Newcastle Upon-Tyne Mapping Event

This event has finished

Please see http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Newcastle_Mapping_Event

Hello,

I am a student at the University of Newcastle and am planning a mapping weekend for Newcastle Upon-Tyne in December. Dates are TBC but I was thinking 8-9th or 15-16th December. The main reason for the project is for my dissertation and I would like to map an area of Newcastle in detail (University campus or city centre for example) along with other areas. The dissertation is based on GPS for mapping, with OSM being the focus.

This is the first stage of proceedings as I have just signed up to the OSM and the forum. After feedback from here I do plan to set up a Wiki page.

As a ‘newbie’ I would like to use this thread for advice and to see what people have to say on the idea. I would also like to hear from anyone interested (and your available dates) or who has mapped bits of Newcastle before.

Thank you

Ru Anderson

Sounds interesting, maybe a little far for me though, unless the event gets sponsered and travel is covered. I have mapped a few roads in newcastle before, a long time ago, but mostly I mapped middlesbrough.

Make sure you also send a message to the talk mailinglist. The number of potentially interested mappers will expand hugely that way.

It would be good if you could make it but I don’t think this will be getting sponsered.

Thanks, I have done!

Main page for the mapping weekend has been set up:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Newcastle_Mapping_Event

Just checked the Newcastle page and it looks good to me. Just one remark: I’d obfuscate your mail address a bit before spammers find their way to your inbox :slight_smile:

I’m giving a talk in Durham(15mins on the train?) on the 13th November which will explain what OpenStreetMap is about and maybe some interesting stories about mapping.
This will hopefully get people interested in OSM and then I’ll get a bunch of us Durhamites(or just southerners/students) coming to help you map Newcastle.

Details here: http://www.livingwithdragons.com/2007/10/events
Your all welcome to come down and support me or listen to the talk, it could be interesting even for existing OSMers.

^
That sounds good mate. I’m going to try and make this myself if possible as i’m still a newbie to mapping!

Glad to see you can make it to the mapping weekend too!

Less Than Two Weeks To The Newcastle Mapping Event!!

Newcastle Mapping Event Review
By Ru Anderson

On Saturday 8th December, an OpenStreetMap (OSM) mapping party came together in the Cassie Building at Newcastle University. With the aim of collecting as much of the missing street data for the main Newcastle region, there was much to do. The weather forecast also stated heavy rain for the whole of the weekend.

The rain didnÂ’t put everyone off, and the start of the mapping began at around 10am. Starting at the north of the city (Gosforth) and working downwards was the plan. The city had been sectioned into walk able areas with print outs of each section available for the field. This proved to be essential as many new people to OSM turned up and needed any guidance they could get. After an introduction to the project and the equipment, they were sent out manned with the handheld GPS receiver, section map and a quick guide to using the receiver. 6 new mappers in total went out and completed parts of their section. The heavy rain made notes very difficult to read and write but all the tracks were uploaded successfully to the server. 2 OpenStreetMap members also attended, each having there own plans for the day. As a result, parts of Newcastle University have been mapped along with a few of its buildings. One member attempted the metro system, however after all the effort, the track did not show the correct path to allow for accurate mapping. Overall, everyone who took part contributed to OSM. Due to the amount of new mappers and Internet connections, very little data processing occurred at the end of the day but all the data has now been used.

On Sunday, the day followed the same plan as Saturday. However, the concentration was on the south of the city. 6 colleagues collected good data after making some small changes from the Saturday. Each of their sections were completed and uploaded to the server. No OSM members were available on the Sunday. Rain and snow came in the afternoon and the day finished early afternoon.

Every track collected over the weekend was used to add new information for the Newcastle region. No particular region was mapped in great detail or completed but Newcastle is now a better-mapped area than before the weekend.

Thank you to those who contributed.

Good to hear you made a load of progress. Have you got any before and after renders to show us/put on the wiki?

Nice work Ru. Was the party as expected? Do you feel rewarded for the effort you put into organising this event? And how was the general atmosphere (e.g. publike)?