Hi schu,
I'll check on the terrain, busy with some other stuff right now, give me a day or so.
You can eaily obtain relevant airspace information for the area you are in - simply press SHIFT and then IMS (information system) - button 6.
You get a list of airspaces you might be interested in with the word "IN" next to any airspace you are currently inside.
If you want more information on a particular airspace, simply press the numbered button next to it.
This will give you detailed information including ceilings, frequencies etc.
If you have a compatible radio connected, press the numeric next to the frequency and your radio is setup. It even tells you who to call.
You can also display ceilings and base as well as names of airspaces on the moving map - simply press SHIFT and then the MAP key (button 5). Then you can adjust map information as you need (declutter and detail). Note that this setting is independent for every zoom level, so you can remove a lot of stuff if you want to view a large area - it may get way to busy otherwise...
The system remembers your selections so you typically only do this once to suit your preferences.
Your comments regarding raster maps is quite valid, they can take around 1/2 gig to cover Alaska at a good detail level - but that hardly matters, SD card s are dirt cheap and even a 1 gig leaves you lots of space.
You use the Mapmaker utility to convert raster maps.
You can even edit our vector maps (you use the vector map editor). But before you do that, make sure that you have all map details checked on so you don't end up wanting to put in a road that is allready there.
The DEM files are standard terrain data files you can find from many places on the net - we don't do anything to them.
Raster maps once converted tend to result in several files, one for each source map and each of these normally spans several degrees horizontal and vertical. I tend to use the 1200 pixels per degree resolution option which is a nice compromise between resolution and file size and this also tends to load quite fast (around a second or so to zoom).
Once you converted your raster maps you copy the created files (with names like N70W123B.M43 (top left corner of map, map resolution, horizontal and vertical size of map in degrees). You also create and copy a file called Mapindex.MM0 which contains a list of which files contain which degree tiles at whatever resolution (it is possible to have the same area covered by several resolutions and these will then be selected depending on your zoom level).
To install them on the instrument is quite easy: Copy all the files to an SD card, insert in instrument - goto "Installation tasks" and select "install raster maps".
The mapmaker application contains a short text file that describes how to use it - effectively you load the map, then you set the number of degrees horizontal and vertical and desired resolution (number of pixels per degree). Then you go and click on the map image each intersection of a degree line so the image can be referenced. We do each degree rather than just two points so be can use any possible map projection - you could even use a hand drawn scetch !
Limitations that exist are as follows:
The map needs to have AT LEAST the number of source pixels per degree that you want to use as target resolution. More is good but less will not work.
You can only convert FULL degrees (this can be partly overcome if required by merging partial degrees from different maps using a suitable image processing program (such as Corel draw for example).
Hope this helps a bit to understand how the system works...
Your comments regarding waypoint creation have been noted and in fact some of them are on our wish list so it's only a matter of time...
Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics
Rainier, thanks for your reply,
I can't confirm that there are topo maps for Alaska. I downloaded the W180N90.DEM, W140N90.DEM, W100N90.DEM, W060N90.DEM files, put them in the correct directory and can confirm that they are working because I see the terrain data when I tell the simulator I'm in the lower 48, but when I change the GPS to Alaska I don't see any topo data. I can confirm that airspaces and the base maps are available so I can see a rough outline and airspace info, but it's not anywhere near as detailed as on my 296.
Even when I have the maps working in the lower 48 there are many things I can't do such as scroll over to an airspace and have it tell me the ceiling and floor. Another thing I do frequently when I fly is use the map pointer to scroll over to a land point where it meets the water, click on it and tell it to navigate me straight there. This is because much of the airspace in the Anchorage area is between a mouth of a river or the tip of some land. When I do cross country planning I'll frequently pick a peak or something to fly towards before making a turn though a pass so having the ability to put a waypoint anywhere is important, and being able to add one while flying by simply scrolling over and hitting enter makes it simple. Zooming in and out is also a big deal. Alaska is huge and only having 4 levels of zoom seems awkward.
At the end of the day I really want garmin cartography on a 8" display with everything else integrated (light weight is everything) but it looks like the cartography is the hard part. I suppose I can make my own maps, but I would want to see how that works on the sim before spending money. How do I make my own maps? I think I understand how the import system works. I do I just create new DEM files and import them? How will I be able to do this with vector maps? Raster maps will take up a huge amount of space before they have any real level of detail.
Thanks,
schu