While planning a big adventure to the Morgan car factory and Billing for a photo shoot looking for old wild places to camp I finally got fed up and broke down on what mapping systems I use and decided there must be a better way ,my digital methods have evolved over the last 20 years but … just maybe I am doing it wrong . It has been known for this to happen ������

After a search I found that its very muddy picture out there.

I read a great thread on HUBB about what cookers people use and it was very informative.

So without too much waffle

What do you use to organize your trips waypoints and nav with and why, pros and cons?




Lets try and build a descent list that keeps getting updated all the time to keep it relevant to current new stuff.

Keep it simple and brief the first post is mine.

Never a dull day
www.beady.com

Software:

Oziexplorer
Works On : PC,Andriod

For all my routes and waypoints.

Pros : has loads of features to manipulate MAPS, WP, Tracks, etc etc : my got for all conversions to/from formats
Cons : needs updating, poor Garmin interface, will only upload download


Basecamp
Works on: PC

Because I have to with Garmin stuff

Pros : better management of the GPS
Cons : typical horrible Garmin software, does barely enough ; not easy to manipulate WP, tracks or do calculations: Map handling is restricted, only works with Garmin products

OS maps App

To make sure I am legal when in the UK

Pros: great for UK maps, always up to date
Cons: rubbish WP, route management , no upload for WP unless in a route, can be pricey for occasional use.


Google earth:
to check out locations on streetview and general searching of places to stay/visit ,

pros : its Google earth.

cons, not good at journey planning . new online version gobbles internet data.



Maps:

OS maps : UK at it’s best
OSM maps : price is good but data is not always as good as others
GARMIN maps : some are good
BING Maps : great for normal road navigation and are downloadable for offline use
Lots of other random maps in Oziexplorer , like Russian maps and IGN for Africa etc.



Hardware:
PC:
For trip planning, a mouse and big screens are much easier to work with.
I have all my data/ maps etc and basecamp database on Onedrive so I can have it anywhere, and always on my main PC

Laptop :

Thinkpad (a must) mirrors whats on my PC and linked to One drive for on trip readjustment of the trip
Always remember to refresh Onedrive before leaving internet connection

Garmin GPS 276Cx:
Pros : dedicated GPS is a must in my opinion, laptops/phone get broken/fail when being used for other things
Cons : It has not lived up to its previous incarnation the 276C which was great ,the 276Cx is slow, crashes and locks up, not good for a big company selling an expensive bit of kit.

Smartphone :
Dual sim for overland trips , so I can use OS maps app and download stuff, also normal routing software like Bing maps /Here maps with downloadable maps , Bing maps map everywhere for free, and works well, has traffic data.


Notebook:
I always write a list of main cities and route names in a list to follow old school
Pros : very reliable, I find the travel more enjoyable if we look for road signs as apposed to staring down at a GPS, you see so much more of the trip. Creates a great record for the scrapbook
my mother still has her notebook from her 50’s trip to France on her motorbike, what a great read that is.
Cons : doesn’t like rain

Never a dull day
www.beady.com/blog

I currently use a whole mishmash of technologies ranging from asking the locals through paper maps, dedicated sat-nav and various phone based apps + Google. The one route I've not gone down is anything that involves Garmin. I started way back - 25yrs ago - with one of their early dedicated gps units and did actually use it once for desert navigation with programmed in way points, but the whole thing was so complicated I abandoned it all afterwards. When the unit succumbed to a day of rain in France some years later I didn't bother replacing it.

I did get on well with OziExplorer in the early days and ended up scanning in and calibrating my own (commercial) maps but it was always a little clunky. When I went Mac (for work) I could no longer use it.

For simple trips these days I overview either on paper or with Google, and navigate with either Sat-Nav or Google. Each iphone upgrade seems to deal with car / bike use better than the previous one and it's becoming the simplest option.




Route planning the paper way




Using the old Garmin gps in Senegal

that picture does bring back memories of my GPSII+ with that wee 5.6 x 3.8 cm B&W screen !
You must be as old as me B.O.B !!!

The grey hair in the pic above it is the giveaway And what's worse is that picture itself is a few years old.

In fact the first long trip I ever did we used a page torn out of a school atlas we'd 'liberated' for route finding. The atlas still had most of the world coloured pink

There is something about scanning over a papermap that just can't be replicated on a small screen.


My first trip to Africa was with a basic route of the Dakar rallye from a photocopy of the Trials and MX news front page faxed to a shop in Dover were we left from to follow the Dakar Rallye on a whim.

what could go wrong??

what an adventure that was.



Never a dull day
BeaDy - Never a dull day

Couldn't resist posting this pic of my first GPS - 1997, a Garmin 45XL. Pretty much useless...
If you had coordinates, it would give you an arrow towards it. That's it.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

I like using a shoelace on a globe. Not quite granular enough for the motorcycle, but it worked quite well for a Canada to Singapore aircraft ferry flight I did a few years ago...

(Here's the link to the ferry flight story: Twin Otter Ferry Flight)

Michael

Aircraft Route Planning