free topo maps for NSW

[tom_brennan]

There was a bug in the Bells and Whistles version that prevented new data from being able to be saved in the correct format, which I think I have fixed. I notice that a few people created data and probably then couldn't access it. If you were one of those people, the link should now work (PM me if you can't remember the link and you want to access it again)

Harry - if you have made a route, you should be able to save it (click the link icon) and then if you email that link, you can open it on the iPhone. This version of the map is not optimised for mobile, but I had a look on my Android phone just then and it seems reasonable enough. You can also save the routes to GPX, and I'm sure there are apps for the iPhone that will open GPX files.

[LeftRightShoot]

Tom. Amazing Job.

Anyone had any success with an Android solution that can store tiles offline?

[tom_brennan]

Anyone had any success with an Android solution that can store tiles offline?

I've had a bit of a look. It looks to be a bit of work, but it would be pretty cool if you could select an area, and have the tiles cached for it so that even if you were out of mobile range, the map would still work. You'd want to give people warning about how much data they are about to chew up!

There's some decent info out there, mainly from one bloke (Dr YSG) who sounds like he has something working. Google "leaflet offline maps". Feel free to have a go

[polas]

Anyone had any success with an Android solution that can store tiles offline?

I've had a bit of a look. It looks to be a bit of work, but it would be pretty cool if you could select an area, and have the tiles cached for it so that even if you were out of mobile range, the map would still work. You'd want to give people warning about how much data they are about to chew up!

There's some decent info out there, mainly from one bloke (Dr YSG) who sounds like he has something working. Google "leaflet offline maps". Feel free to have a go

As far as I know google and most other free services do not allow to store tiles for off-line use. That's why all the apps had to remove that feature. You can only store tiles if you have your own custom key to access their APIs.
So motionX (that used to be able to store all maps types) left a loop hole allowing ppl to add custom services and it is users' responsibility to check and know terms and conditions.
To be honest I do not know what restrictions are imposed on NSW maps and I would be careful with adding support for caching in any public website/app. Does anyone know if they allow storing their tiles?

[tom_brennan]

To quote their intro page:

LPI is now providing spatial data as web services. The web services have been released under open access licenses as part of the NSW Government Open Data Policy to support new and innovative uses of NSW Government information.

The web services allow users to access the most up to date information without having to store and maintain it in their own systems or applications. The web services can be used in multiple ways e.g. direct use, mashups, mobile apps and spatial systems.

Their terms and conditions are at:
http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_i ... conditions

Their tiles are all licensed under CC-BY - so there would be no issue caching them offline. If you knew there was going to be excessive access of their server, you could cache them first on another server to reduce the load.

My 2 line summary of all that is
- you can use the tiles for whatever you want, as long as you attribute us
- don't abuse the server or we'll stop letting you use it

[ribuck]

Anyone had any success with an Android solution that can store tiles offline?

I'm not sure whether you're looking for an Android solution for offline NSW Topo Maps (which is easy), or an Android solution to cache Tom's mashup maps for offline use (which I haven't looked into).

OruxMaps for Android is a free app which can do the following:

- Display offline vector maps using data from OpenStreetMap. (This is a very compact vector format. NSW/VIC only takes up 288 megabytes. The whole of Australia is slightly over 1 gigabyte.)
- Display online maps. This includes NSW SIX maps (Topo or Aerial photo).
- Display merged maps, for example the NSW Topo with a background of NSW Aerial.
- Display any map in 3D, Google Earth style.
- Download map tiles in advance and cache them on the phone, so that they can be used offline in the bush. Because map tiles are bitmap files, they take up quite a lot of space, so I don't try to download the whole of NSW. Instead, before each trip I download just that area. It works great! Naturally your current position is highlighted on the topo map.
- Overlay any map with your intended route (stored on the phone as a GPX or KML file). You can even tell the app to alert you if you diverge from your planned route by more than a certain distance.

It's a great app, and can do much more than this too.

To set up a new map source (e.g. NSW Topo or NSW Aerial), use the "Switch Map" option, select "online", and click WMS (which means Web Map Service). Enter the parameters (the URL, which layer(s) you want, and most importantly click the "Downloadable" box before clicking the "Create" button. Having done that once, you can click "Switch Map" anytime to use that map type.

Suppose you want to download some NSW Topo maps for offline use. Just zoom and pan the screen to display the area you are interested in (for example, the Budawangs). Click the Map icon and select "Map Creator". It asks you to touch the top-left and bottom-right corners of the area you want to download, then it asks you what zoom levels you want to download.

Now you have a full offline navigation system on your Android phone: GPS location, electronic compass, 2D and 3D topo maps and aerial maps, route display, route following, and track recording. It's fiddly to set up for the first time, but very easy to use after that.

[AnthonyD]

HandyGPS for Android allows you to download map tiles for use as offline maps. ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... h.handygps )

The URL you need to use for NSW topo maps is:
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/ ... rver/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}/jpg

Anthony.

[tom_brennan]

Anthony - per forum rules, you should remember to disclose your association with HandyGPS

[Randle]

I'm having trouble using an android application with your NSW topo maps links. The map I'm particularly wanting is one that Backcountry Navigator refers to as NSW six maps topo mosaic (I've attached an image). I want to use this in another application that loads from a tile server but can't find the url to enter

[mattdtmattdt]

Hi Polas,
I'm having trouble with printing the nsw topo maps from the lpi website. I'm using qgis (on a mac) but the print resolution at 1:20k is terrible. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
Matt

[wilko61]

Hi All,

You may not be aware but as of the 1st July 2016, the NSW State Government decided to move off the mapping component from LPI. There is however still access to the Maps Web Service, you should be able to find it at ...... http://spatialservices.finance.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_imagery/lpi_web_services

Cheers

Andrew

[Randle]

Hi All,

You may not be aware but as of the 1st July 2016, the NSW State Government decided to move off the mapping component from LPI. There is however still access to the Maps Web Service, you should be able to find it at ...... http://spatialservices.finance.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_imagery/lpi_web_services

Not sure what this means? You seem to know more about this than me. What link would i use as the topographic tile server for an external application as i cannot get the one above to work?

[wilko61]

Hi All,

You may not be aware but as of the 1st July 2016, the NSW State Government decided to move off the mapping component from LPI. There is however still access to the Maps Web Service, you should be able to find it at ...... http://spatialservices.finance.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_imagery/lpi_web_services

Not sure what this means? You seem to know more about this than me. What link would i use as the topographic tile server for an external application as i cannot get the one above to work?

Hi Randle,

The first link on this Topic "http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_i ... b_services", no longer works as LPI no longer performs mapping functions. "Spatial Services" is the new name that has been given to the NSW mapping service, this Department/service has undergone may name changes over the years. I have worked here for 26 years, in that time I think there have 12 name changes Lands ... CMA ....LIC .... SDG.... Lands ... LPI ... Spatial Services.
Cheers

Andrew

[tom_brennan]

What link would i use as the topographic tile server for an external application as i cannot get the one above to work?

What do you mean you can get it to work? Below is the standard format for a topo tile. If you click on the link it will take you to that tile. So it should just be a case of adaptiing it for your application.
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/ ... 9680/30060

[Randle]

What do you mean you can get it to work? Below is the standard format for a topo tile. If you click on the link it will take you to that tile. So it should just be a case of adaptiing it for your application.
http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/ ... 9680/30060

I have tried three applications on Android: Australia Topo Maps; Locus Map; and Orux Map. The first one returns not a valid bitmap or protocol errors... and the second two say they cannot read the server capabilities. They don't seem to have problems with other tile servers. I have no idea

[tastrax]

In QGIS use the following URL for the Topo maps

'http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Topo_Map/MapServer/WMTS?'

You will also find that its best to print at 96dpi

For Orux you may need to use a different URL -something like the one below

'http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Base_Map/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}' or
'http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Imagery/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}' or
'http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Topo_Map/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}'

[Randle]

Thanks for your ideas but I can't seem to get it working with these URLs either

[tastrax]

Here are some instructions for using similar services from the LIST system in Tasmania. Check them out and just change the URL's to the ones from NSW

http://listdata.thelist.tas.gov.au/publ ... _Guide.pdf

drop the quotes ' from the urls

[tastrax]

Start from this URL in NSW to find which services are WMS versus WMTS

http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/

[wilko61]

Hi All,

You may not be aware but as of the 1st July 2016, the NSW State Government decided to move off the mapping component from LPI. There is however still access to the Maps Web Service, you should be able to find it at ...... http://spatialservices.finance.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_imagery/lpi_web_services

Not sure what this means? You seem to know more about this than me. What link would i use as the topographic tile server for an external application as i cannot get the one above to work?

Hi Randle,

The first link on this Topic "http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/mapping_and_i ... b_services", no longer works as LPI no longer performs mapping functions. "Spatial Services" is the new name that has been given to the NSW mapping service, this Department/service has undergone may name changes over the years. I have worked here for 26 years, in that time I think there have 12 name changes Lands ... CMA ....LIC .... SDG.... Lands ... LPI ... Spatial Services.
Cheers

Andrew

Hi Randle,
I had a play and asked an the App Developer at work, "Spatial Services", with the move to the new web/site address, I've got the following 3 x maps services working with MotionX-GPS :-
Topo Maps .... [url]http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Topo_Map/MapServer/tile/[Z]/[Y]/[X][/url]
Imagery .......[url]http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Imagery/MapServer/tile/[Z]/[Y]/[X][/url]
Base Map .....[url]http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/public/NSW_Base_Map/MapServer/tile/[Z]/[Y]/[X][/url]

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Andrew

[tastrax]

And here are some more explantations for QGIS

http://spatialservices.finance.nsw.gov. ... vices/qgis

[Randle]

Thanks so much Andrew! These links don't appear to be different but I've now got those maps working in Australia Topo. The orux program worked with http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/servi ... /WMSServer?
I'm also looking for that topo mosaic

[Randle]

I'm also looking for that topo mosaic

Found it on a different sub domain http://maps1.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/serv ... /WMSServer?

Edit: and this was the tile server for the same thing http://maps1.six.nsw.gov.au/arcgis/rest ... rver/tile/

Thanks everyone for your help! I think I now understand how it all works at a simple level

[ken333]

I posted instructions for accessing the NSW SIX maps using Oruxmaps (Android only) on 7 Dec 2015. Map areas can be selected when you have a data or WiFi connection, and the map area downloaded for off-line use. It involves modifying a file in the Oruxmaps folder. The maps use the WMS standard. I have also posted instructions for using the Qld QTopo maps, and someone has posted instructions for the Tas LIST maps. Here is the link to the SIX map post.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=21989&p=286926&hilit=SIX+maps#p286926

PS - I've been informed it is not necessary to modify the file. The data can be entered directly. See the thread.