Best GPS/Navigation setup

[M1S3RY]

I'm looking at doing some NavRuns in the future and i was wonder which of the following solutions you guys think would be the best;

1 - Laptop + GPS mouse (Only 1 cable or 2 with power)
2 - Laptop + PCMCIA/CF GPS (No cables)
3 - Laptop + Basic GPS (EG ETrex 1 or 2 cables)

I'm leaning towards using the laptop with a Etrex or the next model up that has USB mainly because i'd still have a usable GPS if i didn't have the laptop. It would be a cheap laptop running OziExplorer.

Does anyone know if there is any reception difference with the mouse v's the compact flash gps as opposed to a standard GPS?

Any help appreciated.

[jono]

I run an old magellan and a cheap laptop with Ozi explorer and once set up have found it extremely reliable. The MAPS I use are VIC 250K and are fairly accurate. As far as I know the mouse GPS should have the same reception as a normap GPS.

[Brendan-s]

jono do you do much hardcore stuff with that setup in your truck? how does the laptop stand up to the rougher stuff. thinking about getting an sub 400 dollar laptop off ebay and running a similar setup.

[ferrit]

im looking at setting up a built in PC into my truck...

Probably going to get a HP e-vectra off ebay for around $50, fit a 150w inverter for about $60 from jaycar, a serial GPS dongle from ebay for $95 and a TFT touchscreen for around $250 (the painful to buy bit)

Hide the e-vectra behind the rear seats, touch screen on the dash with the GSP dongle near it, and run Destinator (freedrive for the PC) and Ozi explorer for Topomaps

[Chucky]

im looking at setting up a built in PC into my truck...

Probably going to get a HP e-vectra off ebay for around $50, fit a 150w inverter for about $60 from jaycar, a serial GPS dongle from ebay for $95 and a TFT touchscreen for around $250 (the painful to buy bit)

Hide the e-vectra behind the rear seats, touch screen on the dash with the GSP dongle near it, and run Destinator (freedrive for the PC) and Ozi explorer for Topomaps

This is simlar to teh setup I am putting together. Using my laptop with the stereo I can also run my mp's and dvd's as well.
With WIFI and the wireless hotspots around the place I can also check e-mails while traveling without worring about phone connections.

[jono]

My computer is either set up on a home made bracket on the centre consol of my GQ or the 100 series we use to have or if I've got a Navi (brave Boy) I'v made a bracket to hang off the Jesus Christ bar in front of the front passenger seat. I run an inverter on the dash board, better that than those Tandy 12v converters & the GPS is run off a hard wired ciggie plug. The computer is a cheap IBM Thinkpad A22M that runs the maps on the Harddrive through Ozi Explorer. We have done most of the harder stuff around Woodspoint, Licola, Dargo area and it has so far seemed to survive. We just completed the Pajero Challenge using the same set up and it worked terrificly. I am also going to use the same set up for the Piranha Challenge, and the CLub Nav Run. I can get a similar computer for you from a guy in Waverley with a DVD player (for the kids of course) and 3month warrenty for about $450.00. The GPS I run is an old Magellan 315 and seems to work fantasticly just set up inside the car on the dash with no external aerials.
I hope this helps you
Jono

[fool_injected]

im looking at setting up a built in PC into my truck...

Probably going to get a HP e-vectra off ebay for around $50, fit a 150w inverter for about $60 from jaycar, a serial GPS dongle from ebay for $95 and a TFT touchscreen for around $250 (the painful to buy bit)

Hide the e-vectra behind the rear seats, touch screen on the dash with the GSP dongle near it, and run Destinator (freedrive for the PC) and Ozi explorer for Topomaps

mmm... we gots lots of old e-vectras at work
Don't forget a usb hub on the dash so you can plug in cameras and the like

[Emo]

2 - Laptop + PCMCIA/CF GPS (No cables)

I reckon that this is the best. As long as the CF GPS receiver has the SirfIII chip.

[ferrit]

im looking at setting up a built in PC into my truck...

Probably going to get a HP e-vectra off ebay for around $50, fit a 150w inverter for about $60 from jaycar, a serial GPS dongle from ebay for $95 and a TFT touchscreen for around $250 (the painful to buy bit)

Hide the e-vectra behind the rear seats, touch screen on the dash with the GSP dongle near it, and run Destinator (freedrive for the PC) and Ozi explorer for Topomaps

mmm... we gots lots of old e-vectras at work
Don't forget a usb hub on the dash so you can plug in cameras and the like

how much for one with Power supply, and would they notice em missing

ive got bloody millions of cables in my dash anyway for the ipod adapter, UHF and phone kit, another half a dozen wont be noticed

[MKPatrolGuy]

Slightly off topic, but where can you get the maps for OZI Explorer? I have quite a few paper maps but I'm not capable of digitizing them myself.

[fool_injected]

making enquiries today

[ferrit]

I bought the NATMAP platinum 1:250,000 maps... they are good for getting you somewhere, but im lining up for a set of 1:25 and 1:100,000's of the coast of NSW.

the 1:250K's are a two dvd thing you buy from map stores for about $116.

has EVERY 1:250k map in aus,

All the 1:1m

all the 1:5m

and a sat image mosaic.

[fool_injected]

evectra on ebay also search e-PC (they are the same as eVectras but earler models) dimmensions 240w x 90h x 270d
2 Usb 1 serial KB Mouse Mic Speaker connections standard
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Pentium-3-Evectr ... dZViewItem

Good thing witth the usb hub is you run web cams for reversing and 'race cam' footage
on eaby http://cgi.ebay.com.au/2-0-USB-HUB-SLIM ... dZViewItem

gps mouse on eaby again
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GlobalSat-SiRF-I ... dZViewItem

touchscreen lcd......ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/242-8-TFT-LCD-To ... dZViewItem

12Vdc to 240Vac invertor you guessed it ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-150W-INVERTE ... dZViewItem

so for under 500 you should have a pretty usefull set up
I would look at removing the eVectra from it's current case and using a slightly larger plastic enclosure with cooling fans, they are prone to heat problems

Just need map software mentioned by ferrit
Cheers
Wayne

[ferrit]

so your work flogging em off?

prefer to give money to a fellow 4wder rather than an ebay shop

[festy]

Wherever you mount your PC/laptop, try and mount the hard disk vertical. As you go over big bumps, the heads will skip across the platters, rather than straight down onto them. It won't make your hard disk invincible, but will help.

[M1S3RY]

I'v made a bracket to hang off the Jesus Christ bar in front of the front passenger seat.

This is what i'm thinking about, do you have any pics of the setup?

[jono]

Unfortunately no photo's yet will see what I can do over the next couple of days
Jono

[MKPatrolGuy]

I bought the NATMAP platinum 1:250,000 maps... they are good for getting you somewhere, but im lining up for a set of 1:25 and 1:100,000's of the coast of NSW.

the 1:250K's are a two dvd thing you buy from map stores for about $116.

has EVERY 1:250k map in aus,

All the 1:1m

all the 1:5m

and a sat image mosaic.

Thanks for that, do the map shops have the 1:25,000 & 1:100,000 map sets too?

[longlux]

What map software works with the Gps Mouse

[ferrit]

anything that has a NMEA input- so thats ozi explorer, Destinator and a few others i know of

[longlux]

Thanks for that

[fool_injected]

With these 1Gb usb ram drives could you set the pc to boot from usb and use this as the HDD
Then the only moving parts in the pC will be the fans

[festy]

do the map shops have the 1:25,000 & 1:100,000 map sets too?

The 1:25k and 1:100k NSW maps ferrit's talking about were made by me and are free. You can get them via torrent from here. They're about 2Gb to get both sets. I've made a 1:50k set for vic, but can't make them available just yet.

[MKPatrolGuy]

do the map shops have the 1:25,000 & 1:100,000 map sets too?

The 1:25k and 1:100k NSW maps ferrit's talking about were made by me and are free. You can get them via torrent from here. They're about 2Gb to get both sets. I've made a 1:50k set for vic, but can't make them available just yet.

Thanks for that. One question though, I have installed the BitTorrent program and have clicked on one of the files and it now running in BitTorrent but nothing is happening. Any clues, I have never used this program before.

Cheers

Edit - It has started downloading now.

[Maggot4x4]

do the map shops have the 1:25,000 & 1:100,000 map sets too?

The 1:25k and 1:100k NSW maps ferrit's talking about were made by me and are free. You can get them via torrent from here. They're about 2Gb to get both sets. I've made a 1:50k set for vic, but can't make them available just yet.

Are you the only one seeding it? Are you going to do QLD?

Cheers

[festy]

Bit torrent relies on other 'peers' sharing (or seeding) - apparently last week there were plenty of people seeding the torrents, but there only seems to be one person at the moment. Leave it going for a day or so, some others might start again.

[-Scott-]

With these 1Gb usb ram drives could you set the pc to boot from usb and use this as the HDD
Then the only moving parts in the pC will be the fans

What OS?

We looked into this in my last job, and couldn't do it. Windows is forever writing to and from the HDD. Solid State drives don't have anywhere near the read and write cycle life of a HDD, so you can start to run into reliability problems.

I don't know if you can boot your OS from a key, and configure to page swap on HDD? That way, if the HDD develops bad sectors, you should be able to tell the OS to mark the sectors and not use them.

Scott

[fool_injected]

With these 1Gb usb ram drives could you set the pc to boot from usb and use this as the HDD
Then the only moving parts in the pC will be the fans

What OS?

We looked into this in my last job, and couldn't do it. Windows is forever writing to and from the HDD. Solid State drives don't have anywhere near the read and write cycle life of a HDD, so you can start to run into reliability problems.

I don't know if you can boot your OS from a key, and configure to page swap on HDD? That way, if the HDD develops bad sectors, you should be able to tell the OS to mark the sectors and not use them.

Scott

Read/wrte times might be the killer, you
I have set up a HP thin client as a net cafe machine in the canteen at work
Cant remember which model it is but it has a special cut down version of XP on a flashcard and no HDD. I think it can run without a server
No bells and whistles only basic os
Will look into this more today

[Bush65]

I have a few different expensive gps recievers (garmins and magellan).

The best setup I have is a gps mouse (about $99) from twig solutions with usb. It works very well with oziexplorer on my laptop. Just a matter of installing the usb software on the laptop and connecting the usb cable from the gps mouse. Power is supplied from the usb port.

I could not be happier with the performance of this gps mouse.

[HotFourOk]

I have a HP Tablet PC, which is a hybrid of a laptop and PDA. It gives me the benefits of a touchscreen, but with a much bigger screen size and other 'normal' capabilities.

I was also thinking of setting this up for GPS use in my truck... I have been also wondering about the quality of cheaper GPS dongles.. do they give the same reception as dearer brand ones?