Event with no map - just google imagery

[Robyn Rennie]

We have a club that wants to run an event which won't use an orienteering map. It covers a large area and runs or mountain bikes around a hiking trail around a local mountain. Control locations are purely for split times and the pins can be dropped using Google Earth and a KML file produced.

However to add an event I need a KMZ file - it isn't optional. I could use an OpenOrienteering Map file (it needs to be 1:40000 to cover the area) but it seems like an unnecessary step when nobody will be actually looking at the map. They just merely want start/finish and split times.

Has anyone else done anything like this?

[Peter Effeney]

Robyn

While we continue to use RouteGadget to display results, a Map is required.

This is because RouteGadget doesn't offer any general map background (eg Google Maps or Open Street Maps). So, to make sense of runners tracks, we need to display a map.

Having said that, if you are not interested in seeing the tracks on a map, just to satisfy the RG requirements, you could create a blank-sheet KMZ file. But generally people would use www.oomap.co.uk which allows maps to be produced in KMZ format very easily with scales from 1:5000 to 1:40000.
There are other tools that allow you to grab the Google Map imagery and create a KMZ... but that takes a bit more effort. The simplest one I am aware of uses OCAD. (but you may be able to do it also with OpenOrienteeringMapper).

If/When we move to a different system to display results, we may then dispense with the requirement for a map.

Peter

[Robyn Rennie]

Of course - I had forgotten about the Route Gadget requirement. I will likely just generate a KMZ from Open Orienteer which is the easiest option for sure.