Hema navigator 6

Submitted: Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 21:40

ThreadID: 95524 Views:2483 Replies:2 FollowUps:8

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David16

I am looking at getting a Hema navigator 6, just wondering has anyone got one and been out bush with it? Is it worth it Vs the cheaper oziexplorer?

David

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Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 08:20

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 08:20

You may need to do more research. The Hema has both road navigation and topo navigation for "moving map"

The main devices for both topo and street include hema and VMS.

Dedicated Street navigators are much cheaper. (Garmin, etc)

Plenty of info on this site,

Cheers
Alan

AnswerID: 485679

Follow Up By: David16 - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 08:32

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 08:32

Thanks Alan,

What I am after is a gps (in car) that has both off road maps along with topo. I already have a garmin handheld and a Tom Tom in car, I do a lot of gold detecting and we are doing a Simpson trip in July.

David

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Follow Up By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:17

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:17

David

Both the Hema 6 and the VMS 700 seem to fit your requirements.

These are $700 - $800

The Hema 6 has a larger screen than version 5 and it runs Oziexplorer (small version of the PC software)

You can add maps in the future. With moving map it will constantly show you where you are and the map "moves" under the cursor.

The tracking feature will alow you to see where you went (even if no road/track is shown) and if you have to back track out of an area you just follow your inward track on the map and checking the track after intersections ensures you have taken the correct one.

It will not navigate (give turn by turn instructions) on the 4WD mode but you can put in waypoints to reference while travelling.

Trust you find what you are need.

Alan

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Follow Up By: David16 - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:22

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:22

Thanks Alan, that is exactly what after. How detailed are the outback maps?

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Follow Up By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:36

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:36

David

Once in the centre, there are 6 Hema maps (great desert maps) that cover the centre with extra maps just on certain areas such as Red centre (Alice) and a separate Simpson desert map.

All these maps and a lot more are preloaded on the Hema.

They show tracks, items of interest, surrounding features etc.

I think they are more useful than 250000 topo map in desert areas.

Cheers

Alan

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Follow Up By: David16 - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:41

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:41

That's great Alan,
I'm heading into the city shortly to see if I can look at one and most likely buy one. ThR is if I don't get shot soon, been at mothers day breakfast with wife and kids and spent most of it on this site on iPhone! Oh well, at least I won't get lost especially if I'm alone! (:

FollowupID: 760931

Follow Up By: The Explorer - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:54

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:54

Hi
When it comes to maps the term "detailed" is a bit subjective as it depends what you are using the maps for. The Hema outback series are essentially annotated tourist maps and at very small scale (e.g. 1:500,000, 1:750,000). They show only the main roads and tracks and main points of interest. They are however excellent for their intended purpose.

The Hema Nav also comes with 250K topo maps which serve a different purpose and have more “detail” with respect to tracks and topographic features…but no annotations on things to see where, to stay etc. like the Hema outback maps. Alan provides an example of how your intended use determines how useful (“detailed”) a map is with his statement “I think they are more useful than 250000 topo map in desert areas”. If in fact he was looking for more defined topographic features or less travelled tracks the 250K maps would be better. Having said that if you compare the 250k maps with larger scale maps (e.g. 100K, 50K and 25K – where available) then the lack of detail on 250K maps (and the Hema maps) will become apparent in some areas.

As far as prospecting goes you will find the 250K better than Hemas maps simply because of the scale if nothing else...and they show more secondary tracks in “outback” areas (eg Goldfields WA). There are however even more detailed maps (e.g. 100K geology, 100K topo, 50K topo) available for some locations. Start with the 250K and see how you go.
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: The Explorer - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:31

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 09:31

Hello David

HN6 has only just been released so you may have trouble getting a review of any substance on this specific unit. They are however not unlike (except slight bigger screen) previous models (HN5 variants) which have been popular.

Those who dislike HN mainly base their argument on price (there are cheaper alternatives...typically eBay sourced units with or without required software and maps..so add up all costs and the fact you may have to set up some of the software yourself, warranty etc) and screen size which I suppose Hema are offsetting a bit with the 6" model. I haven’t seen one yet so can’t say how much better the extra 1" (diagonal) improves the overall package.

I am not sure what you mean by "Is it worth it Vs the cheaper OziExplorer?" The HN6 is a packaged product that includes a GPS with software (iGo and OziExplorerCe) + a variety of Hema Maps. OziExplorer is gps mapping software product that works on PC's. You can’t do a direct comparison on cost between the two without adding a few other things. If you already have a laptop/netbook (or tablet) then maybe getting OziExplorer (or maybe android version) (+ required maps) + attach a GPS for moving map would be an option to consider. Disadvantage is where do you sit the laptop/netbook to view safely when driving + just takes up more space. HN6 sits on the dash and is more far more comapct and plug and play (which is probably main draw card compared to bigger setups). Bigger the better but comes at a cost.

Final decision rests in your hands - there is no ultimate setup that suits everyone. Depends what suits your needs/likes/dislikes - everyone is different.

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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Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:22

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:22

Hi Greg

Here is a good one for the experts, and it even had the Tech's stumped at Hema.

I went down the road with a new HN6, which is great and when I loaded the DVD and set up the map, I thought that I would have a little play with the new map page etc on the Laptop.

I imported a set of waypoints that I recorded on one of my desert trips, and low and behold, all the altitude details that I had recorded as Metres all appear as feet on the Hema Map. Not being a new boy with Ozi, I thought it must be in the settings, so check out what you have to choose, and yes I was in a Metric setting.

I then loaded the same waypoints in the normal Ozi, and yes they are all metric Altitude, reload them again in the Hema Ozi set up and still if feet.

I then thought about it for a day and then rang the very helpful people at Hema. I explained the situation, and he said that yes he had heard of only one other person stating the same, but had not seen it himself. During the phone conversation, he also imported waypoints from their database, and low and behold, the same with him, they were in feet and he was not able to get them to metres.

It had him completely stumped and said that it was an issue with Ozi, and he was going to fire off an email to Des, highlighting the problem and will let me know the outcome, and hopeful fix.

Have you ever heard of this problem??

Cheers

Stephen

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:37

Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:37

Hi

Nope...but I never bother with altitude as I have no use for the information. Pretty flat over here in WA:)

I guess it is simply a case of OziCe not having the facility to convert feet to metres as a setting i.e. I am assuming all data is actually stored as feet and then converted to metres for your viewing pleasure...same as coordinates which are all in lat/long WGS84 but converted "on the fly" to UTM and whatever datum you choose if that’s what you want. The fact that you changed the setting on the PC hasnt affected the stored file. So, not so much a "bug" but an inadvertent lack of function.

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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FollowupID: 760939