Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 10:16
I've been an oziexplorer user in the past (WindowsCE version mainly) so my comments on the bitmap app have been influenced by wanting to use as much of my existing maps/tracks/waypoint files from ozi as I can.
It works ok (and is good value for the price - $4.99 from memory). I do have some issues with it though. Most of these issues are outlined in the file aquisistion guide available of the bitmap website.
http://nixanz.com but they do mean quite a bit of additional work for me if I go this way (it's not just a case of loading up my oziexplorer files and off I go).
When loading some of my ozi map files (hema maps) into bitmap, it gave warning that some of the map projections are not supported (eg: Lambert Conformal Conic) and that my location may not be accurately shown. I'm unure yet whether I can convert the projection to one that is supported by bitmap or not.
Bitmap supports ozf2 and some older ozfx3 format files, but not the later (post v3.03 Image2Ozf) formatted files (as they now have encryption in them). Of course I have some maps that I've converted that are in the newer ozfx3 format which I would have to redo if I can.
Of course I also have to convert all of my tracks, waypoints and route files to KML format files as that what bitmap uses. There are free
tools available that will do the conversion though.
Another annoying issue for me was that there can only ever be one "active" waypoint/route file open at a time. So if I'm recording where I am going (route/track), and creating waypoints along the way, they are all stored in the same KML file. Thus when recording has finished, I have to manually edit the KML file to sepearte my waypoints from my track/route. (You can have multiple non active files open/visible though. So one file showing a pre-recorded track/route you are following, and another with the pre-loaded waypoints/points of interest in it).
Anyhow, they are just a few things to think about. It's certainly not up to oziexplorerCE standard, but then again it's only $5 so no complaints there.
If you are an existing oziexploer user with lots of maps / tracks files / waypoint files etc - another option worth investigating is the TwoNav software. Unfortunately it's $79.99 so not cheap on the iPad/iPhone. If you have another device (android, windowsCE/mobile etc you can download a trial version to give it a go free). It uses standard ozi track (*.trk) and waypoint (*.wpt) files as is. It does not read ozi *.map files (and thier associated images) as is though, they must be converted to *.rmap format. Using the companies CompeGPS Land software on a PC (free version is fine) and a free set of DLL files for reading ozi files, the maps convert easily and quickly (I've used it for ecw, ozf2 and ozfx3 - incl new/encrypted ozfx3 files) with no issues at all.
Anyhow, just some info to think about. We all have different needs/requirements and history (exisiting maps, files, etc).
John
FollowupID:
728413