Off-road GPS software

myrhody

New member
An offroad gps software seems very useful considering cell phones are so small yet capable these days. Does anyone manufacture such software for hiking, boating, or the like?

I see viewranger.com makes something for UK, but nothing for America.
 
I would assume that any of the GPS apps would work, no?

This is of importance to me as I'll be out on the boat alot this summer and that's half the reason I bought my GPS unit. I haven't given it a shot yet, as the boat needs some work. Rest assured that as soon as I can get the boat out, I'll give it a shot with whatever NOkia i have at the moment.
 
SmartComGPS is what you are looking for. You don't need manufacturer specific maps. Just use a jpeg map of the area where you'll be around, calibrate it using the software and off you go.
 
Try the free smart2go beta from nokia. I've used it a bit and it doesn't seem to lock to road so it may work for off-road locations. No topo maps though.

Another one that might work is Mobile GMaps. It uses several of the top map engines.

Both needs unlimited data plan though to work best!
 
I'd appreciate something that doesn't require a data plan, as hard as that may sound to come up with.

Is there anything out there that can atleast mark locations/waypoints that I've been or will go so it can help me trace my steps?
 
Tried to run the app and forgot that I only had the trial, so no screenshots. Anyway, you should definitely try it out. You don't need a data plan for it and it does exactly what you want.

Things you'll need:
1. SmartComGPS: This is the application that runs on your S60 phone. It basically uses the maps generated in #3 for navigation. It also connects to a bluetooth gps receiver to retrieve GPS information and can be used to record your tracking history.

2.Bluetooth receiver: Needed if you want to see your exact location on maps that will be used with #1.

3. OziExplorer: Runs on your PC. This program is used to generate .OGF2 and .map files for use by #1. Bitmaps, jpegs or any from a various list of digital formats can be used. The .ogf2 file is the actual digital map that will be used by SmartComGPS for display purposes and the .map file contains metadata about the .ogf2 file. This includes calibration points, waypoints and routes that may have been created in OziExplorer. The calibration points are essential for routing since these are lat/long points and can be entered in various coordinate systems. A map only needs two points to be calibrated and can then be used in #1. Obviously, the more calibration points you have, the more precise your location will be, when displayed in #1. I think you can have, at the most, 10 calibration points. Where can you find the coordinates for a known location on a map that you need to calibrate? Google is your friend.

4. JPEGS or bitmaps of the area where you'll be travelling: You can get these off the internet from your favorite site or, if you already have the map in paper form, you can scan these into your computer to be used in OziExplorer.
 
Good question. The most important thing to keep in mind is that SMGPS only displays the map and overlays GPS information on top of it. If the map and data related to the map is garbage, then it will not be very accurate. Regardless, there are a few info boxes that display your current latitude, longitude and, I think (can't remember too well), speed. I only used it twice when I went hiking and it worked very well. I recorded the tracks which I later used to create a KML file that was viewable in Google Earth.
 
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