Best off road gps

[Lee.J.Thomson]

Hi guys,
I am looking for some help and advice. I would like to buy my husband a new gps for our car. he currently has a Magellan explorist hand held.
I have been looking at the Hema HX1, but the mixed good and bad reviews have totally thrown me !!!
when reading about the HX1 it appears to awesome and offer everything you need for off road, but the reviews don’t match the product
so some help would be greatly appreciated as I now have no idea.
lee

 

[phs]

iPad and memory maps

 

[Lee.J.Thomson]

[/QUOTE]

iPad and memory maps

thank you so much! I will download memory maps today. It is so confusing

 

[boobook]

New Hema 4x4 Explorer App

Easy. Get the free Memory-Map App for Android or IOS and get it for your PC. https://memory-map.com/downloads/ Get an account and buy the 2020 Hema map set. It is exactly the same as the maps in your book. Plus it has the 250K map that is great. It's $100 from memory...

4x4earth.com

 

[John U]

Hi Lee,

This thread might be useful.

I wanted to purchase a set and forget Sat Nav option for off roading and thought that the Hema looked like a good option, simply because all of the big stores carried it. Was ready to lay down $700 but thought I should check the reviews first and was glad I did as a LOT of people were disappointed with it. I ended up getting a Samsung tablet and Memory Map, and then purchased maps via Memory Map.

My solution has worked out pretty well (based on the advice I received in the linked thread). I don't get turn by turn guidance, but I have had a navigator to help me. I need to plot my route beforehand but when going bush this is probably not a bad thing as the research has made me more aware of the area and the potential conditions before I get there.

I've used handheld units before and the extra map/screen area you get on a tablet is very useful. Based on the research I've done it seems like no one has nailed a pre-packaged all in one unit for off navigation yet.

Additionally, you can buy a tablet with gps capability that doesn't need a SIM card. This is what I'm using. A cheaper but effective option.

 

[Lee.J.Thomson]

Hi Lee,

This thread might be useful.

I wanted to purchase a set and forget Sat Nav option for off roading and thought that the Hema looked like a good option, simply because all of the big stores carried it. Was ready to lay down $700 but thought I should check the reviews first and was glad I did as a LOT of people were disappointed with it. I ended up getting a Samsung tablet and Memory Map, and then purchased maps via Memory Map.

My solution has worked out pretty well (based on the advice I received in the linked thread). I don't get turn by turn guidance, but I have had a navigator to help me. I need to plot my route beforehand but when going bush this is probably not a bad thing as the research has made me more aware of the area and the potential conditions before I get there.

I've used handheld units before and the extra map/screen area you get on a tablet is very useful. Based on the research I've done it seems like no one has nailed a pre-packaged all in one unit for off navigation yet.

Additionally, you can buy a tablet with gps capability that doesn't need a SIM card. This is what I'm using. A cheaper but effective option.

Awesome thank you !
I think that this is the way we will go too! Totally makes sense.

 

[phs]

We have been using memory maps for about 10 years, for everything from hiking to 4wding to around the country side, we just use it on an IPhone never found it difficult to use, even for hiking memory maps on an iPhone outperforms any dedicated hiking GPS I have seen

You need to buy your maps via the map store on the app, but once you buy the map licence there is no expiration there are some traders like mud maps that eventually upgrade and no longer support there app which forces you to buy there new version over and over

Also to use memory map offline you need to bulk download the maps you want on the device, I only hold offline maps for Tas and Vic which take up about 12gb of space

 

[Albynsw]

I have the Hema maps using the Memory Map format on iPad and iPhone and been using for over 10 years and are happy with them
I haven’t tried any of the other options for over 5 years though

 

[boobook]

There are 4 things I wish Memory Maps had. These are what made me buy Hema before I gave up on it ( Hema that is) .

1)Weather / rain overlay when online.
2)Satellite overlay when online
3)Dual screen mode with different scales or maps side by side like the PC version.
4)A decent overlay sharing portal like the Hema X

Then it would be perfect.

 

[boobook]

Here are some PC images. I actually have a tiny windows 10 compute stick in my 4x4 that is displayed on the Navigator screen of my 200. ( installation is not for the feint hearted). Zoom and Map selection is from the steering wheel volume + - and track < > buttons. It took 6 months or more to get working. The pictures below are exactly how I see the maps tracking in real-time on my OE navigator screen in my 200. I can even show one map or the other in full screen, and swap them from the steering wheel buttons. I generally like to have one in detail. Eg topo 250 map soomed in. And one as an overview of the area, say Hema half zoomed out.

It tracks and synchronises on both halves of the screen. This shows a close up detail map and the Hema overview map of the Wonnangatta Station

This one shows Google earth that I downloaded off line, and a rooftop map of Mayford. The Sat photos are great for seeing if there is a camp clearing at the end of tracks on rivers.

This one shows a Hema map and a Westprint map ( great for historical and sightseeing detail) at different scales.

These are my favourites. I went to the State Library and georeferenced old maps from the 1800's. I have Talbotville, Grant, Crooked River, Mayford. Lots of old gold towns in the high country. This one shows where the old tavern at Mayford was. You can walk around with the map on your phone and if you walk where the old house was, you even trip over old bricks in the grass. In bigger places like Grant, you can walk down the old streets with a GPS map. This map was from 1873. Amazing. The flag waypoint is where the old Pear tree is. You can see it was in the back corner against the fence of the property.

Edit here is one of the township of Grant. which had a few thousand people and even a stock exchange and 7 - 8 lawyers in its day. It shows the sat view of the tracks today vs the old township map. Amazing. The track you drive through today is the old main street.

 

[phs]

some very good points there tony,

As for google earth ect, during research phase of a trip I will use MM drop a pin ( flag ) copy the co ordinance and paste it into the google earth app to see the terrain/ clearings

It is very handy to have multiple maps of the same area readily available just by zooming in

Mayford is a good example as the Spur is shut to 4wds though some maps don’t show it like that some show it as a 4wd track, some show it as a walking track others don’t show it at all

 

[boobook]

Have you tried the PC version? You don't need to buy the maps again and it's free. You can click on Web then View online satellite photo, and it will show you Google Sat at the location at the centre of the screen on a browser.

It also takes the flat maps and does a nice 3d render of them. You can look from any direction, zoom in or out, and even exaggerate the height levels which is useful for flat country.

Here is a Rooftop render

This is a Hema version looking the same way at the same spot.

 

[phs]

Hey Tony,

No I have not, I don’t own a PC anymore, the better half has a PC but it’s owned by her work not sure if she can install any programs that are not approved ( for security reasons )

We were using laptops for work but when the last one died they switched to IPads.

It looks really good, might see if brother can load it up on his PC, never knew it had those features

 

[boobook]

Hey Tony,

No I have not, I don’t own a PC anymore, the better half has a PC but it’s owned by her work not sure if she can install any programs that are not approved ( for security reasons )

We were using laptops for work but when the last one died they switched to IPads.

It looks really good, might see if brother can load it up on his PC, never knew it had those features

Yes the feature set is far more comprehensive than the mobile and Mac ones.

The nice things that it does over the iPad type are

• 3D
• Merge maps ( eg I merged all the Desert maps into 1 single map)
• A nice directory or overlay objects.
• Cutting or joining tracks
• Importing paper or Geotiff maps.
• Printing maps or parts of maps. This is a beauty. I take map printouts with me. I even bought an A3 printer for this.
• 3D fly-through. You can use a track, it will give you a movie like view of travelling through the maps
• Click through to google sat on your browser
• Plot a graph of speed vs distance
• Plat a graph of altitude ( by GPS) vs track length for your imported tracks or hand drawn tracks
  • This is great for comparing the steepness of 2 tracks -
• Download height data from NASA to do 3d maps
• Show height above sea level when you point your cursor
• Custom waypoints
• Show track length, even on hand drawn tracks. I use this to get an approximate trip length Great for trip planning. It shows track distance from start when you point on the track with the mouse.
• Simulated GPS to make a track.

This shows the steepest parts of Wombat Range and Herne Spur, as they come out of the river ( at different spots). I took my camper up Wombat ( a 500m climb in 2.5kms) but I think I should have done Herne which I thought was steeper and longer. It is only a 400m climb in 2.5km. If nothing else the 200 could have had a breather half way up. That intercooler was getting pretty ineffective by the top. Then I can compare to somewhere completely different. "I got up Wombat range ok, so how does that steepness compare to Mayford?" That kind of thing.

Here is a speed section of the Madigan Line. I imported this track from EO, but it tells me that I need to allow about 4 hours for 35kms in that section with an average speed of about 10kmph

 

[phs]

That is great Tony,

Might have to give it a shot we have hike coming up after Easter in some uncharted territory to us would be really handy having all that info at hand prior to setting off.

 

[paulblah]

I been happy with Hema on iPhone, at a $100 is way cheaper than the HN1

 

[boobook]

For @rob_macca67

This is the track colour selection menu

This pic shows the Overlay directory I use and the selection of waypoint pictures. There are directories in directories.

So in the Simpson Desert Directory, I have the Hay River Track, French Line, QAA etc. Each of those can have a bunch of waypoints or tracks or routes.
I import them from my Android version or from external websites

 

[rob_macca67]

For @rob_macca67

This is the track colour selection menu
View attachment 73989


This pic shows the Overlay directory I use and the selection of waypoint pictures. There are directories in directories.

So in the Simpson Desert Directory, I have the Hay River Track, French Line, QAA etc. Each of those can have a bunch of waypoints or tracks or routes.
I import them from my Android version or from external websites


View attachment 73991

Thanks for that... that's very similar to how Garmin BaseCamp operates

 

[mikehzz]

A tablet is also good for watching movies or reading ebooks in your swag of a night. You can't do that with a dedicated GPS.

 

[CTL]

A tablet is also good for watching movies or reading ebooks in your swag of a night. You can't do that with a dedicated GPS.

And looking up Wikicamps, and storing equipment manuals, and keeping track notes and fuel stop info, etc, etc