looking for a navigation tutor

Wireless internet is usually only available where you can get a phone signal and if you want the best coverage of the bush sadly it usually means Telstra NextG

Alan

PS I have a Telstra Gateway NextG modem which I take with me

Trevor, I think that they have as it is now in the trader section!!

Cheers

Mark

IdahOz, don't forget with the solftware you will need to do a fair degree of research as well. It is not as simple as plug and play.

Cheers


Mark

I see that! I am looking at oziexplorer and it says it doesn't include maps ?!?!?

Oziexplorer doesn't come with maps but you can download a trial version and play with it. A set of maps for all of Oz at 1:250,000 or better will set you back only $40 in the shop on here:

Natmap 100k

Cheers

Pete

Idahoz

You have the basics correct. The GPS and internet are independent systems (although modern phones are integrating the two, but that's another story/option).

Most people who go the laptop route seem to use OziExplorer software. Don't use it myself so hopefully others who do will weigh in but I'd suggest that if you want turn by turn navigation (ie you enter your destination, let the software work out the route and it speaks directions for you as you go) then a stand alone GPS unit is a far simpler/better option (as well as being less bulky, and extremely useful in the city). If you read the many threads on here you will find there are cheap options (a few hundred $) or very expensive ones (high end Hema, Garmin, TomTom with a decent mapset $500++).

There are free digital maps for dedicated GPSs, but again if you want routing (turn by turn, spoken guidance) rather than navigating by looking at the screen and seeing your position overlayed on a map you will need to purchase some map data. Many people run both commercial map products and freebies (swap in and out on a small/cheap SD card if you wish).

Some advantages of a dedicated GPS unit: small, easy to handle; can loan to family and friends if necessary; spoken word navigation means you can concentrate on the scenery; no hot, bulky laptop bouncing around on your lap on rough tracks. In the city a dedicated 'road' GPS will warn you when you are speeding (depending on the mapset and quality of the GPS unit), when speed/redlight cameras are coming up, and can show you a range of useful details like 'where is the nearest petrol station' (you can download a heap of useful POIs - points of interest - free from a number of websites, or enter your own simply).

Hi IdahOz
Another vote for that option. OziExplorer running on a laptop is a great tool but not something that you can plug in and use without a fair bit of support and/or prior knowledge. Nor do you want a laptop sitting in your lap all day, its bulky, hot and potentially dangerous in the event of a mishap.

I haven't used a Hema Navigator but as it offers both turn by turn navigation and Ozi (the two are quite different systems) it should do all that you require of a bigger laptop system. Its main disadvantage over the laptop system is probably the smaller display, but I think you would learn to get used to that.

As far as getting email while you are travelling, a Next G phone (with a datapack) plugged into your laptop is the way to go. Even then you wont get access when you are well away from highways and bigger towns.

Cheers,

Val

Hi again, Have just noticed that you very sensibly drive a Troopie ;-) There is definitely not enough room in the front of a Troopie to comfortably use a laptop. We have an older style small computer mounted behind the seats and a touch screen hanging on the dash to run OziExplorer. When we first got Ozi it took about 50km of driving with the laptop to decide that there had to be a better way!

Cheers,

Val.

If you go down the Oziexplorer path the Chart and Map Shop in Fremantle run periodical training sessions in how to use it, might be worth contacting them to find out when the next ones will be.

They can probably also help you with digital maps, but I think the Exploroz shop has the Hema 4WD collection on sale - it contains a load of maps as well as the Geoscience series which is a good starting point - I actually find them the best maps out in the sticks.

I think you will find that many more people use Ozi than TR. That means there are more people around who can help you out with Ozi when you get .... stuck.

Haven't used TR so cant comment on how the two systems stack up. But I will say that Ozi is truly worth the time and effort that you put into learning how to use it. Its brilliant. I think there is also a pretty good Ozi online forum for assistance.

Cheers,

Val

Just a point of clarification to HG's post,

Since 1997 the Geoscience 250k maps are a by product of a GIS product called Geodata. This series of maps were updated with the best and most up to date information available at the time of production. The NATMAP 250k digital maps are as good as you'll get for national coverage.

Hema maps are more up to date due to Hema's ongoing field checking of tracks and roads and so on, but they are of a smaller scale generally than the NATMAP products (less detailed). They also don't show contours either. I know that Geoscience Australia in its previous incarnations as AUSLIG and NATMAP exchanged information with Hema on a quid pro quo basis. Geoscience supplied base data (Contours, watercourses, lakes and infrastructure) from which Hema maps were built up. Hema provided track plots for all the tracks and roads they had available at the time.

Hema is a great product that I refer to some times but I refer mostly to the NATMAP 250K digital maps when off road unless there is a larger scale map available. In the years I've used it, the NATMAP 250K digital maps have shown themselves to be very good product.

WBS