Did you use and like Street Atlas - Sorry Suckers

[Matt_Colie]

I just got confirmation that there will be no new Street Atlas. Makes me really sorry that I supported Delorme and Garmin all these years. I don't know of another package that can give me back as much information as I could get from SA. But I guess I can go back to paper planning.

We have fallen off Web access too many times to use Google Anything.

Where are my plotting tools? I know where the Walmart Atlas is....

Matt

[Harvey51]

I miss the free road maps we used to get from service stations. You could see a large area without losing resolution. The villages were clearly marked without having to zoom in. Even rivers, lakes and creeks had names.

Thank you for the way to offline Google maps. I wonder why I had to get a Google account and sign in? I guess Google wants to more effectively select ads for me. Looks like my downloaded area expires at the end of the month. It would be nice if there was a way to delete areas no longer needed. My local area about 100 km square is a whole gigabyte. Now it wants access to my phone's microphone "to play audio on Bluetooth devices and more". Advertising? Spying?

[tomman58]

Ever since trucks and cars have had nav systems I haven't needed anything else other than an occasional "where's the restaurant moment" I use the smart phone and Goggle.
I carry an old atlas and the next exit book but very rarely need them. I do like the nav systems the most as they give me heads up 2 miles from a road change and allows me to get over into the proper lane.

[mgirardo]

2gypsies wrote:
...and using a small SmartPhone for navigation with no one else in the car is safe? 🙂

Yes, for me, it is much safer. My smartphone sits in a holder on the dash, in my line of sight of the road. When I had a laptop on a mount, it was off to my right and I had to take my eye off the road to look at it, then find the mouse, the mouse pointer, possibly type something, etc. Having a touchscreen smartphone that can easily be operated while still watching the road is much safer than using a computer while driving.

I don't text, send email or surf the web while I am driving, but I do use Google Maps and Waze while I am driving and both are much easier and safer to operate while driving than a laptop.

-Michael

[mgirardo]

DanNJanice wrote:
Now if Google maps would have a feature so you could download say an entire state and save it on the phone, I might be more inclined to rely on it.

Google Maps does have that feature, that's what I wrote in my post. Here's how.. This is the Android instructions. If you have an iPhone, click the iPhone and Ipad link toward the top.

-Michael

[Matt_Colie]

dkreuzen wrote:
The predict feature would be nice but I just use the measure tool to figure out about where I want to stop or get fuel.
I run Basecamp on a Win7/64 desktop and used to use a Laptop too, never had any problems. I would guess that your Laptop was probably missing the required version of the .NET framework (which is supposed to install automatically but sometimes doesn't).

I don't seem to be able to load the right version of .Net. Been around the Do Loop several times now and always the same answer.
The measuring tool can be used for fuel stop if you drive in straight lines and at the same speed. SA used to total real road miles. I can (and have) do (done) better at mileage with dividers on a paper chart than can be done with the measure tool on BC.

I guess I'm going to stay an member of AAA and load up on paper charts.

Matt

[dkreuzen]

Matt_Colie wrote:

dkreuzen wrote:
All you Garmin users should take the time to learn Basecamp. Once you figure it out it is easy and fast.

Dennis,

I have put a lot of time into both Basecamp and Homeport (the marine version). I know how to work Basecamp real well, but it will not allow for stops at request without massive arm waving and it has no capability at all to predict where a fuel stop should be planned. Plus, it will not run on my Win7/64 laptop.

For something that came from Garmin, it is amazingly incomplete for a traveler that needs information for planning.

Matt

The predict feature would be nice but I just use the measure tool to figure out about where I want to stop or get fuel.
I run Basecamp on a Win7/64 desktop and used to use a Laptop too, never had any problems. I would guess that your Laptop was probably missing the required version of the .NET framework (which is supposed to install automatically but sometimes doesn't).

[Michelle_S]

Driving by the "Seat of your Pants" solo is one thing, but when hauling heavy and big, I want to know where I'm going and what to expect. Been using Street Atlas for years, so I guess I'll have to baby my current version and hope it doesn't die.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

fj12ryder wrote:

stickdog wrote:
Anyone ever wonder how the pioneers made it across the continent without GPS and wifi?

A lot of them didn't. 🙂

"Sorry Suckers".... to the ones who didn't?..:@

~

[phays]

For those that have Garmin gps and want to try Garmin Basecamp, go to the Garmin website, download the program. Then go to Basecamp Tutorials. Although the guy presenting the tutorials is doing motorcycle routes, he does an excellent job of demonstrating the use of the program. You can be up and running in a couple of days at the most.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Somewhere on this forum is a thread about Microsoft ending new versions of Streets & Trips.

Some said that Delorme Street Atlas would never suffer such a fate.

I'm sorry to see either ending, but the sad truth is the number of us who want that level of flexibility, capability, is pretty small. Too small to support a multi-million dollar updating of the software every couple years. The real death of the programs was the decreasing number of corporations that saw the need for the software. That's what kept them in business for a long time.

More and more people are tied to the web, and don't see any need to have detailed maps or to know their entire route before starting down the road in a 40-60 foot long rig with potential clearance issues.

[JWRoberts]

I recently wanted to stop in a small town in Nebraska for the night. My TV nor smart phone recognized the town. I dusted off a 2006 Atlas and found the time.

I also find it easy to 'look at the big picture' sometimes.

Didn't know they were being discontinued so I may go buy a new one.

[Veebyes]

The GPS, even the phone provided you have internet access, is fine & dandy. However it is not difficult to get out of cellphone coverage. Having a stand alone onboard program like MS S&Ts is like having case of maps at your fingertips. When it has a GPS receiver better still. The navigator zooms in or out to easily see all options & change the route on the fly, internet access completely redundant.

[2gypsies1]

mgirardo wrote:

I liked all the computer based applications for Maps and Routing, but they are cumbersome in the car and unsafe if no one else is in the car. The SmartPhone is small, fast and gives you a lot more details at your finger tips. Since we live on the East Coast, I have yet to drive through an area that didn't have internet access for long stretches.

...and using a small SmartPhone for navigation with no one else in the car is safe? 🙂

We traveled in the West and on secondary roads so internet isn't as reliable as in the East. It was great to be able to create a map for out in the boonies and re-work it to our taste and doing so without internet. Then for driving we just transferred it to the Garmin for easy glancing on the dash without fiddling with a SmartPhone.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

dkreuzen wrote:
All you Garmin users should take the time to learn Basecamp. Once you figure it out it is easy and fast.

Wow, I didn't know what this was about so I checked it out. Wow, that's just what I have been looking for! I think I will download it and give it a try!

Thanks again for the tip!

Link to Basecamp.