Decent GPS please

G'day Stephen

Go with your laptop loaded with Oziexplorer and your choice of maps. You won't look back.

What do you want the GPS to do for you?

Hi Stephen

To answer your first question, I have been using for decades Garmin GPS units. Over that time time they have gone from large mono screen units to now very compact and full colour screen.

Unlike many people, we also do many treks away from the car, and always like to record all my walking and kayaking ventures, both as a track file and also important waypoint points.

Being good quality and easy to use hand help units, I have the units set up to record my treks an very accurate detail and never as set out of the box for driving, and while on foot or water, even as high as it is possible.

Once my away vehicle venture is complete, I then comment the GPS to the laptop in my vehicle that uses a GPS mouse and then download the completed track and waypoints for future reference.

Once you get the hand of gps navigation, you will find it a very hand tool to use and one that will sit side by side with what ever in vehicle system you use.

As for incar navigation, I use both the Hema and a laptop computer using OziExplorer. For my Ozi is the best thing since sliced bead. As for your battery life on the computer that you have purchased, you will still need a means of keeping it fully charged in your vehicle when travelling, and that is another story by itself.



Cheers


Stephen

If your not going to take paper maps once you have a GPS then you need a backup if it should fail.

I run an in dash GPS running oziexplorer which is normally used for the driving navigation.

I also have a small laptop running oziexplorer that is used for route planning and has a vast array of maps. I don't use the laptop driving as it is just to big, sitting on co drivers knee it is bulky and gets warm but does have a GPS mouse so can be used at a pinch if required.

I also carry a tablet running ozi which can be used easily while driving if required or if larger display is required.

Lastly, smart phone also has ozi installed.

What we we do without technology?

Just a general comment about making GPS decisions - from hard-won experience ...

You need to start with the question 'which maps'? Not which GPS. That's just the hardware (though it often comes bundled with maps).

You can only answer 'which maps' by being clear about your needs. Getting around urban areas may be one, and that's pretty easy to satisfy. Navigating tracks though is quite different and the maps will be different. In my experience on foot or on skis, where you can't afford a significant mistake, the scale of maps needed is 1:50 K or larger, and they must be topographic. (A small scale map is designated by a larger number. So eg. the Hema Vic High Country paper map is 1:200 K. That packs a lot of ground into one sheet. But if you've got to do fine navigation bear in mind that one millimetre on the map equals 200 hundred metres on the ground - that will often make choice of turn where several tracks meet up difficult to visualise.)

Then there's other features that vary by map maker, typically man-made ones like huts or gates but also perhaps services, campgrounds and so on. In the Vic high country knowing where there are gates is important as in winter they're often closed so the tracks don't get torn up by hoons. For some folk it's not worth paying for these extra features since they won't figure in their planning.

Once you're clearer on what you need, it's a good idea to seek out sample maps of an area you know well to decide if it has the information needed for planning. Ask the supplier to send you a screen dump. Cos as with paper maps, some are informative and well drafted and others are not.

There are of course other considerations: cost, accuracy and extent of coverage.

GPSs also run software to interface between the hardware and the digital map. It handles waypoints, routes, tracks, user-defined points of interest, downloaded POIs like campsites and speed cameras and so on. In the era of tablets this software is (finally) becoming intuitive (ie. simple), not requiring hours with a manual and practice. For a GPS beginner, a tablet with 3rd party maps (if they meet your needs) can be a quick way into full use of digital mapping.

I recommended above that you look at Hema maps for the extra info. They're well drafted maps. I also find a good few errors in them and they're too small in scale to work for me. I don't like the way they handle zooming - at least in Explorer, where essentially there are two mapsets for different scales. Their new mapsets (? 140K) may be better.

I've gone a different route (cough) after using a Hema Navigator and Explorer on a tablet, with Oztopo maps that I can swap between the three Garmins that I use (car, motorbike, feet). These are topographic vector maps that handle zooming well. They cover the country at the equivalent of 25K but they do lack a lot of man-made features.

Hope this helps.

I've found Hema maps on an iPad to be a useful tool, Stephen. Have used the iPad, on a windscreen suction mount, being good enough for bush tracks/roads, but probably attract some unwanted attention on highways & in towns.

You could also check out the mounts that Baz the Landy mentioned recently. Made by Industrial Evolution, and they aren't cheap.



This is a screen shot from our trip across the Rig Road last October.



Of course you'd need some other GPS unit for cities etc.

Bob

There's 2 types of gps. One is a map and pointer which simply shows where you are on the map. The other is a map and program that calculates a route and gives you directions while you drive. The Ozi Explorer or Memory Map type is the first type and works on laptops and android tablets and phones. The second type is either a dedicated gps unit or an android or apple tablet or phone. I've not seen many laptops with a gps program that will route you and give directions but I suppose Google maps will if you have a gps mouse and an internet connection to the laptop.
In my opinion, an android tablet with a sim slot is one of the best all in one devices you can go with. It has a workable screen and internet where ever there is phone service so you have web and email, will run both types of gps programs with inbuilt gps and can be used to play music and videos for entertainment. You just need to be able to keep the power up to it.
I use mine daily rather than turn the computer on so has the added benefit of being useful even if you aren't travelling.

Hi Stephen,

I suggest that you would obtain benefit by looking in EO Articles -- Navigation where you will find sections on:..................

Digital Maps
GPS Units
Types of GPS Receivers
Laptops & Netbooks
Map Viewing Software
Regional & Off Road Navigation
EOTopo Navigation System
and more.

There is a wealth of information there which could answer most of your questions. So browse these articles to improve your understanding then ask for any specific advice on the Forum.