Overland Navigator GPS Topo Software

[cruiserlarry]

Just wondering how many of you here purchased Overland Navigator and are also into HAM/APRS. I've finished the alpha version of the next release but need a few guys to do some APRS testing. If you are an existing customer, are setup to do APRS already, are technically savvy, and have an interest in testing/refining this feature then please contact me at support@spatialminds.com.

It would be great if we could get 3-4 of you in the same group so you could test together.

Thanks,
Craig

E-mail sent, too

[spatialminds]

We've just released map-packs for NY/NJ, PA, NC/SC, WI, and MI.

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

[ralphie]

I just recived the overland navigator and so cal disks downloaned them on my net book thats running windows7 and they work, just one little thing the maps are really old, just wondering if all the
map pack maps are that old? other wise they are great and easy to work with while driving, I like it.

[spatialminds]

I apologize for not responding sooner. I just saw the post. In the future, I can provide a much more timely response if you contact me via support@spatialminds.com.

The maps are based on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Topographic Quadrangles which vary considerably on when the USGS last updated them. I wish they were updated more frequently too. In my opinion they are still the best detailed backcountry maps available with complete US coverage. Fortunately, the woods, desert, mountains, & bush don't change much so even those quads that are older still work for the typical Overland Navigator user.

Craig

[spatialminds]

For those that might be interested, the latest version of Overland Navigator has been released. It was supposed to be a minor release, but there are a fair number of features that were added in a large part because they were of interest to OAUSA (and the SAR community).

Thanks to everyone here who participated in the Beta Testing. Larry in particular provided some really great feedback.

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 a brief explanation of the APRS display support... 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).

Primary Symbols


Secondary Symbols


Having implemented an initial version via NMEA, I'd like to do a more complete version in the future. Messaging, sharing APRS objects other than your own location, etc would all be very cool. It won't be in the next version, but as a developer, I have the bug now.

I believe Larry has this setup on his laptop with the Kenwood D710a if anyone wants to take a look. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Craig

[Chazz Layne]

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Just one: does this setup work "passively" as well, as in just listening to the radio and plotting the APRS stations on the map instead of sending GPS data to the radio? The reason I ask is the Yaesu FTM-350 has the GPSr module built-in, so it already knows where it is and where everyone else is in relation. At this point I'd just need to be able to view that info on a real map so humans can understand it easily.

Also, I imagine the computer would still need it's own GPSr, but if there were some way it could pull location from the radio's on-board GPSr that would be very cool. I'm not sure if the 350 is even capable of sending out that kind of data though...

[sdnative]

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.

I have been trying to do this in National Geo TOPO for some time now to no avail. I have finally given up. When I get some cash, I will strongly consider this. Good job!

I have the GPS connected to the tinytrak4 directly, then output $GPRMC or $GPGGA sentences to my laptop, but TOPO does not recognize or accept them, not sure which. It does work with UIView however.

The only issue I can see with going to the computer first then the TNC is this works only if the computer is being used and the program is running. Sometimes I use APRS without a computer (just using GPS, TNC, and radio). In fact this is how I operate most of the time.

Questions:

Does this product support Garmin USB or just the serial port?

Can you send APRS messages directly from this program? I use UIview32 just for this purpose and would like to avoid running another program if possible.


I would be happy and willing to do some beta testing with the TinyTrak4 if you need it.

[spatialminds]

Overland Navigator understands NMEA0183. If your radio/tracker is outputting NMEA0183 position info *and* $PKWDWPL or $GPWPL waypoints for stations then you can just use the radio as the Overland Navigator GPS input and it will center on your location and show APRS waypoints. E.g.

GPS----(NMEA)----> Tracker ------(NMEA + $PKWDWPL)---------> Overland Navigator

In this configuration you can completely ignore the pass-through functionality. This should work well with the TT4 setup you have. In fact, Byon added a feature to the TT4 on my request so you can output both the location info from the GPS connected to the tracker AND the waypoint info. Like you, I want to be able to run APRS even when a computer isn't connected. This configuration *will not* work with the D710a or most other radio/trackers because they typically only output the GPS location info.

I am not deeply familiar with the Yaesu, but my limited understanding is that the FTM-350 has no NMEA input or output. It has the GPS built in, with no output port, so there is no way to display the APRS data on a 3rd party GPS (like a Garmin GPS, Overland Navigator, AvMap, etc).

Craig

[spatialminds]

Overland Navigator supports NMEA0183 input. The Garmin USB connector uses the Garmin proprietary protocol. There are two possible options that I'm aware of:

1. Use the free "Garmin Spanner" program to convert the Garmin Binary protocol to NMEA.
2. Use Fransson GPSGate, to multi-plex your GPS connection.

I haven't ever had any luck with option 1, but a couple of my customers have it working. GPSGate works well.

For about $35 you can buy a GlobaSat BU-353 Magnetic mount USB GPS puck. It supports NMEA0183 and has the same chipset internally as the high end Garmin units. Because the price is so low, and it removes the need to mount another device in the cab, most customers usually decide to go with a GPS Puck.

I also like the MightyGPS Weatherproof GPS for trucks that want a more factory looking install. It also has the SIRF III chipset, has no visible wires, but requires a hole to be drilled in the roof.

Hope that helps,
Craig

[spatialminds]

With the release of Florida and New England Map-packs last week, Overland Navigator now has USGS Topographic map coverage the all of the lower 48 states.