Thread: Tablet as GPS

Originally Posted by AllTerr

Yup. I have the same thing set up on mine. I find Google does the job for basic navigation (point A to point , but for off-road, tracks, etc I use OziExplorer.

For the average non adventurous motorist type .. Google maps is fine, but as already implied ... for any exploratory adventure it's too hit and miss.

That's why I mentioned OSM.
Much better detail for remote track detail, and you don't have to cache anything unless you want the absolute latest and greatest mapping data.
Download the 500Mb or so Aus map data use an OSM app on the tablet(heaps available for free) .. and go find any track you like.
If it's not marked on the OSM map(very rare), you upload a GPS track file of that missing data to assist with the additional detail of the missing track.

In actual use:
Ozi is about as good as it gets.
Sitting around pondering where to go to next, the image(bitmap) mapping system allows quick and easy panning about to find points of interest.

Apps that make use of vector type data(like OSM and Google maps) require a lot of processor speed and panning around a map, even tho it's stored on the device, can be painfully slow whilst waiting for the image to render on the screen.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

I recently acquired a Galaxy Tab A. Its the 7" model.
As Navbitch finally carked it I'd like to use this for GPS purposes.

Any advice on
A : software
B : mounting bracket.

I would like it to sit up on top of the dash.

Will I need a shroud if its up there?

I have the same tablet & use a RAM mount.
Using MemoryMap as navigational software, which has free maps as well as topos for each state plus Hema maps, street maps etc, etc.

Thanks Wojer, the same RAM mount as pictured previously?
suction onto screen? short or long arm?

Ram mounts also sell a solid bar (to bend into correct position) which can mount using the seat rail bolts (no drill) or another convenient mount.
This allows for heavier items including laptops, but frees from the constraint of having to mount to window or dash.
Used by Defence and Police. RAM POD No-Drill™ Vehicle Mount with 18" Rigid Aluminum Rod & Single Socket Arm Unpackaged - RAM-B-316-1U | RAM Mounts.

Originally Posted by gregor.morton

Ram mounts also sell a solid bar (to bend into correct position) which can mount using the seat rail bolts (no drill) or another convenient mount.
This allows for heavier items including laptops, but frees from the constraint of having to mount to window or dash.
Used by Defence and Police. RAM POD No-Drill Vehicle Mount with 18" Rigid Aluminum Rod & Single Socket Arm Unpackaged - RAM-B-316-1U | RAM Mounts.

That’s the pic I posted. Quite happy

Guys,
recently went across Simpson and prior to leaving went through all the possible GPS software and options that generally all costs a bomb and is restrictive- have to keep buying updated expansive software updates etc.. Found free to download Avenza app software written by a Geoscientist that works all around the world with no phone signal and wanted a simple very accurate way of telling where the hell she was at any time. It is Free to load up then it automatically searches for free and/ or very low cost government topo maps/ Hema maps or any maps available for the area you are travelling in. You select the ones you want.
For the whole trip across Simpson, and up through to Plenty and back to Brissy cost me $15 in maps (you own them once you purchase and save them). Just chucked the tablet on the dash and at any time grab it, touch screen to wake it up and within say 15 seconds it places you exactly on the relevant map for your location. I am talking exactly on the road line exactly where you are at any time!
You need to spend say half hour before you leave and get the appropriate maps loaded for the trip which is easy to do as you just ask it to find them for you and you chose either free ones or more detailed ones for a few bucks. It doesn't calculate km's to destination or anything like that but it places you on any relevant maps at any time and so you can estimate km's to go same as you used to do with paper maps. To me it was just like using a good old detailed paper map but on a tablet. No phone signal required for it to work. At one stage at 10pm driving though the Rig road after a lot of rain -millions of mossies we were looking for a clear area to set up swags where we would not get hammered by mossies or run over by camels. I picked an old abandoned airport approx one hour ahead basically in the middle of the Simpson and watched as we went over each dune on the Hema map I loaded with the topo detail. I said to the son "the airstrip should be over the next big dune' and bugger me it was! Never glitched or locked up as it does not have to process massive map data just reference the map file as you go. Can zoom in, scroll forward across the map all so easy. You will never get that sinking feeling about where the hell you are again ha ha.

Regardless of what software or mapping system you choose for your GPS system it is advisable to have good paper maps of the areas you want to access.
Not only are they a great backup (with a compass) in case your GPS "Karks It", They are also easier to use to plan a trip or look for places of interest than scrolling through on those small screens.
I have OziExplorer and the Hema app on my laptop which is great But I find a nice big paper map is the best option for planning a trip or when you are simply looking for places to go in a new area.

Hi,

I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet for navigation in the D3. We've done 70,000kms around Australia with our caravan, preferring bush camping so we're generally off the beaten tracks as much as possible.

samsung tablet 1.jpg Samsung Tablet 2.jpg

The tablet sits pretty well in front of the cubby on the dash except when the road gets very bumpy and the co-pilot has to hold it. Preparing for our next trip, I've been checking out the various RAM products and will probably go with a tablet holder and extension based around a 1" ball. Behind the tablet is a Garmin satnav for town use. RAM make a short adapter with a 1" ball at one end and a Garmin ball at the other, which I'll get so I can use the same fixed ball mount and arm and swap the devices over depending whether I'm home or overlanding.

When overlanding, I use the app Memory-Map as a navigation tool. It's a free download and comes with a standard set of basic maps of Australia. I’ve added to these by purchasing HEMA 4WD Australia (full set), Australian Outback Tracks, and EOTopo 200K, using the in-app link to the Digital Map Shop. Together, these maps provide me with very detailed coverage of every part of the country, especially small backroads and 4WD tracks. The topographical maps are useful for towing as I get an idea of the incline of the country coming up.

These various maps were downloaded at home while I had the extra bandwidth to work with; it can take some time to pull down the complete data. The maps download either as a full set first time (haven’t mastered that for the big maps yet) or in chunks of data on-the-fly as you scroll around the new map, which is OK but you need to be online to be able to pull these data chunks down. So I pulled all the data down for each map by scrolling systematically around every part of each map – takes a little time for the whole country but that way I knew that I had the total data set in my tablet for all the maps and available when offline or travelling.

Each map is like a layer on an onion, with three or four zoom levels each. As you zoom, you might leave one map of that area and go to a different map of the same area that may show different data, enabling you to select the one that suits you best. It’s all very seamless.

I've been using Memory-Map for four years now, initially on an Aldi android tablet for a 4WD trip to Cape York, and have found it to be very, very accurate. We’d be driving along the Telegraph Track in the middle of nowhere, and the map would show a track coming in on the right just around the next bend…and sure enough, there it was, exactly on the mark. That tablet died a couple of years ago and I was able to transfer all my maps onto the new Samsung tablet via my account at Memory-Map Aus/NZ | Topo Maps | Marine Charts | GPS Software for PC Android and iOS. So I wasn't up for any new costs.

A nice feature of Memory-Map is that our track is overlaid on each map as we go along, providing a visual record of where we’ve been so far. It also features Route Planning which I haven’t used yet as our travels are very spontaneous, and Way Points that I sometimes use to flag upcoming points of interest.

Cheers
Pete