PDA and GPS

Submitted: Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 10:43

ThreadID: 44044 Views:2500 Replies:9 FollowUps:6

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Garbutt

I've taken the plunge and bought a PDA and blue tooth GPS, all very fancy, from local computer guru Blaze. I've got some maps but looking in Exploreoz shop, the Natmap raster obviously covers all of Aust. The CD version and DVD versions are fairly similar in price, but do you need the extra detail (and therefore extra memory space ) of the DVD version or is the CD version adequate for moving map stuff when travelling. I am a learner so don't understand that clever computer geek words so plain english answers and opinions please.

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Reply By: Mike White - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 10:50

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 10:50

Extra detail is a good thing, I have the 250 K digital maps from HEMA run them on Notebook so memory is not a problem, if your PDA has memory slots for SD cards then you might think about a bit more detail.
I also use maps that came with my Magellan and they are very detailed, I hope this is not too confusing.

Cheers

AnswerID: 231962

Reply By: bardenboy - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 10:59

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 10:59

When using the Natmap Raster use the sheet maps as the mosic map of australia is to large for the PDA processor, I use the Standard CD 2005 maps and they are find.

AnswerID: 231964

Reply By: lk2000 - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:13

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:13

Barbutt,

Mate, the CD and DVD versions are exactly the same software - the DVD is just for the convenience of having everything on a single disk. There is no extra detail.

Also note that the Natmap raster map is a very large scale, so doesn't show the level of fine detail you may want for small tracks etc - it's a good map to start off with but later on you'll definately want some more detailed mapping of key areas.

AnswerID: 231967

Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 09:48

Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 09:48

There is a difference between some versions of the 250K digital maps - they have been scanned at a higher resolution (what I think people mean by "more detail")...which is why they have a bigger file size and are sold on DVD. IMO the extra reslution is probably not worth the extra dollars as all you will get is a clearer map image when you zoom in past a certain level. There is however little advantage zooming in on a 250K map too much as no "extra detailed" will be revealed, a consequence of their small scale.

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Reply By: Member - Doug T (W.A) - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:24

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:24

Garbutt
You didn't say what brand you bought , if it's Garmin then have a look at Tracks4Australia, If it's not Garmin then don't bother.

www.gpsoz.com.au/oztopo/

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Reply By: Member - Thomo - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:36

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:36

Take a look at "trackranger", a mate of mine has it and has been from one end of the country to the other and reckons nothing out there is better. Take a look anyway www.advantechdesign.com.au

Cheers

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 09:40

Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 09:40

Trackranger does not have a PDA version - so its doesn't come close to OziExplorer at all in this regard. The PC version of Trackranger is more expensive and less widely used that Oziexplorer so unless you can identify a feature you need that it has and OziExplorer doesnt (is there one?) getting OziExplorer is a far wiser choice (IMHO).

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Reply By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:51

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 11:51

Garbutt, you could talk to Blaze again about the mapping. The 250K Australia for the PDA takes about 700meg of SD space. I have it on a CF card (Compact Flash) of 4gig so that can be useful too, if your PDA will also take one of those.

I was using one 1gig SD for Ozi maps and another for Tom Tom, which will fit on the same SD as the 250K Australia. Try arresting the Lexic bloke with a collar and chain and talk to him about mapping. There is a good Riverland map too

AnswerID: 231974

Follow Up By: Garbutt - Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 09:24

Saturday, Apr 07, 2007 at 09:24

Lexic enjoys being chained and collared so Elaine tells us, so I wouldn't do that, I hate to see him enjoying himself.
GB

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Follow Up By: Des Lexic - Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 20:52

Sunday, Apr 08, 2007 at 20:52

Ragbutt, I thgought Blaze had the 700gig map for you. Maybe he's hanging out for more money. LOL You better give us a ring or call in so we can talk seriously about maps.
John, I guess it's not long before your off again. Have a great time. All the best to Heather too.

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Reply By: kimprado - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:28

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:28

Garbutt

I purchased a HP iPAQ hw6965 PDA yesterday which comes with inbuilt GPS and TOM TOM software (also purchased a 1g SD card). One of the guys at work will down load OziExplorer next week.

Was advised that once this is done, I’ll be able to download Hema Maps. If for some reason, this is not successful, I’m going to drink myself into oblivion or shoot the dog (whatever comes first)!
LOL

Regards

Kim

AnswerID: 231979

Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:40

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:40

He are the facts on the two NATMAP products from the Geoscience Australia Website.

"What are the differences between NATMAP Raster and NATMAP Raster Premium?
NATMAP Raster Premium has higher quality images than NATMAP Raster. Premium edition images have lower compression rates applied and in some cases smaller pixel size.
NATMAP Raster Premium is supplied on 2 DVD-ROMs whilst NATMAP Raster is supplied on 4 CD-ROMs.
NATMAP Raster has 514 individual maps based on MGA94 (UTM projection). In NATMAP Raster Premium, these maps have been mosaiced into separate UTM zone maps i.e. zone 55 contains all s*55** numbered maps as a single map image.
Map content and software operation is identical between versions i.e. NATMAP Raster and NATMAP Raster Premium operate in exactly the same way.
NATMAP Raster Premium Landsat satellite image has 25 metre pixel size, whereas the NATMAP Raster satellite image is coarser with 50 metre pixels.

Bill

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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:54

Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:54

All you need to load onto the PDA (or better still a memory card to save space) is the 8 Zone Maps (Zone49 -Zone56).

I assume you will be using OziExplorer on the PDA to reference the maps?
Ozi provides a free download program which converts the *.ecw map files into a format better used by OziExplorer CE. (The version of Ozi that runs on a PDA)

The program will save the map files, including the Map reference files, to a CF Card.
The easiest way to do this is to use a card reader so that the CF Card appears as an additional removable drive on the PC. Conversion of all eight files will take almost 24 hours, or you can select one at a time.

Any more help you need with information to help you choose the best approach, please don't hesitate to ask.

Bill

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