Navigation Options

[bushbandit]

On DannyGs video I noticed his GPS and mapping on the dash .What is the best cost effective way of setting up navigation for the outback via GPS or other.

[DannyG]

On DannyGs video I noticed his GPS and mapping on the dash .What is the best cost effective way of setting up navigation for the outback via GPS or other.

Everyone will have a different solution but for us as you saw we use a 5" gps with ozieplorer and a heap of different maps on it. I just change maps according to the area or the detail I want etc. It also has IGO street mapping software for when we are in the cities.
I bought it several years ago off an online dealer with all the software installed (I added some extra desert maps and more Hema maps) for the bargain price of around $200!! I cant for the life of me find the dealer to post a link. But it is a cheap chinese gps (at least I think it is) using windows ce and oziexplorer and has well and truly stood the test of time and punishment imho. Its battery is crap and was crap since day one so it needs to be plugged in which it always is anyway.
We also have a plug in gps that goes into the netbook which also has oziexplorer and a garmin hand held but never use those. And an iPad thats capable but again have never bothered to use it for navigation.
We take paper maps to any area we are visiting as well as they are handy and we also have the hema desert map book and bloody camps 6 book and god knows what other crap my wife likes to use LOL

But at the end of the day the cheap $200 dash gps and a good fold up paper map is my choice of weapons for navigation

[bushbandit]

Yeah I wonder what this is like compared to the Hemma HN6 which is twice the price.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/7-OFF-ROAD-GPS-OziExplorer-CE-4WD-Australian-maps-topographic-4x4-/260934756409?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cc0ec6839

[DannyG]

Yeah I wonder what this is like compared to the Hemma HN6 which is twice the price.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/7-OFF-ROAD-GPS-OziExplorer-CE-4WD-Australian-maps-topographic-4x4-/260934756409?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cc0ec6839

Its obviously good value if it lasts. I took a punt when I bought a cheap Chinese unit and several years down the track it is still going just fine so at $200 I think its turned out to be outstanding value. When I bought mine I wanted a 7" unit as the supplier sold 5" and 7" and the supplier talked me out of it. He said he has had heaps of issues with 'his' 7" units but none with his 5" units so I went 5". Of course this may not be the case with the unit you have linked to.
I wanted to buy off someone I could phone and speak to about the software license etc so I didnt go down the ebay road at the time even though Im sure the ebay units are the same sort of thing as I bought.

[DannyG]

Ironically I think the ebay link you gave is the same guy I bought my unit off but direct from his online shop LOL

http://off-road-gps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

[bushbandit]

Ironically I think the ebay link you gave is the same guy I bought my unit off but direct from his online shop LOL

http://off-road-gps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

That's interesting info thanks , what is the Oziexplorer maps like compared to the Hemma .

[Brumbypt]

I too wanted and needed offroad navigation and i had no money to start with.. I looked at those GPSs on ebay but i still needed $$.. so i really like the HEMA products and would love to have had one of their HN6 etc but couldnt afford it..

what i could afford is to pay off some thing, so i settled with buying a IPAD from myer and that went on my myer card as it was nearly empty and needed me to buy something.. hahahha
a month or so later i downloaded the HEMA app.. I love the combination now, not as good as having a dedicated GPS but i can use the ipad for almost all my computing needs. and hardly turn my pc on at all now..
which was good as it was getting old and this is the cheaper option to replace it.

actually i am on it now using the tapatalk hd app.

ok its a little awkward in the car, but nothing a RAM mount wont fix later on down the track.

u can plan routes and keep a track of where u have been.. u can also drive free hand through the bush and look back later where u have been..

love it..

it has the full hema maps of australia..




Carry on...

[bushbandit]

I too wanted and needed offroad navigation and i had no money to start with.. I looked at those GPSs on ebay but i still needed $$.. so i really like the HEMA products and would love to have had one of their HN6 etc but couldnt afford it..

what i could afford is to pay off some thing, so i settled with buying a IPAD from myer and that went on my myer card as it was nearly empty and needed me to buy something.. hahahha
a month or so later i downloaded the HEMA app.. I love the combination now, not as good as having a dedicated GPS but i can use the ipad for almost all my computing needs. and hardly turn my pc on at all now..
which was good as it was getting old and this is the cheaper option to replace it.

actually i am on it now using the tapatalk hd app.

ok its a little awkward in the car, but nothing a RAM mount wont fix later on down the track.

u can plan routes and keep a track of where u have been.. u can also drive free hand through the bush and look back later where u have been..

love it..

it has the full hema maps of australia..




Carry on...

Do you need a 3g version and does it have to have reception for the GPS to work?

[Brumbypt]

I have the wifi only version with an external GPS receiver.
problem with that is i have another battery to manage, and on the last day of the first trip i did, i didnt watch its battery level so it ran out (Usually lasts 10 hours) so i lost the last couple of hours of driving on my worm track log..

but the big advantage is u dont have to have the ipad in view under the windscreen for it to keep GPS contact with the satellites. I fold it back up and put the ipad between the passenger seat and console to keep it out of harms way.
but i hope to get a ram mount soon.

it will cost u the same $$ in the long run so now I wish i bought the 3g version, i could have put that on the myer card where i had to save up for the gps receiver.
$150

so u see the cost is around the same in the long run..

and u dont need to have a 3g account for it with telstra, but the 3g version has the inbuilt gps. sorry forgot to mention that earlier..


there are a few other threads mentioning the ipads so do a search.

HEMA have the app on special till fathers day i think.


Carry on...

[DannyG]

That's interesting info thanks , what is the Oziexplorer maps like compared to the Hemma .

Oziexplorer is software that runs the gps and maps. I use Hema maps in oziexplorer.

You can use as many different types and ranges of detail maps as you like in oziexplorer, you just select the map you want or you can have it to auto select the map with the highest detail. I run 3 different types of maps with it, Hema is my favourite, then it uses another high detailed map which name escapes me but its very good I just prefer the look of Hema, and it also uses a very very basic looking map that I never use.

[bushbandit]

Oziexplorer is software that runs the gps and maps. I use Hema maps in oziexplorer.

You can use as many different types and ranges of detail maps as you like in oziexplorer, you just select the map you want or you can have it to auto select the map with the highest detail. I run 3 different types of maps with it, Hema is my favourite, then it uses another high detailed map which name escapes me but its very good I just prefer the look of Hema, and it also uses a very very basic looking map that I never use.

So did you purchsa the Hemma mapset and load it onto your unit or is it on a SD Card etc?

[DannyG]

So did you purchsa the Hemma mapset and load it onto your unit or is it on a SD Card etc?

Probably not the place to talk about it here but a mate gave me several versions of Hema for Oziexplorer 

You put the maps on your pc and then plug the gps unit into your pc to load them on. And it also uses a small card for storage so you can load them on through that way as well if your pc has a card reader.

Check your PM's.

[whatsa]

yeah I use OZi too
hema works good for your roads and some tracks.

Tracks tend to change over time so the use of satellite maps downloaded
is a massive help if you do off-track /new track type of use.

with the sat images you can just see where there are tracks.

[Shoey]

I bought an indash from this ebay seller and have been extremely happy with it. the seller was ever so helpful and even rang latter to ask if i had any problems.
http://stores.ebay.com.au/digoptions

has dvd player am/fm radio sat nav/on and off road. large screen reversing camera
check him out

[Frostd]

We recently returned from our Epic Red Centre trip. About 12 months ago, I bought the samsung 10.1 tablet, wifi version with built in gps. I thought I dont need the 3G model as I could hot spot the tablet to my mobile phone for internet use.  I installed ozi for android on the tablet.
Just before we left, I picked up a full set of Hema 2013 digital maps from ebay, as well as an extention to my ramp mount, which I had used for my older garmin GPS.
I set it all up on the dash of the patrol and it worked beautifully.  The tablet could also be used for other things, ie keeping track of the budget as we drove, using wikicamps app to find free camps etc.  I can not fault the tablet/hema maps and ozi for navigation. Very happy and would use it again.

[cp]

Cheapest option (not the best) for those with smartphones or tablets, I'd have to say MotionX GPS, its about $2 and runs on both IOS and Android.  It does need phone reception for the map BUT you can pre download the map of the area to make it work wothout reception. 

Personally, I will be running oziexplorer on nexus 7 as primary GPS with Mud Map 2 (aka VMS) and MotionX on the iphone as back up.

Cheers

[Terry W4]

I have a Ipad (3/4g and wifi) loaded with Mud Maps2 plus a Navman MyEscape 11 which also has a series of Hema 4x4 tracks loaded.

Only used locally so far (that is Canberra mountains) and seems to provide all the info I need.

[Paulp]

We also use Hema Maps with Ipad model with 3/4G wifi that has built in GPS receiver works great no need for any data card .

[cp]

Hema Explorer for android came out a couple of days ago, it has the Simpson Desert map and I like it so far. Mud Maps also released a version for android recently, i was less than impressed with it because it would only allow you to zoom out twice, making it impractical to plan routes.

[rodw]

Quite a few years ago I fitted a car PC which has a old laptop behind do the front seat and a 7" screen embedded in the dash.  This let's me use the full version of Oziexplorer. I have about 15 gb of maps on board. Some of the 25k series maps are at a resolution of 3 meters per pixel so that means the native resolution across the 800 pixel wide screen is only about 2.4km. The Natmap raster is much more detailed than the Hema maps. Whilst I paid for the maps on DVD, today you can download them for free from the federal government mapping site. This gives you all of Australia at 1:250k. The format they use is not usable by OziCE, the PC version can convert them to a usable format. Just remember that Ozi is a big program and was never really designed solely as a portable navigation device but it has everything you need and  More!