Database Info

Off Road GPS Software

I know TomTom is good at on road navigation. Is there any Decent GPS software that uses OS maps, maybe 1:50000 or 1:25000 off road for hill walking etc.

I've tried most of them, and I reckon the best for O.S. maps is
http://www.memory-map.co.uk
They have a CD with all of them on it.
If you don't mid georeferencing them yourself, you might also try http://www.gpsdash.com or www.oziexplorer.com.
GPSDash is the only one that lets you georeference on your PocketPC. The others make you reference the maps on the PC and export them.
Ozi Explorer is faster, and re-projects maps from other formats into WGS84 (so you can use lat/long on OS maps instad of easings/northings). if you are using a bluetooth GPS, there is an issue with using Ozi on the XDA2 (see http://216.218.220.254/ozice/faq_ppc2003.html) which you can solve using Bluetooth Tools (see the article).
A free (but basic) alternative is www.locbrowser.com
One other thing to bear in mind is that TomTom 2.7 upwards will have messed up your bluetooth stack (unless you're running WM2003SE), so you need to soft-reset your Pocket PC after using TomTom before any other GPS program will work. It happens because Tomtom doesn't release the com port even after it has shut down.
Hope that's useful!

Thanks for the suggestions, I will have a look at them. What Would be perfect is a moving 1:25000 map with a cursor where I am. With waypoints and route planning in advance, like real GPS units do.
I have not had any issues with TomTom3 however i dont have any other GPS software to test it with. Yet.
Thanks. M8.

I use Memory-Map and it has all that you mention. 1:25000 is limited at present to National Parks etc but more areas are coming. We've full reviews on our site. You also get both PC and PPC clients so can plan on the PC, upload to the PPC and then copy the actual route you took back to the PC afterwards.
MM2004 has many additional features such as 3D bump mapping on the PC to give a virtual 3D respresentation of an area. Both PC and PPC Clients can be used with a GPS.

yes i like the look of this, will download over the weekend and trial it out in the parks 20 mile away.

Possibly a little late but the trial has no GPS functionality. Just in case you were planning to test this!

Doh, thanks for letting me know, i hadnt downloaded it yet.
Whats the point of a trial that doesnt trial the full software. Its just forces people to look elwhere.

To be fair few offer any trial at all so Memory-Map are to be applauded for offering something.
And as you can only 'trial' it with the small sample map they offer which is unlikley to be of your area then its only purpose is to show you the interface etc.
It is however the best in its field for good reason and I can highly reccomend it.

OK, will take a look at their software, and the maps, for the price it does look good value.

What the Raphael expands on, replaces or begins to replace?

I thought I'd start what I hope become a regular event at xda-developers.com. Posting how valuable our devices are to us. Specifically, what our devices...in this case the Raphael....replaces or begins to replace with native or expanded functionality.
I'll start off with a not so exhaustive list of the obvious and give others a chance to share. What I propose is that we post the function and specify what software or setup allows for this function. You don't necissarily have to go into detail, for example, if you've setup your device to be a "router" on your home network because that would take a little time...but you can post something like "LAN Router = configuring device without additional software" or something like that. If you list VoIP Device you can say "Replaced my VoIP Device using Skype" or something similar.
I'm curious how much functionality we can squeeze out of these devices. This post will also serve to give others ideas, provide a place to share your ideas, and give new people an idea of how powerful these devices are.
Here we go...
- Replaced my GPS device and I use TomTom.
- Begins to replace my digital camera and cam corder. Even though it doesn't take very high resolution images and there is still room for growth it does a decent job and i no longer have to carry around those two devices. I use the native components and software of the device. If anyone has better software to accomplish this let us know.
- Replaces my voice recorder. I'm still trying to narrow down which software I like best for this so your suggestions are very welcome.
- Replaced my FM Radio but only when away from my car
- Replaced my portable XM Radio as I stream XM using PocketXM. This is an old software and i think there are newer and better ones out by now but i havne't taken the time to go look so your suggestions are welcome to enhance this experience.
- Replaces the newspaper. I subscribe to newsfeeds using Egress. I've tried a dozen or more Windows Mobile feed readers and imho this is by far the best and has all the features i want.
- Allows me to stay in touch via IM using BeeJive IM.
- Allows me to stay in touch via IRC using zsIRC. zsIRC is missing a few things and is not perfect but is the better freeware product taht comes close.
- Expands on e-mail by allowing me to stay in contact with Pocket Outlook.
- Replaces my wireless/wifi scanner using WiFiFoFum. There are other software products i've tried but this one does exactly what i need and also works in conjunction with GPS so I can later map my scans using Google Earth or other mapping software. I even use it in conjunction with other software to perform wireless audits for my work.
- Provides me with mobile Bluetooth scanning capabilities using Bluezard and btCrawler. Please provide your suggestions if you have other software that does a good job in this area.
- Begins to replace my MP3 player. My MP3 player has a lot more space but the Raphael does a good job as a temporary replacement for this device.
- Allows me to watch my TV/Cable at the house from anywhere using Slingbox's SlingPlayer and the Slingbox Pro.
- Replaces the Weather Channel using WeatherPanel on SecondToday.
- Begins to replace my gaming devices because you can play some nice Windows Mobile based games, not to mention you can also install several different emulators to play other device games on your Windows Mobile device.
- Enhanced the way I input business cards into my contacts by allowing me to take a picture of the business card using WorldCard Mobile.
- Enhances the way I store critical information by using eWallet.
- Replaces the dictionary as there are tons of superior dictionary software products on the market now. I use several so won't list them here unless asked. If you have a favorite please let us know.
- Replaces the encyclopedia using Brittanica Concise Encyclopiedia or Pocket Wiki. I know there are others out there and I welcome your suggestions on this as I'm looking for the most complete solution possible.
- Replaces the phone directory using Live Search, Google, or numerous other products.
- Provides for a portable packet sniffer beyond the laptop using Handy Sniffer.
- Begins to replace the eBook Reader for many but not those that can't read off the tiny screen. I'm still looking for a better and universal solution that will read all formats and allow for better viewing on the smaller screen.
My list could go on but i'm going to stop there and give others a chance to respond with their list and also help me with mine if they have better suggestions.
Let's see how much functionality we can squeeze from this little device.

GNSS Internet Radio and Built in GPS

Hello,
I am new to the forum and also the owner of an HTC Fuze. I have been playing around recently with the GPS on the phone and got me thinking. I live in NY and we have a CORS network of gps base stations that are fed by the use of ntrip.
I was wondering if their was any way to use the gps signal on my phone and the connection to this CORS network to give me sub inch accuracy on my phone...then not sure what I would do with it then. But I do live on a farm and I would like to see some type of precision agricultural use.
I guess I need a way to have the GPS on the phone talk with the GNSS internet radio and then give me spot on guidance and such.
Please let me know your thoughts or if I need to explain better.
Thanks,
Clayton

bump
bump. Any ideas? Anyone

Great idea cwrisrey !
That will save the cost of a geodetic device, which is many times the cost of a Fuze. Further, it will lead the accuracy of the buildin GPS into millimum class.
Not dig into this further, would you go further to tell these:
Is that CORS data encrypted?
Is that accessible through public internet or VPN?
Is there copy right or intellectuall property right issue involved? (I don't think so, but better make it clear first)
Once again, great idea. Please do remember to update this thread once you got any progress. Thanks.

More info
Hello wg5566,
This site would probably answer alot of your questions clearer than I could:
http://www6.nysdot.gov/spiderweb/frmIndex.aspx
* Is that CORS data encrypted?
-I don't believe so, I think that it is just a form of compression, to distribute across the internet.
* Is that accessible through public internet or VPN?
Yes, the NYS CORS anyway. It accessible from the public internet (although they require you to register with them) But I believe there are other free streams. I also believe it was modeled after being able to be sent threw GPRS.
* Is there copy right or intellectuall property right issue involved? (I don't think so, but better make it clear first)
-I believe the ntrip is based on a GNU, I think the source code is available. http://igs.bkg.bund.de/index_ntrip_down.htm
Windows CE version:
http://www.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/crgb/gsr/downloads/installGNSS.CAB
Please, let me know your thoughts...
Thanks,
Clayton

My fast thoughts:
First make sure there is no satisfied freeware currently available for WM.
If so please ask a moderator to move this to the development & hackings section. And Add tyis sentence on the title: Call for developers for revolutionary GPS app!
I'm sure somebody here can develop this. You know the geodetic device was invented many years ago with very weak profiles comparing to current WM devices. The hardware on our phone should be capable to deal with these calculations, and the WM Pro platform should be capable to support such an app. Anyway it should not be a biggy for many masters here. But it is a biggy for gps users with high accuracy demand for any reason.
Edit: Did you try install that wince cab on your phone? I think some of WINCE apps can just run on WM. Please backup your data first.
Edit2: I tried to install it on my device, at first it did not show up in start menu, then I found the cab just put files and shortcut in the folder names in French. But there is no registry involved in the cab. Only three files. And then program UI itself is in English. Just run the executable from the folder will go right out of the box. So please try it. I did not try to connect & loggin yet, due to not registered account.
Edit3: Looks like the cab is only access the data from internet, convert the data format and export the data, but we still need a geodetic/gps software to process/use the data.
Disclaimer: I attatched these three files for the only purppose of exchanging software developement infomation. Anybody if download it please do not use it for any purppose other than this. Thanx.

Some thoughts on the subject
Hi All,
The idea of using NTRIP to make a Windows Mobile GPS device sub-meter accurate crossed my mind. After some research I found this thread.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any software capable of doing this. My idea is that it should be possible to accomplish this goal, using a combination of existing tools (which would be really cool!).
As wg5566 notes, there is a (WM) tool called GNSS Internet Radio, which is capable of downloading NTRIP corrections. It turns out this software works, but does have some flaws. Someone wrote another open source tool which is better (?), but unfortunately it isn't built for Windows Mobile (see: http://lefebure.com/software/).
More searching revealed a (dead?) project on codeplex: SharpGPS. It's an unfinished demo. It does however seem to be designed to do exactly what we're suggesting in this thread.
My idea: Completing the WM version of SharpGPS with parts of GNSS Internet radio / lefebure NTRIP client should result in a tool that's capable of upgrading a WM devices' gps signal to sub-meter accuracy through RTK/DGPS corrections over NTRIP.
Any ideas / suggestions about this?

It's already been done for the commercial market
Land surveyors, construction companies, and farmers use RTK GPS and RTK GNSS correction services on a regular basis. Some are free and some are paid subscription. They can be either NTRIP protocol with casters or individual TCP or UDP connections. Examples of software available are Carlson SurvCE and MicroSurvey. Read Carlson's support site for how they deal with the data flow using such networks on SurvCE (Windows Mobile and CE).
I have worked in land surveying using such equipment, and it generally requires dual frequency receivers, RTK corrections, and high quality antennas to achieve 1-2cm 95% CI horizontal precision. The current GPS chips in cell phones are only single frequency and so the best you could expect under ideal conditions is 2'-3' precision using some form of differential correction like WAAS or beacon or DGPS via NTRIP. Under average conditions, the precision will likely be in the 10-20' range. The dual frequency receivers take care of the large errors caused by radio waves traveling through the ionosphere.
Due to the limitations of batteries, antennas, and space for more chips in cellphones, the future of location accuracy will likely include some combination of GPS/GLONASS and cellular radio signal frequency timing calculations from cell towers. True Position, with its U-TDOA technology, is one example of measuring the time differences of cell phone radio waves using cell towers with known coordinates. Rumors (from surveying journals) have it that there are current patents in place that can allow for sub foot precision using such methods when sufficient cell towers are present for multilateration.

Has anyone found success on this topic? WM or Android...

Would be very interested, since there is a free NTRIP feed available in Switzerland... anyone?

*bump* it up

Been there still trying. Problem is no carrier phase off internal gps.

Grimli said:
Hi All,
The idea of using NTRIP to make a Windows Mobile GPS device sub-meter accurate crossed my mind. After some research I found this thread.
As wg5566 notes, there is a (WM) tool called GNSS Internet Radio, which is capable of downloading NTRIP corrections. It turns out this software works, but does have some flaws. Someone wrote another open source tool which is better (?), but unfortunately it isn't built for Windows Mobile (see: /lefebure.com/software/).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lance lefebure is a really cool guy I'm sure he wouldn't have any problem building a wm version but it is going to takea lot more than that to get rtk to a cell phone.

Very good ,thanks.

Ed hardy bikini said:
Very good ,thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are confused just ask questions and I will do my best to answer them. I am in the ag industry and deal with RTK networks and different ways of connecting them and tons of different gps units on a daily basis.

Look at this:
http://stakemill.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/ashtech-mobile-mapper-100-supports-esri-arcpad-10-0/
and this:
http://www.ashtech.com/-2359.kjsp?RH=1272644205746&RF=1270806507068
Is that still a phone !?

wg5566 said:
Look at this:
Is that still a phone !?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope PDA with support for external GPS with a builtin reciever that even sees glonass satellites (russian constelation). That was made specifically to do RTK mapping. It does have a GSM radio for data to connect to the cors.

Phone positioning using CORS
To perform a CORS (Network Reference correction we need a GGA stream from the GPS in your device. This allows us to remove the anomalies and provde the correction stream. As phones use a sirf II chip or similar they do not have input capability to output the NMEA stream to achieve this.

This one works great! it will connect to an Rtk receiver and get the nmea string from it or will use the internal GPS to be able to register on the CORS network. It will then stream the corrections over Bluetooth to a receiver or even a repeater radio. It won't however correct the internal GPS. http://antrip.dyndns.biz/Home/DownloadTrial

Apps for HD2

I'm looking for some decent/fun/'cool' apps for my HD2 and would be grateful for any advice!
I've looked in the obvious places (handango, freewarepocketpc, pocketgear, 1800pocketpc, Windows Marketplace) and to be honest there's not that much there. Perhaps being the only WinMo phone with capacitive screen and not released in the US yet means it's too early to expect much. (I've had my phone in the UK for 3 weeks now).
Eg
1. Astronomy - something that uses the G sensor and GPS to detect position and orientation of the phone and shows the relevant star field (I'm jealous of Google Sky Maps for Android!)
2. Music - piano or guitar simulator
3. anything that uses the motion or other sensors?
Thanks!!
Ned

For Astronomy you either have
Pocket Stars (which use GPS to adjust the map) : http://www.nomadelectronics.com/
or TheSky Pocket Edition, which is really really good : http://www.bisque.com/sc/shops/store/thesky-pocket.aspx
I bet those 2 are the best astronomy softwares for PDA.

I´m looking forward to an GPS Tram, Train etc. plan program like for iPhone!?
Thanks

Use Metro for it. It's free.

YA GPS, Yet Another GPS for HTC

YAGPS is an application for your Windows Mobile 6.x phone (tested with HTC HD2 Leo) that enables you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics – such as time, speed, distance, and elevation – while driving, biking, running or participating in other outdoor activities. Once recorded, you can share your KML Files, upload them to Google My Maps.
Features:
Gauge Speed Indicator
Sat. Number Indicator
Signal strength
Digital Speed Indicator
Trip Fuel Consumption
Trip Fuel Cost
Accuracy Indicator
KML for Google Map output file
Trip Color Coding
Speed Limit alert Indicator
Multi-Sound Language
Real-Time Monitoring, Time, Speed, Fuel, Avg. Speed, ...
For Download: http://yagps.codeplex.com/

Excellent, thank you very much.

Looks good.
One question, can it be changed to MPH, and Miles, etc etc ?
Thanks,
Ferret !

thank you guy

Does it make use of GPS or will it incur service provider's data charges GPRS?
Thanks

MPH and Miles
FerretAD said:
Looks good.
One question, can it be changed to MPH, and Miles, etc etc ?
Thanks,
Ferret !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, we are hard working to include the imperial system, as you can see in the setting page there is Metric and Imperial, but currently we support only metric, once released we will notify this post.

lwlee said:
Does it make use of GPS or will it incur service provider's data charges GPRS?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Lwlee,
No it does not use GPRS connection, the KML file will be saved locally but if you open the KML with your mobile, Gmap mobile will require GPRS connection, so you can open your KML on your local computer.
thanks

many thanks
Very good application & idea.
Good luck.
Stef2k4

Thank you
stef2k4 said:
Very good application & idea.
Good luck.
Stef2k4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many Thanks Stef,
We are hard working to deliver the new version with lots of new features and bug fix.
Keep in touch.
Sameh

fakoua said:
Thank you Lwlee,
No it does not use GPRS connection, the KML file will be saved locally but if you open the KML with your mobile, Gmap mobile will require GPRS connection, so you can open your KML on your local computer.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for clarification. This is great since it does not require GPRS to track. This app may replace my dedicated GPS tracker.
Will install and try. When will be new and bug fix version coming?
Thank you for a job well done and a great app.

Looking for an Editor
Hi,
I'm looking for an editor, technical writer for my project YAGPS to build the documentation page on codeplex.
Requirements:
1- Volunteer!
2- English Skills
3- Photoshop skills or any other image editing app for screenshots
4- HTC HD2 Device to run the application and take screenshots
If you are interested please contact me via yagps.codeplex.com with your codeplex account
Many Thanks
Sameh