craig
06-24-2010, 04:42 AM
The latest version of Overland Navigator has been released. It was supposed to be a minor release but we wound up adding a few features anyway.
Overland Navigator is topographic GPS mapping software designed to be simple to use in the field. It has an interface that makes it easy to control with a touchscreen, keyboard, or mouse. Menus auto-hide to make use of every last pixel when displaying the map. You can learn more about it at http://spatialminds.com
Some of the new features include:
APRS specific NMEA support
Location specific Sunrise / Sunset times
UTM Coordinate Display
Continuous GPS Track Storage to Disk
GPS Output to external devices
NMEA logging
Display preferences
High end GPS support - Track up to 64 satellites
Bugfixes and performance enhancements
There is a more complete description on the webpage, but here is a brief explanation of APRS display support as it is the most significant new feature. NOTE: Overland Navigator remains as simple to use as ever for non-HAM/APRS users. APRS allows a GPS and HAM radio to be combined to broadcast your postion over the airwaves. Others listen for these location beacons and can plot them on a map/GPS such as Overland Navigator. Repeaters repeat the signals so they can travel for a very long distance. Gateways take the locations and add them to a database that is accessible via the Internet by friends/family (E.g. http://aprs.fi). APRS can do much more, but this is the basic description.
The software supports the APRS specific NMEA sentences that the Kenwood D7xx radios, Tiny Tracker 4, Argent Data Systems, etc trackers output. This allows Overland Navigator to display APRS specific symbols on the map. The radio/tnc/tracker is still responsible for handling the beaconing of your location.
http://spatialminds.com/images/aprs1.png
You connect your GPS to Overland Navigator for input, then connect Overland Navigator to your tracker as it's GPS input. The tracker uses this connection to send any stations it heard back to Overland Navigator. This is, for example, the same way that you'd hook up a Garmin GPS to a tracker. There are some advantages to using Overland Navigator over a regular GPS though.
http://spatialminds.com/images/APRS_Passthrough.jpg
In contrast to most GPS units, when new stations are heard, Overland Navigator will update the location on the map instead of adding an additional waypoint. This greatly reduces the amount of on-screen clutter and removes the need to manually delete waypoints.
The APRS waypoints automatically fade away and then expire on their own. This lets you visually see how long it's been since you last heard from an APRS station. You can set the interval. If you have it set to 40 minutes, and a symbol is just about ready to disappear then you know it's been about 40 minutes since you last heard from it.
http://spatialminds.com/images/APRS_Fadeout.jpg
Finally, we tried to redo all the APRS symbols to have a consistent look/feel , offer more contrast with the background maps, and to be distinguishable from regular Overland Navigator waypoints (square).
Primary Symbols
http://spatialminds.com/images/aprs_primary.jpg
Secondary Symbols
http://spatialminds.com/images/aprs_secondary.jpg
Craig
Overland Navigator is topographic GPS mapping software designed to be simple to use in the field. It has an interface that makes it easy to control with a touchscreen, keyboard, or mouse. Menus auto-hide to make use of every last pixel when displaying the map. You can learn more about it at http://spatialminds.com
Some of the new features include:
APRS specific NMEA support
Location specific Sunrise / Sunset times
UTM Coordinate Display
Continuous GPS Track Storage to Disk
GPS Output to external devices
NMEA logging
Display preferences
High end GPS support - Track up to 64 satellites
Bugfixes and performance enhancements
There is a more complete description on the webpage, but here is a brief explanation of APRS display support as it is the most significant new feature. NOTE: Overland Navigator remains as simple to use as ever for non-HAM/APRS users. APRS allows a GPS and HAM radio to be combined to broadcast your postion over the airwaves. Others listen for these location beacons and can plot them on a map/GPS such as Overland Navigator. Repeaters repeat the signals so they can travel for a very long distance. Gateways take the locations and add them to a database that is accessible via the Internet by friends/family (E.g. http://aprs.fi). APRS can do much more, but this is the basic description.
The software supports the APRS specific NMEA sentences that the Kenwood D7xx radios, Tiny Tracker 4, Argent Data Systems, etc trackers output. This allows Overland Navigator to display APRS specific symbols on the map. The radio/tnc/tracker is still responsible for handling the beaconing of your location.
http://spatialminds.com/images/aprs1.png
You connect your GPS to Overland Navigator for input, then connect Overland Navigator to your tracker as it's GPS input. The tracker uses this connection to send any stations it heard back to Overland Navigator. This is, for example, the same way that you'd hook up a Garmin GPS to a tracker. There are some advantages to using Overland Navigator over a regular GPS though.
http://spatialminds.com/images/APRS_Passthrough.jpg
In contrast to most GPS units, when new stations are heard, Overland Navigator will update the location on the map instead of adding an additional waypoint. This greatly reduces the amount of on-screen clutter and removes the need to manually delete waypoints.
The APRS waypoints automatically fade away and then expire on their own. This lets you visually see how long it's been since you last heard from an APRS station. You can set the interval. If you have it set to 40 minutes, and a symbol is just about ready to disappear then you know it's been about 40 minutes since you last heard from it.
http://spatialminds.com/images/APRS_Fadeout.jpg
Finally, we tried to redo all the APRS symbols to have a consistent look/feel , offer more contrast with the background maps, and to be distinguishable from regular Overland Navigator waypoints (square).
Primary Symbols
http://spatialminds.com/images/aprs_primary.jpg
Secondary Symbols
http://spatialminds.com/images/aprs_secondary.jpg
Craig