Overland Navigator

Marvin who runs this website thought some of you might be interested in Overland Navigator. We'll be making a Press Release tomorrow, but I wanted to introduce it more personally to you guys since you *get* what we are doing.

Overland Navigator is Topographic GPS Software for Windows that is designed to be easy to use in the field.

I wanted a piece of software that would work well when engaged in vehicle dependant back-country exploring and camping. Something really simple that just works. Overland Navigator is what I came up with and I think it will work well for anyone who likes to explore the back-country such as people who like to go camping, RVers, offroaders, hunters, fisherman, dual sport motorcycles, ATVs, etc. It is touchscreen/pen compatible but works equally as well with a mouse or even just using a keyboard.

I made a quick demo video of the features and thought it might be a good way to introduce the product to you guys. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on how the product might be improved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Gz4xXWt1Q

And a couple photos of the setup in my truck. I use a semi ruggedized sunlight visible UMPC on a RAM mount, and a through hull weatherproof SIRF III GPS. I like the UMPC because I can remove it from the RAM mount and look at maps while sitting around the campfire. I can also lock it in my storage drawers when hiking, snowshoeing, etc.

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Nice installation.

Your YouTube link isn't working.

...ken...

Worked ok for me at 14:35 PST. Try again.

Terry

I think I fixed it. It was only bad if you came into this thread from the other thread.

Youtube links are wierd.

I didn't come into this thread from the other one. I came into it from the index page. Doesn't matter ... it works fine now.

It's an interesting product. Let us know when you have maps available for Western Canada; British Columbia and western Alberta specifically.

What sort of file is it looking for on the memory card for displaying tracks and waypoints? Is it a standard .GPX file?

...ken...

Good, I'm glad it is working now.

You bet, I'll post when additional map-packs are ready.

Yep, it looks for standard *.gpx files in either 1.0 or 1.1 format.

Craig

Hello,
I was just at your site and I don't understand the pricing. I am in Massachusetts. Since there isn't a map package for Massachusetts I assume that I would need the U.S. Map Pack for $99. The software is $39.95. So, the total cost would be approx. $140.

Do I now own maps for every state in the U.S. or is there some other per state fee? If yes, what is it? More succinctly, if I want to hike in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Main, what would the total cost be?

Thanks!

Hi,

Thanks for the interest. The maps and software are licensed separately.

The only map-pack that covers the areas you are interested in right now is the 1:250k/1:100k map-pack of the entire US. There are no 24k maps available for that area yet. I think you will probably want 1:24k maps if you are going to use them for hiking. If you send an email to sales@spatialminds.com and let me now which states you are interested in I'll send you a message as soon as they are available.

I'll be adding 1:24k map-packs for ID, MT, NM, WY, ND, SD, NE, KS, TX, and Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) to the webstore this week. MAR includes DC, VA, WV, MD, and DE for the same price as a typical state map-pack.

The other states are in the works and I'll be adding them as they are compiled, verified, and tested.


To answer your specific question: I believe MA, NH, and ME will be in a single New England Map-pack once released (this may change). Your total cost then would be $39.95 for the software and $39.95 for the New England Map-pack. The New England Map-pack would include 1:250k, 1:100k, and 1:24k USGS maps for the New England region.

If instead you purchased the US map-pack then the total cost would be $140 but you wouldn't have any 1:24k maps. If you purchase the US map-pack now, you can add the New England Map-pack later ($39.95) to get the 24k maps for that region. They install/work together seamlessly.

Craig

This is just the setup I'm running. There are all sorts of different types of setups. You can buy a CarPC that completely replaces your existing stereo, mount a touchscreen monitor in place of you stereo and put a computer under the passenger seat, or whatever else you can come up with.

Check out the testimonials section of our website (spatialminds.com) or mp3car.com for a bunch of hardware ideas. Overland Navigator will run on anything that runs Windows XP/Vista.

Here's a dashmounted carputer in a Defender.

Craig

We've added Overland Navigator regional Map-packs covering the rest of the Western US to our webstore (http://spatialminds.com). Regional Map-packs include 1:250k, 1:100k, and 1:24k USGS Topos for a region.

We now have support for the following regional Map-packs available:
Washington
Oregon
California North
California Central
California South
Nevada
Arizona
Utah
Montana North
Montana South
Wyoming
Colorado
New Mexico
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas
Mid-Atlantic Region (District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware).

Satellite Imagery Packs and US Wide Packs (1:250/1:100k only) packs are also available.

Additional Regional Map-Packs are on their way...

We've just completed topographic map-packs for:

Ohio
Minnesota
Missouri
Illinois
Alabama
Lousiana
Alabama
Georgia
Iowa
Kentucky
Indiana

We've just released map-packs for NY/NJ, PA, NC/SC, WI, and MI for sale through our webstore. Spatial Minds, LLC
The total list of map-packs that are available now includes:

Global - Satellite Imagery - Course scale only - This is not aerial photography
United States - 1:100k and 1:250k maps for the entire US. Does not include detailed 1:24k maps.

DETAILED MAP-PACKS: Include 1:250k, 1:100k, and detailed 1:24k USGS maps.
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California Central
California North
California South
Colorado
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mid Atlantic Region (DC, VA, WV, MD, DE)
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana North
Montana South
Nebraska
Nevada
New Mexico
New York & New Jersey
North & South Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas North
Texas South
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming

The latest version of Overland Navigator has been released.

Overland Navigator is topographic GPS mapping software designed to be simple to use in the field. It has an interface that makes it easy to control with a touchscreen, keyboard, or mouse. Menus auto-hide to make use of every last pixel when displaying the map which is ideal for netbooks and UMPCs. You can learn more about it at Spatial Minds, LLC

Some of the new features include:

• APRS specific NMEA support
• Location specific Sunrise / Sunset times
• UTM Coordinate Display
• Continuous GPS Track Storage to Disk
• GPS Output to external devices
• NMEA logging
• Display preferences
• High end GPS support - Track up to 64 satellites
• Bugfixes and performance enhancements

There is a more complete description on the webpage, but here is a brief explanation of APRS display support as it is the most significant new feature. NOTE: Overland Navigator remains as simple to use as ever for non-HAM/APRS users. APRS allows a GPS and HAM radio to be combined to broadcast your postion over the airwaves. Others listen for these location beacons and can plot them on a map/GPS such as Overland Navigator. Repeaters repeat the signals so they can travel for a very long distance. Gateways take the locations and add them to a database that is accessible via the Internet by friends/family (E.g. Google Maps APRS). APRS can do much more, but this is the basic description.

The software supports the APRS specific NMEA sentences that the Kenwood D7xx radios, Tiny Tracker 4, Argent Data Systems, etc trackers output. This allows Overland Navigator to display APRS specific symbols on the map. The radio/tnc/tracker is still responsible for handling the beaconing of your location.

You connect your GPS to Overland Navigator for input, then connect Overland Navigator to your tracker as it's GPS input. The tracker uses this connection to send any stations it heard back to Overland Navigator. This is, for example, the same way that you'd hook up a Garmin GPS to a tracker. There are some advantages to using Overland Navigator over a regular GPS though.

In contrast to most GPS units, when new stations are heard, Overland Navigator will update the location on the map instead of adding an additional waypoint. This greatly reduces the amount of on-screen clutter and removes the need to manually delete waypoints.

The APRS waypoints automatically fade away and then expire on their own. This lets you visually see how long it's been since you last heard from an APRS station. You can set the interval. If you have it set to 40 minutes, and a symbol is just about ready to disappear then you know it's been about 40 minutes since you last heard from it.

Finally, we tried to redo all the APRS symbols to have a consistent look/feel , offer more contrast with the background maps, and to be distinguishable from regular Overland Navigator waypoints (square).


Craig

After today's release of topographic map-packs for New England and Florida, Overland Navigator has complete coverage of the lower 48 states.