[Talk-ca] How did you start in OSM?

[Steve Roy]

I think I used maps generated from OSM data on my Lowrance GPS before I 
knew what OSM was.  I was looking for freely available maps of Poland 
for a trip I did there with my family a few years ago.  More recently I 
used similar maps on my Garmin when my wife and I traveled to Prague and 
Poland.
A little after that I created an account on OSM and uploaded my first 
GPS track of a forestry & 4x4 road near Lac Le Jeune in BC.
Even more recently geocaching.com removed the Google satellite image 
option from their mapping, however I found the OSM generated maps to be 
superior in many ways and got interested in the project again.  Since 
then I have been uploading all my old GPS tracks from our 
hiking/biking/4x4 & sledding trips in the Interior.

In the Lac Le Jeune area where we like to explore I have been frustrated 
by the lack of detail of commercial and even the Ibycus topo maps.  The 
best thing about OSM is that I can change that and add roads and trails 
in the area that interests me and others do the same.  Now when I 
download maps for my Garmin  from osmmaps.com I see the roads and 
trails  whene we go exploring. It's a win all round.

Cheers
Steve

On 7/6/2012 4:27 AM, Richard Weait wrote:
> Do you remember how you first heard of OSM, or first got mapping?
>
> I think the first sign I saw of OSM was in a post on slashdot in June 2006.
>
> Share your story.  How'd you get started?
>
>