PC mapping

good day eric
for computor cables go to a sight called gpsoz they can make most cables although depending on what you get EO also sell cables. with great desert maps and the raster 250 maps and oziexplorer soft ware (all at EO) it all comes together without scanning maps unless you have an area you really want
steveimagine a 03 gu 4.2tdin the picture
as i am having trouble sizing the picture

See www.oziexplorer.com web page and open the information page and there is map scanning information there. Works well but is time consuming.
Andrew

I've got an ETrex with Oziexplorer software ($140) and the full set of Raster maps 1:250,000 ($99)for all of Australia. It works for me.

Enough detail down to dirt roads.

Gotten off the web and Map shops.

sounds like the Team at oz explorer will have another sale . Maby I should wait it my membership is due lol Venus Bay

I got the gps unit from e-bay the Oziexplorer and nat maps from my local map shop ... the complete package - GREAT... Melb and Syd are the only major locations to offer street level mapping with oziexplorer ?!

Eric
the best maps for the bush travel are the Auslig 1:250,000 series, or the Hema Great Desert Tracks if that is where you go. The detail on these maps is sufficient for navigating the most remote tracks in Oz.
If you want street level mapping the cheapest way is with the Magellan Discover Aus CD. It runs on any laptop (PC), but will only upload to Magellan GPS units from the GPS 330 up.
Most GPS units come with a cable when purchased, but if not they can be bought sep.
The moving map function with both the DiscoverOz programme, and the OziExplorer using the Hema or Auslig maps will get you hooked.
Go for it.Bob

Eric, have been giving this all a great deal of thought myself as to which way I should go. You are right in seeing that not all have connections to computers. Not all the software is the same either.

I have seen the OziExplorer maps and software and also the Magellan software Discover Australia Street maps and Tracks of Australia. There is no doubt that there is a lot of detail in both systems but remember one has to be connected to the laptop to give your mapping moving map display. With the Magellan system the maps are uploaded into the GPS and you are not required to be connected while travelling.

- If having your laptop connected is of concern to you then that is one decision point. Standard maps loaded don't have the detail you can have on bought CDRoms
- The detail in the OziExplorer is very good and allows you to see bore holes and all sorts of requierments, Magellan locates you on the GPS while away from the laptop, if it has been uploaded. The roads and tracks are in many cases named in the GPS. I have noted even one of our farm tracks is marked in Western Victoria. It does make me wonder why others are not but still!! (think the photos may be a few years old the maps are drawn from)
- If routing and voice is important then you are up for over $2K and some pretty nice gear but remember the applications are different for each and the output is too
- What I also noticed was that to load the extra maps also may need additional costly memory chip capacity, all proprietory, so costly possibly in comparison to the original unit.

The point I would make is decide if you would like your laptop connected and what detail you want on or off your GPS. Look at the output of the two or three mapping systems. A point was made a couple of weeks ago that if there is no track where the maps say there should be one, both systems will tell you the address on Earth anyway taking that part of the navigation guess work away. You will need to make that decision. No doubt they will all change about in updates in the next two years too.

Happy decisions
John

Eric,

If you need any help or advice just give me a call. I seem to be getting lots of calls on GPS digital mapping lately. Anyway we use these products almost every day so I think I should be able to give you some good information.

I had one call this morning where the guy was actually happy to speak to someone who seemed to know what he was talking about. I can tell you that the majority of book and map shop owners who will sell you the maps and GPS's do not use it themselves - we do and you can ask us.Regards
ExplorOz Team - David
--------------------------
Always working, not enough travelling ;-)

I have recently got Oziexplorer and use it on a laptop, and download waypoints to the GPS. The GPS cable was expensive for what it is. I looked at handheld computers but I think the screen on those units is just too small.

But the most fun is the NASA maps. The scale is a little large but still useful. Its possible to count the number of dunes across the simpson and see detail that supplements the Raster maps, and to see tracks that are not on the other maps. But at 50MB for each map download, you need a good internet connection.

Sean

eric could you drop me a line
decuisine1@iprimus.com.au
cheers1999 NISSAN NAVARA DUALCAB
DIESEL 3.2 & SPRINGY CARLTON TOY
2 awestruck kids (dads driving!)

Eric,
You should also be aware that All SA 1:50,000 topo maps produced by the old Lands Dept are available on CD - the Flinders map is awesome with excellent accuracy. These maps are a breeze to use with Ozexplorer ( in fact the CDs come with Ozexplorer Lite as their viewer)

Thanks for all the help guy's , I think Oz explorer is the go . Just desiding on GPS . Thanks for all the info Venus Bay

Eric

You may have seen the ALK/ Travroute CoPilot Bluetooth GPS transmitter see
http://www.travroute.com.au/products.html

Or the

EMTAC CRUX II/ BTGPS Receiver
http://www.gpsoz.com.au/bluetooth.htm

The EMTAC hardware looks identical to the Travelroute product

You would need a laptop or PDA with with bluetooth wireless to run them.

Personally I run a Travroute GPS Jacket on a PDA as the Jacket can accommodate a CF (Compact Flash) memory card , this allows you up to 4 Gigabyte (current largest CF card if you have the Bucks ) of extra memory to store heaps of MAPs without having to cart and resort to Laptops/CD ROM,s (1 Cd ROM = 0.7 GB data) while leaving your PDA expansion slot Free

I have 1GB (A$500-00 worth ) and can store 100 x NATMAP 250K RAster maps converted to OZi explorer OZF2 format (gives 1/5 coverage of Australia @ approx 10Mb per map)

In the USA You can buy just the jacket or Bluetooth reciever (no software) for A$280-00 .
In Aus hardware versions only @$469-00 (EMTEC come Travroute)
from
http://www.gpsoz.com.au/travroute_sleeve.htm

They run excellent with OziExplorer (A$130-00 plus CE addon A$40-00=A$170-00) using the NatMap 2003 $A90-00 ( 2 Cd ROM,s 513 Maps x 1:250,000 scale ) these maps give good coverage and detail of Aus though not every map is always up to date, but not many digital alternatives ie 1:100 000

This gives you a compact medium screen size high res colour screen (between laptop and Garmin/Magellin) excellent Vehicle bush coverage system ,it can be removed from the 12V vehicle supply and walked with for approx 3hrs using the PDA battery (colour Backlit screen chews power) turning off Backlight and intermitant use of PDA/GPS as required extends life considerably
Aux battery packs can be made or brought ie Zinc/air batteries very interesting.
% continent covered depends upon CF memory size used in jacket and scale of mas but work on 1Gb =1/5 of Australian 250K Natmap raster series in OZF2 Format.

If you require Street Navigation the Travroute CoPilot4 Australian version of the software can be brought either independantly (A$695-00), or bundled with the Jacket or bluetooth version(A$1199-00)

for comparison in USA
Software only Travroute CoPilot4 USA version A$330-00 (10x database size 10X population)

Hardware (Jacket or Bluetooth) and software Travroute CoPilot4 USA version A$498-00

As better half lives in USA I had a very nice Bday present with USA HWare and Software Version ,then brought the AUS software for the same outlay as the AUS HWare and Software Version

What version iPAQ PDA you link it up to is up to you

You may also need a PDA mount

Hope this helps
have fun