Problems with MapQuest

[fontenele]

Good evening,

Plan-G is showing the following:

MapQuest Developer
As of july 11, direct tile access has been discontinued
Please visit our blogpost...

Thanks in advance for any reply about this problem,

Fontenele

[stracey]

I've got the same thing. Tiles covering the maps stating access has been discontinued.
Looks like we're going to have to pay somebody to continue usage.
Question is: Who? How much? How to pay?

[zzzyzygy]

This is all over the Internet today for every application that uses MapQuest. Here is an example:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/38315300/mapquest-direct-tile-access-discontinued

So MapQuest has screwed a lot of people. This could take a while to fix.

[fontenele]

Indeed, lets wait for the solution

[stracey]

I contacted the suggested sites at MapQuest. I tried to read what they were trying to say but it's computer geek stuff, not in English.
I don't understand any of it.  There is a free App (App???), so I joined their extortion club (the Mafia and the European Union could learn a lot from these guys) and subscribed to the "Free App".
I got onto a page recognising me.  It provides customer id and secret squirrel stuff but I cannot understand what it gives me and it does not tell me how I should use it. So for the time being I can't use Plan-G.
Regards
David

[zzzyzygy]

Looking at the MapQuest plans my guess is that it will no longer be possible for Mr. Arnot to offer Plan-G by donation if he continues to use MapQuest. So it looks like it is now necessary for Plan-G to use OpenStreetMap (as it says on the home page) instead of MapQuest.

It's better than MapQuest anyways. Here's the standard layer (it can be changed to include terrain): https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/65606#map=9/51.7245/-0.7237

[zzzyzygy]

Eureka! Plan-G does support OpenStreetMap!

Go to File > Options > General and select the OpenStreetMap radio button.

Ta da! All is good.  :)

[fontenele]

Eureka! Plan-G does support OpenStreetMap!

Go to File > Options > General and select the OpenStreetMap radio button.

Ta da! All is good.  :)

Allright! Thanks a lot for the solution zzzyzygy

Cheers  :)

Fontenele

[marc2990]

Indeed, we can switch to OpenStreetMap or OpenCycleMap; the first shows us the streets, the second the terrain. But for VFR flying with a moving map, it is very convenient to have a combination of both, like with Mapquest OSM. Anyone knows whether or how such a combination can be created?
Cheers

[stracey]

I saw the messages about OpenStreetMap and hit on the address and got a map of southern England - which is where I am.  Great! But there is no "File" button to go to.  So I cannot proceed to "Options" and "General" and the instructions for downloading.  Can someone please explain to me what I have to do?
Please note that I am a complete computer illiterate dummy - worse, I am an old man and computers hate old men.....
would someone please help me?
Thanks, Regards, David

[tim arnot]

I saw the messages about OpenStreetMap and hit on the address and got a map of southern England - which is where I am.  Great! But there is no "File" button to go to.  So I cannot proceed to "Options" and "General" and the instructions for downloading.  Can someone please explain to me what I have to do?
Please note that I am a complete computer illiterate dummy - worse, I am an old man and computers hate old men.....
would someone please help me?
Thanks, Regards, David

You need to be in Plan-G. The File menu is at top left.

[tim arnot]

Another company out to monetise an overtly free service, by the looks of it (I bet they're not paying for their core OSM data...)

I'll look into working with their new "pay" API if people want it, and it'll work along the lines of Mapbox, i.e. you'll be responsible for managing your own data sub.

Plan-G operates as donationware, i.e. you can contribute something via the tip jar on the front page if you want to, but there's no compulsion. There's no minimum donation (well 1 cent, which is effectively "nothing" after Paypal take their cut), and no maximum either. Donations typically cover the web hosting payments, and not much else. They don't pay me a salary, they don't buy me hardware or add ons. I have committed to keeping Plan-G essentially free, and that commitment is unwavering.

But please keep an eye out for free tile servers and let me know if you find one. OpenStreetMap will always be there, since they are a community run project, but acts like this are only going to stretch their resources even further.

[Seasmoke]

Thanks Tim.


As an aside;   while Mapquest on my flying PC went bang in a large cloud of dust and smoke,   Mapquest still works on my Laptop which I use to work out my days flying in the comfort of my bunk, while on coffee Number 2.   I presume that will continue so long as I don't push "connect"?

Rick

[tim arnot]

The tiles you most recently used will be cached. By default, Plan-G only goes to the server for tiles it doesn't already have. Gradually over days and weeks the cache will expire and Plan-G will go the the server again, at which point the tiles will disappear.

"Connect" only connects Plan-G to FS, there's no relation to the tile management system.

[marc2990]

Hi Tim
You asked for free tile servers. How about the Thunderstorm Outdoormaps. As far as I can see, they look very suited for VFR flying. And they are coming from the same house as the opencyclemap; so they are free up to 150000 tiles per month. It should not be too difficult to get them in plan G?
Cheers.