sweet trav
Adventurer
does anyone have pics of their 7" tab in a ram mount holder?
Help with Nav Tablet
- Thread starter MojaveMadMan
- Start date
fishEH
Explorer
Here's my 8" Tab3 with a Ram X mount. I was skeptical at first but the mount is VERY solid. I left the tablet plugged into the cig lighter and the battery stayed at 100% all day. I run the PDF Maps and primarily the AlpineQuest app with maps cached offline.
sweet trav
Adventurer
Nice! Thanks!
Lookinf forward to setting up ours!
Lookinf forward to setting up ours!
Gatordoc
Adventurer
For GEOPDF maps (with embedded geospatial data) I use the USGS map store. The interface is a little clunky, but once you get it figured out it's time consuming, but easy to download the stuff you need. Be sure you make the map grids visible, so you don't miss any, and click the "MARK POINTS" button when you are in the area you want to download. click a point on the map and a nav pin should appear, as well as a popup with a list of available maps. for the GeoPDF enabled files you want the file name to have "US Topo" at the end. The should be "7.5x7.5 GRID" for size, and about 20-30 MB in size. Click the size (in MB under the download column) to download, or the plus to add them to you cart (for batching, the maps are free). I downloaded them individually as the batching process did not work well for me, but I did so at work on a dated version of IE, so you might have better luck. This is one of the reasons I suggested getting a tabled that supports external storage, the maps are small in area, but large in data, so if you want to have maps for a large geographical region it will eat up a ton of memory quickly.
I'll take some pics tomorrow of my setup and post them, as well. I took the car to work today, and it will be dark before I get home.
Gatordoc
Adventurer
I just looked at Androzic on the Play store; I might have to check it out. Not many review yet, but most are positive, and a handful of nifty-looking plugins available too.
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I haven't played with Terra Incognita, is that a free software, as well? does it work with imagery, map tiles, etc...?
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Thanks for the info!
RubiChris
Observer
I run a Nexus 7 in a Ram X mount and am pretty pleased with it. It is fast, has a great screen but, and this is my only real knock, it doesn't have a memory expansion slot. If it were solely for navigation there would be plenty of room for maps but since it is my only tablet space is a premium. I have the 16 gig model(I am one of the suckers who supported the MeetEarl outdoor tablet and two years later it has never materialized) and with other apps, etc I really could use more room for hi-res maps.
Nokia HERE Maps, formerly OVI, is a really nice cross-platform mapping app with free worldwide maps, that is optimized for off-line use. It has recently been released on Google Play, and I'm pretty sure is past beta on iOS and Windows Phone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(Nokia)
http://www.here.com
I'm usually running google maps, for normal navigation needs - and this is the best alternative I've found so far for stand-alone (offline) tablet use.
I'm also a big fan of Torque with a cheap BT OBD-II reader (BAFX Products on Amazon is the best source for cheap elm327 bt units, with excellent support) and would love it if my 88 Provan Astro Tiger wasn't pre-OBDII - I'd use this setup as a full-time instrument panel, since the factory panel has issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(Nokia)
http://www.here.com
I'm usually running google maps, for normal navigation needs - and this is the best alternative I've found so far for stand-alone (offline) tablet use.
I'm also a big fan of Torque with a cheap BT OBD-II reader (BAFX Products on Amazon is the best source for cheap elm327 bt units, with excellent support) and would love it if my 88 Provan Astro Tiger wasn't pre-OBDII - I'd use this setup as a full-time instrument panel, since the factory panel has issues.
sweet trav
Adventurer
Ok, so I downloaded the free pdfmaps app and the free bcn app for now to test and then downloaded some free topo maps and nf maps with pdfmaps apps but how do I view these in the free version of bcn?
I tried going to download history in search of the saved map folder but with no luck. When I go to download history it just shows me a blank screen.
Thanks for any help!
I tried going to download history in search of the saved map folder but with no luck. When I go to download history it just shows me a blank screen.
Thanks for any help!
Gatordoc
Adventurer
With PDF Maps you have to store them on your phone/tablet, then open them in the app to convert them over to use in the app. once that's done they should appear on the maps list automatically.
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I have the pro version of BCN, so it might be different with the free one. On the main screen when you open it press the map layers button; it looks like three squares stacked on top of each other. In the middle of the next screen there should be a button that says "More Map Sources" or something to that effect. Press it and a bunch of options for your map source come up. You'll want to use "USA: Topo Maps and Charts," or if you want imagery use "USA: Imagery." Again there are a bunch of options; the two that I have played with are "US Forest Service (2013)" and "USGSTopo: National Terrain Map." Both are nice and got me what I wanted; USFS 2013 seem to be more up to date for my area, but USGSTopo look nicer and are easier for me to read.
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To cache (download) the maps on your tablet for offline use, you need to go back to the main map layers screen and find the button on the bottom left labeled "select areas for download." When you press it, it takes you back to the map view, but there are new buttons on the top of the screen. The square with the pointer finger is for selecting the area to download, the hand is for panning around the map, the folder with the down arrow starts the download. simply pan around and draw boxes - there can be several, it will do them all as a batch and won't double download overlapping areas - then press the download button when you are done. Depending on the areas you select you could have a pretty big download (it was 1.5GB @ max zoom for me to download the western half of lower Michigan), so be sure you are on WiFi if you are concerned with a mobile data cap, assuming you have a 3G or 4G enabled device.
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That should be it!
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sweet trav
Adventurer
Thanks for the info and detail...I will try this tonight!
sweet trav
Adventurer
Ok, downloading maps but out of space on tab but still have nearly 30gig on minisd card so how do i either move saved data to card or save futue map downloads to card?
thanks for any help
t
thanks for any help
t
Depends on your tablet and app. Some won't let you do that. That's what I like about the windows tablet app. You can attach a USB hard drive and load everything on that!
Gatordoc
Adventurer
Unfortunately with Android 4.4+ Google decided to make it difficult/impossible for non-Google apps to write to the external SD card. I'm sure there are ways around this with rooting, custom ROMs, etc... but I have not yet gone that route. In the interim, the way I've worked around this issue is downloading the maps and transferring them to the SD card with my PC. Granted, my device started with 32gb internal memory and currently still has 18 available, so I haven't really been concerned with running out of internal storage and can't say how much I've used internally in support of the mapping/navigation software that I use.
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O/T: I suspect that locking 3rd party apps out of writing to the SD card is a move by Google to encourage (force) end-users to use their cloud storage services (drive for documents, play for videos & music, etc...) by making it inconvenient to efficiently utilize an SD card and/or external storage. Pretty lame, in my opinion, as part of what makes Android appealing to me compared to iOS or WinOS is the open-source freedom you (used to) get to use 3rd party apps, tinker with settings, and so forth. A big chunk of what turned me off on iOS is 1) lack of support of external, swappable, non-cloud storage and 2) their dogged insistence on protecting their vaunted "user experience" from unapproved 3rd party (end-user or otherwise) tampering. I own the device and want to be able to use it as I please. This move by Google is a HUGE turn-off for me, to the point that I will be looking long and hard at other OS and phone/tablet options when I decided to upgrade from my current Note III in another year or two.
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Gatordoc
Adventurer
It's a little later than promised, but here are some pics of my setup:
Components are Samsung Galaxy Note III (Verizon) in an Otterbox Defender case, Ram X-Grip Phablet holder, Ram double socket standard length arm, a Ram motorcycle handlebar clamp base, and some miscellaneous hardware.
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Here's the hardware assembly I used:
I replaced the M8 SHCS that came with the mount with an M6x1x110mm SHCS to get the length I needed to clear the a-pillar trim, and to match the existing threads in the A-pillar. I used a 3/8 x 1.5" NPT pipe nipple to mock it up as proof of concept and it worked out great, the spacing is just right. Whenever I get around to it I'll get an aluminum standoff to replace it, but it's working fine as-is, for now. MUCH more stable than the old suction cup mounting base.
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Here's a couple more:
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I went this route in order to get rid of the suction cup mounted on the window because my truck has gigantic A-pillars as it is, and the suction mount just made things worse. With the new setup my phone only blocks the A-pillar, so it's not making my visibility any worse that it already is; the first photo is pretty close to where my eyeballs normally live while driving. If you look at the windshield in the 1st and last pics you can see residue where it used to be stuck on. Truck is an '03 Dodge 2500, for reference.
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I'm happy with this setup, so the next step is going to be coming up with a charging solution that doesn't involve cables draped all over the dash.