Overland Nav. Software question

[Fireman78]

Hey guys.. I am looking into getting the Overland Nav. software, and I was just wondering if you can make shape files with them? I will be needing to walk parcels of land with my gps gathering area in acres. I will need to overlay that info to a printable (or emailable ) map. Will this software work to do this? Also- I will need to be able to draw onto the map and measure distance, and area, again, the acre thing. Hopefully I can use for this purpose! Any thoughts?

 

[craig]

Hey guys.. I am looking into getting the Overland Nav. software, and I was just wondering if you can make shape files with them? I will be needing to walk parcels of land with my gps gathering area in acres. I will need to overlay that info to a printable (or emailable ) map. Will this software work to do this? Also- I will need to be able to draw onto the map and measure distance, and area, again, the acre thing. Hopefully I can use for this purpose! Any thoughts?

Hi. I'm the developer of Overland Navigator and will do my best to answer your questions.

Overland Navigator saves your daily track log as a GPX file. There are many tools to convert GPX into a shapefile. It is an open format, so most software packages already support importing GPX tracks.

Overland Navigator does not include the ability to draw on the map or measure distance.... *yet*. It will in a future version.

It doesn't support measuring area/acreage, or drawing polygons and it is unlikely that it ever will as this isn't a common use-case performed by someone who is overlanding.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to send them to me via email or give me a call. support@spatialminds.com.

Craig

 

[Fireman78]

Having answered that, (thanks BTW).. and yes I still plan on purchasing for my overlanding use, I am wondering any suggestions for that use. I need the polygon/acre measuring ability. Any suggestons at all.??
Ease of use is a plus too* :sombrero:

 

[craig]

Having answered that, (thanks BTW).. and yes I still plan on purchasing for my overlanding use, I am wondering any suggestions for that use. I need the polygon/acre measuring ability. Any suggestons at all.??
Ease of use is a plus too* :sombrero:

I've had a few people request either a scale, distance circles, or a measure tool. I haven't had anyone request a polygon measure tool yet. I've considered doing a version of Overland Navigator that is focused on more of the traditional GIS data collection use-cases, but for now I'd like to stay focused on Overlanding.

Have you considered using one of the products from ESRI or Autodesk? I don't know if they still make it, but back when I was at Autodesk we made a WinCE application called "Onsite View" that had redlining capabilities.

Craig

 

[Fireman78]

I'll check it out, thanks.

 

[TreeTopFlyer]

I'll check it out, thanks.

Yah, you are looking at ESRI ArcView or ArcGIS. Neither of which are very intuitive but it's not impossible to learn on your own. You can measure and everything else you can think of with that software.

 

[fishbum]

DeLorme XMap Pro can import shapefiles, but not export. XMap Editor can import and export shapefiles, but is more expensive.
Both programs can draw polygons and measure distance/area/perimeter.
Bundle either with a PN-40 GPS and now you have a serious tool (as they call it)...

 

[craig]

Yah, you are looking at ESRI ArcView or ArcGIS. Neither of which are very intuitive but it's not impossible to learn on your own. You can measure and everything else you can think of with that software.

Actually, I intended to suggest Autodesk Onsite View, ESRI ArcPad, or one of the other touchscreen friendly WinCE data collection utilities available rather than a full blown Desktop GIS package.

 

[Fireman78]

Wow... I forgot to mention it needs to be cheap. I surely don't have 16 grand to spend on software. In fact, if I had 16 grand, I would buy a Horizon AT. :sombrero:

 

[craig]

ArcPad is $700, but yeah... I understand that that is still probably more than you want to spend.