zizzybaloobah

Well, it's time for me to do another road trip -- this time Baltimore to Sarasota by way of Western NC and Atlanta GA on the way down, and Savannah GA and Charleston SC on the way back.

My last road trip was to Pittsburg, and I had hoped to have a GPS for that trip (I had to return my Deluo mouse GPS -- never got it working on my Axim) and this time I thought I'd try another brand. I bought a Haicom GPS Bundle at BuyGPSnow and the folding CF GPS worked flawlessly from the get-go.

Only problem is the Mapopolis software. I can get active guidance for my trips in Maryland, but as soon as a trip requires travel into PA (York) or VA/DC (Georgetown, Arlington, etc.) I can get a route, but not active guidance. I've loaded all the available maps I can find that are on my CD for the metro Baltimore-Washington-Northern VA corridor, but still no automated voice.

I'll be really disappointed if I can have automated guidance on my multi-state trip.

JakeRich

Sounds like you have the wrong version maps for those states. You need the NC Navigator maps to get active guidance. Assuming you paid for the ability to download the maps, you can always to back to Mapoplis and download the proper version.

zizzybaloobah

When I look at the all the map files on the CD, I they're all zipped/compressed (.mlp.gz).

Uncompressed, they all seem to be the same type: *.mlp

None of the map names mentioned in the Mapopolis user guide match what I have on my CD.

JakeRich

The maps for the active guidance all follow the pattern:

CountyNameSTNGC.mlp

where

CountyName is the name of the county or city
ST is the state or province
NGC is the version of the map
mlp is the extent for mapopolis.

So your maps for Fairfax County, VA for example should be

FAIRFAXVANGC.mlp

If you don't have the NGC version, you don't get active guidance. The function is actually built in the map.

You can check the map names on the Axim in the Mapopolis folder.

zizzybaloobah

The names simply look like:

BALTIMORECITYMD.mlp
BALTIMOREMD.mlp
CECILMD.mlp
DISTRICTOFCOLUMBIADC.mlp
HARFORDMD.mlp
MajorRoads-DC.mlp
MajorRoads-MD.mlp
MONTGOMERYMD.mlp
PRINCEGEORGESMD.mlp

Even the Baltimore maps don't have that pattern, yet the active guidance works!

(I've actually installed every map file on the CD for MD and DC and still no success)

JakeRich

Quote:

Originally posted by zizzybaloobah The names simply look like: BALTIMORECITYMD.mlp BALTIMOREMD.mlp CECILMD.mlp DISTRICTOFCOLUMBIADC.mlp HARFORDMD.mlp MajorRoads-DC.mlp MajorRoads-MD.mlp MONTGOMERYMD.mlp PRINCEGEORGESMD.mlp Even the Baltimore maps don't have that pattern, yet the active guidance works! (I've actually installed every map file on the CD for MD and DC and still no success)

I suggest you contact Mapopolis. Look in this forum for Lamar, he is a good contact there. These don't look like navigator maps at all, unless someone has changed all the names. Where did you purchase the CD?

scottdw

I bought the HAiCOM HI-303E from buygpsnow and am also from Maryland. I as well get active guidance in Maryland but have not tried it outside of Maryland yet. My map names follow the same naming standard as zizzybaloobah but my cd says Mapopolis Navigator. I can't check the actual contents of the cd because it's at home but my Axim shows the same names as zizzybaloobah.

Mapopolis support has got to be one of the best so I would email them and they will respond quickly with an answer I am sure.

scottdw

I posted a message over at GPSpassion because I know Lamar hangs out over there also.

Jake,
I hope you didn't mind but I copied and pasted your naming standard text into my message, you explained it great.

I too would like to know the answer to this question because it looks like we may have the same bundle and I don't want to take a trip out of Maryland and have no active guidance.

zizzybaloobah

My CD also says Navigator. I didn't get any other Mapopolis material inside the box except for the CD.

All that's on the CD is the mapinstaller program, and the maps directory which lists a zillion .mlp.gz files. Opening any of these files with Winzip reveals they contain .mlp files.

None of the files I can find (on the CD, or my Dell) have the special indicators for navigator support.

I even installed Mapopolis on another Axim (which had been hard reset) and still only get active guidance for a limited area in Maryland/DC, even if I load every single Maryland/DC map I can find on the CD.

BTW, Lamar contacted me personally (much appreciated BTW). Mapopolis support sent me some messages which I didn't receive, but now the email is coming in fine (not sure if it was a yahoo anti-spam feature or something else).

I've been told the Navigator CD contains all the Navigator maps available for download -- but something just doesn't seem right.

Just to be sure I'm clear: I can get driving directions for any route I enter. The 'Active Guidance' option is grayed out on routes that leave Maryland or in my case, any route outside Baltimore City or surrounding counties.

I want active guidance for all my routes, especially MD/DC/VA/PA where I travel most.

scottdw

What if you map a route only in say Pittsburg as opposed to mapping a route thru states do you get Active Guidance???
I know it is supposed to work thru multi states I was just courious what would happen.
I am going to FL. on Saturday and will be taking my Axim and GPS and will let you know if I can use Active Guidance

zizzybaloobah

York is only about a 45 minute drive from my house in Maryland. My destination was PA route 74, about 1 mile off of I-83. No active guidance!

Same thing happened on a Baltimore to Crystal City (Arlington VA) trip -- got a route, but no active guidance.

I've even tried a route that stayed in MD but ventured south near the Capital Beltway (about 4 counties from my home) and also got a route, but no active guidance.

I am traveling to Florida also, so I am really anxious to get this working.

scottdw

What version of the software are you running??? Version 4.28 is out. If you are running the version from the cd that "could" be causing the problem. Try downloading the new version here

zizzybaloobah

I just downloaded and tried the latest version -- no luck with the active guidance.

I was able to get active guidance to work if I picked a location in DC and a destination in the metro DC area. I continued to pick destinations closer to Baltimore and continued to get active guidance until I picked destinations with Baltimore City or County (the progression would be DC, Prince Georges County, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County)

I did the same thing in reverse. Starting in Baltimore City, I picked destinations further away. Baltimore County, Anne Arundel county worked fine. As soon as tried locations closer to, or in DC, no active guidance.

If I picked a starting point in the Metro DC area of Maryland (PG or Montg. county) I could get active guidance into DC, but if I picked a destination in northern VA, no active guidance.

It seems as if I can only get active guidance for a limited distance or through a fixed number of maps, and never across state lines.

scottdw

I don't know why I did not offer to try it on mine before. Let me give it a try when I get off work and I will let you know the results.

zizzybaloobah

Problem was I had the Major Roads maps loaded. When I turn them off, all is well!

(Special thanks to the support people at Mapopolis who got a programmer involved. The programmer mentioned how to view the maps by type, and that's when I discovered my error)

MAPS IN USE:

annearundelmd baltimorecitymd
baltimoremd calvertmd
cecilmd districtofcolumbiadc
harfordmd howardmd
montgomerymd princegeorgesmd
MajorRoads-DC
MajorRoads-MD
(These last two were the cause of all my problems!)