway=foot.
Other tags which you may find useful are;
highway=bridleway - I tend to use these for bridleways which aren't wide enough to be a track
highway=track + tracktype=grade* where * is a number from 1 to 5 osm.wiki/Key:tracktype
highway=byway - not in very widespread use - but could be legitimate if you come across a public-byway or restricted-byway which isn't wide enough to be considered a track.
For my eTrex Vista, I bought a set of rechargable batteries. I'd definitely recommend getting a set. I can generally get a good few days' use out of the GPS before needing to recharge usually.
Comment from RichardB on 11 October 2010 at 16:46
Oh, and highway=path. This is one of the ones several people can't agree on. From what I can see, most people in the UK seem to use it to mean an indistinct weathered route where it isn't clear what the access restrictions are.
Some people, however, do use highway=path to mean anything which isn't a track - and they add access tags to 'turn it into' a footpath/bridleway etc.
Comment from netman55 on 11 October 2010 at 19:53
Thanks for the feedback.
I have been using highway=footway/bridleway/byway to match what I see on the sign for the way I am going down, which basically matches the "classic" tagging method on the UK public rights of way wiki page. This is usually ok for path which is uniform in character eg. a dirt path along the whole length of the public footpath. However in the real world it doesn't always work out that way and the new tags I think try to cope with this. However IMO the new tags apart from getting too complex as mentioned earlier, don't fit either on some public footpaths I have GPS traced.
Taking one example footpath RS66 which runs through a farm. At its eastly point it starts from an unclassified road onto a service road into the farm, then moves onto farm tractor dirt tracks on to the fields, then across the fields (usually ploughed) themselves then back onto the tractor tracks before joining another unclassified road. So I have highway=service,highway=track,highway=path/footway then highway=track all on a public footpath, which gets me back to my original comment, ie not sure how to best represent this
Comment from RichardB on 12 October 2010 at 11:29
One way for the highway=unclassified. One way for the highway=track. One way for the highway=footway, then a final way for the highway=track. Four ways in total. Tag them all with designation=public_footpath as well. Adapt as necessary to the situation you have. If you are confident with route relations, you could add all four into a route relation to say that this is "Public Footpath RS66".