Navigation for Rig? IOS, Droid, or Windows 8

[motor-vater]

So I want to rig up my rig with a tablet Nav set up. Mainly for forest roads and BLM lands, on the west side of the country... I do alot of hunting, hiking, trail driving and camping and am slowly outfitting the rig more and more for the upcoming zombie apocalypse..lol So as of right now Nav and Coms are on my mind. Ive spent some time in the Ham section aswell and nodoubt am going to pull the trigger on a operators license and a FT-7900. But back on point, I have been reading through thread after thread over here and now I am more confused than ever on what to do. To add to the delema I currently own 4 different tablets all of which could work so lets get into it.

1) Toshiba Thrive 10.1 (Android)
2) IPAD 2 16GB (IOS)
3) Galaxy Tab (Android)
4) Windows Surface RT (Windows 8.1)

I plan on using a Pro Clip Mounting system (????????)

Full disclosure I am drawn to the idea of a windows based system, simply because it can be so multi functional and I should be able to use it to program my FT-7800 on the fly But I am not sure that it even works as I have not been able to find anyone who has used on for navigation.

GPS Choices as I see it would be (I am definitely open to suggestions?)

1) Garmin GLO
2) Duel XGPS150
3) Bad Elf pro

Next comes the Nav program decision (God help me). I already own garmin products and have topos for that as well as Imaging and my GPS hunting maps program. It would be nice to be able to use some of that vs. buy new stuff but what ever. 2 other options I was looking at was obviously BackCountry Navigator if I go android or possibly Overland Navigator if I can go windows based? (opinions needed here please)

That about sums up the mental hell I'm suffering right now, I would like to Thank you in advance for taking the time to help..

 

[kojackJKU]

I will give you a very well tested answer soon. I have both windows 8.1 and android tablets im going to try out for navigation. Both of mine have GPS built in but im going with a bluetooh receiver for better lock and reception. I am using Maps pro on windows 8 and a mixture of back country nav and co pilot on my android unit. I do think maps pro is a better program because I can download sat imagery for the areas im going in.
If you are liking the windows 8 system, go for a pro. running full blown windows will be a great thing as you can use all software available for windows.

 

[bmart]

I can't speak for the Windows and Android options, but I have had excellent success with the iPad and the app "Motion X GPS." It's only $2 for the app, and $5 for custom map tiles (Google, Bing, etc). I download map tiles directly onboard in advance of a trip, which allows me to navigate on full res maps without cellular/wifi connectivity. Map tiles are free to download after an in-app purchase, and vary from USGS to Google, Topo to Sat imagery. Your only limit would be HD space. Installing a Ram mount to hold the tablet over the center console makes life a lot easier (I've never tried Pro Clip). I have an internal GPS in the iPad but from what I have read and heard the Bad Elf external unit works very well. Backcountry Navigator seems to be a go to for many folks, as well as Gaia ($20). Before buying a paid app, I used "Avenza PDF Maps," which is free and allows you to download USGS maps. It might be worth exploring since it would be a free and immediate solution for you.

If I were you, I would just find the app that appeals to me the most, and start working out solutions on how to get it to work in the rig. For me that was Motion X GPS, and it's only available on iOS so it was a no-brainer.

 

[kojackJKU]

Best thing about android and windows is there is not limit on storage space. Android you can use sd cards to load and store mapping and imaging. You can put one section of very detail mapping on one sd card and swap as needed therefore carrying mor information on the said area. With Windows tablets, they work just as a windows computer would. You can plug in a USB hard drive, mine is 2 tb, and have limitless storage. That's why I hope the windows tablet will be good communicating with my GPS receiver. I have all of newfoundland, sat imagry, topo, marine charts, road mapping with routes and everything in max detail, and I have enough room to probably load all of Canada and maybe the US as well. Windows tablets are really underrated because they don't have the cool factor. But they have the function over form thing down, exactly the opposite of apple products.

 

[TangoII]

Don't want to thread-jack, but I've been battling the same fight of finding a good multi purpose computer setup. I may want to do too much, but it seems it should be doable with the technology out there. Many of the ideas you have are the same as what I'm after - GPS, HAM programming, etc. a couple things I'd really like to do in addition are normal turn by turn nav, APRS, OBD II monitoring.

I have dabbled around with motion x gps hd on my wife's iPad mini as well as my phone. It seems to work really well, although it lacks features that seem like it would be very easy to incorporate. One of which is a proximity alert to waypoints. On a long trip, I could preprogram repeaters as waypoints and be alerted on the gps when I'm in range. I'm sure there are other ways to use proximity alerts as we'll.

I just ordered and received a 32GB iPad mini with 4g with the intent of eventually figuring out a good way to do the things I want with it in my rig. Look forward to hearing what you end up deciding to use on your end.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DirtAddictLC80]

While I have no direct comparative experience with the different devices on your list, I do have some first hand experience with one of your options.

I just got back from a back country trip where I used an ipad 2 (16gb), a bad elf pro and a ram mount. Overall, it worked great.

I used the ipad 2 because that is what I currently own. On the trip, I really liked the size of the ipad. After using it I wouldn't consider a smaller screen for back country trips where navigation includes topographic maps and where location isn't as obvious as a street map. If I was buying now I would have still purchased an ipad but with more memory. I can see running out of space for maps if I need to download a large area in detail; say when going on a long excursion.

The bad elf pro had almost a full charge even after 4 days of use and I had great gps reception everywhere, even in deep valleys. The added benefit is that it saves battery power on the nav device. My ipad 2 doesn't have the gps chip built in so I had no choice, but the bad elf is a better gps device than an internal chip if you have a tablet that has it. If I had a tablet with a gps chip built in, I think I still would use the bad elf...it's that good. The bad part is that it is a bit pricey.

I used a universal ram mount that attaches to my passenger seat bolt and had a little vibration on rough roads but it was not bad. Still, I plan on securing the bendable metal rod about half way up to minimize any movement before my next trip.

I used motionX for the ipad and it is very user friendly. It works seamlessly with the bad elf to recognize a position via gps.

Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WOODY2]

If you are primarily in the western portion try Scenic Maps West. It is an app for iPad and costs the princely sum of $10. The entire data base remains resident on your machine thus eliminating the download issue. It has many features and multiple views (5) of any map currently being displayed. topi,3d, etc. being a ham you could program in the repeaters b4 leaving. I'm sure there is a free demo on the net somewhere. There are versions for the entire county available as well.

 

[motor-vater]

I have to say I love the expo! Glad to see some input from everyone, Thank you! So I did some tinkering today and although I know it is great I think I am ruling out the IPAD. Main reason 16GB is just not enough space. It takes hella long to download maps onto the device and with only 16GB I would constantly have to delete maps and load others before trips and as we all know you just never have enough time before a trip. The expandability of the Windows and android tablets seems very appealing as I can just buy a few 16/32 gig cards and save different areas on different cards and just plug and play? I do like the looks of the Map Pro for windows, and I have downloaded the trial version of Backcountry navigator on the droid. I am not really getting a full just for how the BCN is because the only maps you can download in the demo do not appear to be high rez when zoomed in? It shows a few premium imagery and map downloads that are a paid service, can anyone confirm if these are worth the $$$$$?

The galaxy also has the coolest mount see here

 

[Backroad Explorer]

I use an ipad2 in a griffin survivor case, pro clip mounts, dual xgps150, motionx, Galileo, scenic maps west
and avenza PDF maps in my cherokee. I like it a lot & with Galileo, scenic maps and avenza pdf storage hasn't
been a problem. Here's a couple of pic's of my setup.
http://s718.photobucket.com/user/ba...SCF1764-Copy_zpsb0919061.jpg.html?sort=3&o=23
http://s718.photobucket.com/user/ba...-Bag/DSCF1808_zps3a4c56ec.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
http://s718.photobucket.com/user/ba...-Bag/DSCF1797_zps5cdd654c.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7
http://s718.photobucket.com/user/ba...Bag/DSCF1793_zps27026531.jpg.html?sort=3&o=10

 

[kojackJKU]

Maps pro is very promising..I think im going to take my tablet download a small road trip we are going on on Saturday to try it out. The only thing that is not on windows is an OBD program. Im sure one will be delveoped soon. I may even email torque to see if they will do one.

I know the nav on my droid tablet works great, but BCN does not have very up to date maps. problem where I live anyways.

 

[toylandcruiser]

I have to say I love the expo! Glad to see some input from everyone, Thank you! So I did some tinkering today and although I know it is great I think I am ruling out the IPAD. Main reason 16GB is just not enough space. It takes hella long to download maps onto the device and with only 16GB I would constantly have to delete maps and load others before trips and as we all know you just never have enough time before a trip. The expandability of the Windows and android tablets seems very appealing as I can just buy a few 16/32 gig cards and save different areas on different cards and just plug and play? I do like the looks of the Map Pro for windows, and I have downloaded the trial version of Backcountry navigator on the droid. I am not really getting a full just for how the BCN is because the only maps you can download in the demo do not appear to be high rez when zoomed in? It shows a few premium imagery and map downloads that are a paid service, can anyone confirm if these are worth the $$$$$?

The galaxy also has the coolest mount see here

You can get external storage for iPads.



"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials."
— George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788

 

[MikeMGB]

I use an iPad Mini in a universal tablet mount attached to the windshield with GPS Motion X Drive for street navigation and GPS Motion X for cross country. When I'm playing in the National Forests in Missouri I use Gaia GPS because that has the Forest Service MVUM maps available to download.

The GPS on the Mini seems to be accurate to within a few feet, even in valleys and under thick tree foliage. I find the size of the Mini to be perfect, large enough to see clearly but not too large it gets in the way.