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OFSC Trail Guide


RAMSOMAIR

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I can't really speak to most of the previous technical concerns and comments BUT I do know that here in our district, clubs have gone to great effort to make trail signage "visitor friendly". 

 

Spoke about the ITG the other night in our driver training class and interest perked up. Our O.P.P. guest speaker had a great suggestion for the kids: log onto the ITG, check for trail availability, highlight your route and print off a copy and leave it for your folks when you go for a ride. 

 

Some of us old-school types might be struggling but doesn't mean we can't get the next-gen to get some good out of it. 

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Good idea.  CV, I can attest to the signage in your area being top notch.  Thanks to your volunteers!

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Reading the above difficulties of going from A to B I found a similar problem. An ITG route will not pass through the junction of C101 and C103D. I zoomed in as far as I could and found that there is a gapin the map. So The ITG doesn’t know that they are connected. I reported it on the ITG comment site.

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11 minutes ago, scrummage said:

Reading the above difficulties of going from A to B I found a similar problem. An ITG route will not pass through the junction of C101 and C103D. I zoomed in as far as I could and found that there is a gapin the map. So The ITG doesn’t know that they are connected. I reported it on the ITG comment site.

A call to your district office admin will get it resolved. They have direct input to those working on the system.

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That might be the problem on 50 at D103B (just north of Port Sydney) but I cannot zoom in close enough to detect a visible gap.

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Supposedly the new app is coming out within the next few weeks 

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  • 1 month later...

I used the OFSC ITG app on Friday/Saturday on our loop from Bonfield to Pembroke.  Overall, I found the app to be very good, kudos to OFSC and certainly well worth the $4. 

 

One question; In Mattawa, I tried to zoom in to see what exact streets the trail was on thru town.  It wouldn’t zoom in to show street names.  Is there a way to do this?

I believe the old app did show street names. 

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19 hours ago, coolbane said:

I tried to zoom in to see what exact streets the trail was on thru town.  It wouldn’t zoom in to show street names.  Is there a way to do this?

No.

 

Apparently the inability to zoom in, is a trade off for quicker loading of the map.

 

Wrong priorities imho. There are many times when being able to read the street or road names is important.

 

To get the detail missing from the app, I use the other itg instead: https://trails.evouala.com/ofsc/

 

Edited by Blake G
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I wondered the same, I have google maps on my phone and think it will zoom in and gps locate to better detail. Haven’t tried it yet though. Could use two apps in conjunction when needed. 

Edited by pt3189
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The app was also designed for off grid use. It will update the trail information when cell signal or wifi is available. If not, you still have a functioning map with the trail information. 

 

The tradeoff is, every time you zoom in one more level, the map download almost doubles in size. Something has to give. 

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10 hours ago, Blake G said:

Apparently the inability to zoom in, is a trade off for quicker loading of the map.

Wrong priorities imho. There are many times when being able to read the street or road names is important.

I use the itg at https://trails.evouala.com/ofsc/

 

 

11 hours ago, coolbane said:

One question; In Mattawa, I tried to zoom in to see what exact streets the trail was on thru town.  It wouldn’t zoom in to show street names.  Is there a way to do this?

I believe the old app did show street names. 

Was disappointed to find that on the PC based ITG the names of towns were missing, while practically every single lake was named which was distracting and for the most part useless. i.e. Try finding Port Loring. I generally like the ITG, but lack of communities is a problem. Street names would also be helpful.

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30 minutes ago, slomo said:

 

Was disappointed to find that on the PC based ITG the names of towns were missing, while practically every single lake was named which was distracting and for the most part useless. i.e. Try finding Port Loring. I generally like the ITG, but lack of communities is a problem. Street names would also be helpful.

No kidding on the lake names!!  I did not really notice that until you said something.

Screen Shot 2019-01-07 at 6.23.15 AM.png

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Map source needs improvement. 

Just my opinion.

I use CBMT topo on a navigation app. There's other free on line map sources, NRC among them. These are commonly used as "bases" for navigation apps. As taxpayers, we already fund this.

I use Backcountry Navigator There's a free 30 day trial. Highly recommended for anyone venturing off the beaten path.

It involves downloading map tiles. If you did ALL of Ontario, you'd need a good phone, but with my 2 Y.O. 16g phone, I just download tiles for my frequently visited areas. 

I can zoom in to the point where a 2 lane road is as wide as my finger if needed. ALL the info is there. 

NO cell signal is required after you download the tiles. 

I'm not bitching about the $4. 

I just require location information when I come to a road crossing. 

If anyone is looking for input, that's mine.

 

 

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4 hours ago, slomo said:

 

Was disappointed to find that on the PC based ITG the names of towns were missing, while practically every single lake was named which was distracting and for the most part useless. i.e. Try finding Port Loring. I generally like the ITG, but lack of communities is a problem. Street names would also be helpful.

It depends on the level you zoom in to it seems. St. Amant Rd. Port Severn Rd. Baguley Rd are all clearly shown and named. As I follow the trail toward Midland, Waubaushene Victoria Harbour and Midland itself are also shown.

 

map.JPG.ec6336416ac21ff82d1ddbd117022952.JPG

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Maybe this has been talked about but did not see it on my phone app I just noticed that it shows red from  L173 junction on A trail going into Hearst a 7.6km stretch as closed I have good wifi and data so it updated good  but yet on my computer on ofsc site map it shows open...weird 

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2 hours ago, 02Sled said:

It depends on the level you zoom in to it seems. St. Amant Rd. Port Severn Rd. Baguley Rd are all clearly shown and named. As I follow the trail toward Midland, Waubaushene Victoria Harbour and Midland itself are also shown.

 

map.JPG.ec6336416ac21ff82d1ddbd117022952.JPG

You are using the hybrid background, which does show towns and roads. 

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works in both formats

 

map.JPG.52d191c7f63dd43fa5a7bdb5cd5fd1f8.JPG

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Great that it works on a computer, in your house.  Not great when you're using your phone on the trail.  You know, when it's actually important to know...

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3 minutes ago, Doze00F7 said:

Great that it works on a computer, in your house.  Not great when you're using your phone on the trail.  You know, when it's actually important to know...

The people that have purchased the App and have an issue with it should (if they haven't already) post their concerns about the functionality of the app on the OFSC Facebook page. That is the most effective way I know to get your  message to the source and most often will get a response.

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6 hours ago, slomo said:

 

Was disappointed to find that on the PC based ITG the names of towns were missing, while practically every single lake was named which was distracting and for the most part useless. i.e. Try finding Port Loring. I generally like the ITG, but lack of communities is a problem. Street names would also be helpful.

I think having the names of towns on the PC map would make planning much less confusing. I also wish the rivers would all be named especially those that the trails cross. For instance on my laptop there is no name on the Fredrickhouse river ( where Nunz and Karen had issues) anywhere along it that I can find although it does name Fredrickhouse Lake further to the south.

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7 hours ago, slomo said:

 

Was disappointed to find that on the PC based ITG the names of towns were missing, while practically every single lake was named which was distracting and for the most part useless. i.e. Try finding Port Loring. I generally like the ITG, but lack of communities is a problem. Street names would also be helpful.

 

40 minutes ago, Doze00F7 said:

Great that it works on a computer, in your house.  Not great when you're using your phone on the trail.  You know, when it's actually important to know...

The comment came from Slomo that on the PC based, not the app on your phone the names of the towns were missing. As for me I won't be using a phone based app. I have my Garmin GPS and paper maps.

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That is a problem with OpenStreetMaps.  It is a community updated mapping system so that anyone can update portions of it AFAIK.  Probably some Techo-fisherman went in and updated all the lake names. :-)

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  • 2 months later...
On 1/7/2019 at 12:41 PM, PISTON LAKE CRUISER said:

The people that have purchased the App and have an issue with it should (if they haven't already) post their concerns about the functionality of the app on the OFSC Facebook page. That is the most effective way I know to get your  message to the source and most often will get a response.

Purchased the app and have been doing as you suggested, but comments seem to have been falling on deaf ears. Unless you know where the towns are, you are skunked until you zoom in at an extreme level - bad on a phone - getting the know the lakes pretty well though. Zoom in and zoom out "buttons" would facilitate operation with stylus if hands too cold to swipe screen.

 

Meantime over in Quebec's Lanaudiere area, a previously not too serviceable map has been upgraded, apparently with few user complaints -

 

-You started here....

148549715_oldmap01.jpg.e5dd49206d668fd0197bd3b91ddf9ebd.jpg

 

Were required to find the Sector on the map to determine conditions for that area according to the club....

 

97613453_oldmap.jpg.97ec5782d66588ab83b4b52948da260c.jpg

 

which has now been replaced...all within the same season....with this which is easier to comprehend....green, yellow, red....

 

1839555124_lanaudierconditions.thumb.jpg.72d46fa39dbd1f7742977b5fb269222b.jpg

 

It would be interesting to compare and contrast the evolution of various provincial systems - how did Quebec get to where it is now, verses Ontario progress etc.

 

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