A Real Map on a PDA

Fatdave42 · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 06, 2006 Posts: 48

I have got a PDA (HP 2200) and would like to be able to put a real map on it. That is, I have got a 1:50,000 i would like to be able to scann it and and then youse that as a map. I would like the software to plot on the map wher i am at any one time.

Ani idears.

lbendlin · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:40 pm Post subject:

Have a look at OziExplorer or similar tools. They allow you to calibrate scanned maps.
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philpugh · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:49 pm Post subject:

What you (more than likely) want is OziExplorer. See www.oziexplorer.com for more info.

You will need both the PC part and the PDA part. They are shareware but not that expensive. I have been a very happy user for many years. The PC part is used for calibration of the map images you scan. Judging by your scale I am assuming you are scanning OS maps.

It's a multi-step process.

Scan maps(s)

Reduce colour depth (256 colours is ample)

Load into OziExplorer and calibrate

Convert to OziExplorerCE format

Load onto PDA and use.

Some things to remember:

You can calibrate your map using the OSGB grid ref and map datum (OSGB36) but you need to tell OziExplorerCE (the PDA part) that your GPS is transmitting position in WGS84 datum format. Otherwise you get a position error of about 50-100 meters. Confusion between map datum and GPS datum is the most usual cause of problems when doing this sort of thing. The web site has some handy tips about how to do it.

The s/w copes with the OS map projection (as well as many others) so that you get accurate calibration over the whole of the scanned map.

Although the trial s/w will work - you can only calibrate y=using two points. I find that for scanned maps 3 or four points gives a more accurate calibration as you can't guarantee the map was completely smooth under the scanner glass.

Don't try to combine multiple scanned images into one file - the s/w is very good at swapping maps as you run off the edge of one and onto another. For this reason I tend to have an overlap area at the edge of each map.

You will need the free (from the website) tool to convert your scanned and calibrated maps to a 'special' format (ozf2) which was developed by the author (Des Newman) to give good map loading speed on PDA. The s/w dates back to early PDA days when memory cards were very slow!

Don't worry that the PDA version of the s/w (OziExplorerCE) says Beta version - it's always been like that as far as I recall.

Reduce the colour depth of your scanned images - I tend to use 256 bit colour - more than enough for maps - and it significantly reduces the size of the image files (making them faster to load).

Have a go with a map of your local area and try it out before you need to use it in anger - that way you will know if you have made any errors and you can develop your own process for the whole method of scanning, calibrating etc.

Lastly - A GPS/PDA is only an AID to navigation - use it together with a map and common sense - you can guarantee your batteries will die just when you need to use them!
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gacrane · Regular Visitor Joined: Jul 26, 2004 Posts: 65

Hi

If you are UK based and only want to use your maps in the UK you could try the free program GPSMap
http://www.callnetuk.com/home/shanks/GPSMap.html

This is nice little progam that work in OSGB and is free.

Graham

philpugh · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject:

Clash on OziExplorer Laughing

I will have to have a look at GPSMap - looks kind of interesting.
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tanda · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:03 pm Post subject:

Hi, is "Satmap", what you are looking for, have a look on the "HOME" page?
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Fatdave42 · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 06, 2006 Posts: 48

I have had a look at satmap, it is not cheap and i do not know if you can add you own maps on to the system. I Have e-mail them, but from what people say i will not get a reply any time soon.

alix776 · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:37 pm Post subject:

no you wont beable to use your own maps on the satmap ie Oziexploreer style for the satmap you need to get the maps for them
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kgoto · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject:

I use GPS Tuner on my HP iPAQ rx5915. See the following link.
http://www.gpstuner.com/
Any map that can be scanned or otherwise converted to .jpg format can be used. The map needs to be calibrated by identifying at least 2 points on it with known coordinates.

Fatdave42 · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 06, 2006 Posts: 48

Does any one know of a conpany that will scann a map in one go, rather that me cutting it up and having loads of maps?

Darren · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject:

philpugh · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject:

mikealder · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:30 pm Post subject:

A good quality digital camera with optical zoom is quite good if you shoot in raw format, its another option and much easier if your map is flat devoid of folds (thats where the option for roll maps rather than folded is quite handy)
Don't use flash and make sure the camera is square on to the map, a tripod helps with this - Mike

Mullet · Frequent Visitor Joined: Dec 12, 2005 Posts: 1051

deleted

mikealder · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject:

If your camera is equipped with a setting for RAW try using it as this disables the on board jpeg compression - it results in great quality a at the price of very large files - these can then be re-sized on your PC (working as bmp is best) to preserve the quality - Mike

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