Hi all,
I don't normally do trips planned via point to point GPS navigation however did so last month.
I had my old HP Ipaq PDA from 2007 running Oziexplorer CE. This is not a bad unit though I wouldn't mind a bigger screen. Using the Oziexplorer Screen Designer Software, available from their site for free I reprogrammed the six main screens to display all the features I wanted, how I wanted.
Screen1: Full moving map with cursor at location
Screen2: 3/4 Moving Map with compass, distance to waypoint, heading, waypoint name and bearing
Screen 3: Compass, route name, heading Bearing, distance to waypoint, waypoint name
Screen 4: Nearest waypoint list, up and down arrows, goto function
Screen 5: Date, time, satellite graphs, sunset, sunrise, odo, altitude, gps on/off, create waypoint, and quit program
Screen 6: Route name, next waypoint, bearing, distance, previous waypoint, next waypoint, load route, forward nav, reverse nav and Stop Nav.
This is great software and makes the old GPS come alive again however is all academic as I forgot 1 important function.
The Cross Track Error (XTE) tells you how far you you are perpendicular from an imaginary line that goes from your previous waypoint and your destination waypoint. If you don't know what side of the line your are on or how far you are away from it then this information is important. My companions last trip were frequently called on the radio for an XTE update from me, who where all running full versions of Ozi and had the info at their fingertips. Perhaps I was over confident and didn't think I needed it:)
Something to think about if your planing a point to point trip, or something to remember to put in if you are playing with the new screen designer software.
Cheers
Alan