Re: [VAL] boondocking

["Rick Kunath" <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I doubt the file formats are the same. Ozi is designed for moving map
> applications, originally for a sail boat, but works great in a truck.

Quakemap does that also. But I wonder if GPSbabel or GSAK can cross convert 
formats. I'll have to take a look.

> Quakemap looks a little better at putting labels on the map/photo, but
> since Ozi is designed for stand-alone use it is better at general
> mapping processes.
>

I'll definitely have to give OziExplorer a good look. Quakemap can operate 
offline also, and can either use the various standard map formats, or while 
online grab topos and aerial photos at whatever resolution you need over a 
specified area of interest. 

> I'd be glad to share a few files (waypoint, tracks, map comments) so you
> can see the format. Ozi builds its tracks from the NEMA sentence sent by
> the GPS, but the track file is a text file that doesn't contain all the
> data that is included in the NEMA sentence.
>
> One nice thing about Ozi is that you can make and calibrate maps from
> scanned paper maps. 

That's something very interesting. Can OZi operate on online (or offline 
downloaded) terraserver and USGS topo maps and aerial photos? 

> You can even do screen shots from Mapquest and 
> stitch them together in Photoshop and calibrate them (but you'd have to
> restrict them to your personal use due to copyright, and even that might
> not be totally ethical).
>
> Further, if you like 3-D, you can load DTED models (free from USGS) and
> it will generate 3-D views of the terrain. Tracks will have height
> profiles, etc. There is also a version that runs on CE based pocket PCs.
>

Also something I'd like to have, as Quakemap does not do 3D and Google Earth 
gets me lost without the topographic maps to refer to while looking at the 
terrain.

> You can get a pretty powerful trial version at www.oziexplorer.com (the
> author is in Australia). There is a very active and informed user group
> on Yahoo. If you've ever wondered about datuums and elipsoids, you will
> get an earful here, but you don't have to know squat about
> geodetics/geodessey to use Ozi.
>

Thanks for the tips,
Rick Kunath
Michigan