GPS on a laptop - please help

[Canned Heat]

I apologize if this is posted in the wrong forum.
I know this is an often asked question because I have researched it extensively. However, I have not found an answer.
I have a laptop, Windows 10.
I can buy any USB GPS puck/receiver.
I can buy or download any maps.
I will be in remote locations with no cell or internet.
My needs are simpler than most. I do not need point a to b navigation. I do not need turn-by-turn navigation.
I only want to display my location - a moving dot - on the map. That's all. It would be nice to have auto-scrolling maps, yes, but even that is not necessary. I only want a moving dot showing my present location on the map.
Can anybody help?
(DeLorme Streets and Trips 2015 is a no because I have searched for it and cannot find it.)
Thanks all.

 

[pluton]

I noticed a similar inquiry recently on Overland Bound. Curious, I Googled it. A brief search seems to show that here seem to be at least several such apps...or apps that claim to live track from an offline map.... available for Windows.

 

[4x4tripping]

You can buy a laptop with WAN Modem (3G/4G/LTE) who brings often (not have to) a GPS Receiver with it.

Or you can buy an external GPS Device. They are mostly wireless & will works via Bluethooth. Now you need a software like FreeGPS who is able to use/connect to the external GPS Receiver.

Today each Smartphone or Tablet (with WWAN Modem) is able to do that job without worrying about disconnects and so on. Apps like Google Maps, Earthmate, Wikiloc will do a good job!

Or use a Satellite-Two way Messenger with terrain maps if you want NOT to use your smartphone: They have too a SOS button and let you chat with the response center outside of mobile network coverage.

To use a laptop is still a solution today, in my eyes more for professional tour guides and not for private travellers. Too much work, too much updates and reconfiguration (ongoing task)...

I did use an iPad Cellular for navigation on my 120`000km Journey (transafrica, europe, south america) together with an satellite messenger for livetracking & SOS functionality - what did works very good.

trippin

 

[kwill]

You can do it with GaiaGPS software and a limited version is available for free. I think a laptop is a bulky solution but it will work. A tablet is a better solution and Android based versions with built in GPS are cheap.

 

[climbmontana]

I was going to say, My Gaia does exactly that. Map out your route on a home computer and download the app to your phone or tablet. The dot will follow you and auto scroll the map as you go. I think premium is only $30 or $40 a year. Totally worth it.

 

[wait]

I was going to say, My Gaia does exactly that. Map out your route on a home computer and download the app to your phone or tablet. The dot will follow you and auto scroll the map as you go. I think premium is only $30 or $40 a year. Totally worth it.

Agreed and thumbs up on gaia. I use it on both smartphone and laptop.

 

[alia176]

I apologize if this is posted in the wrong forum.
I know this is an often asked question because I have researched it extensively. However, I have not found an answer.
I have a laptop, Windows 10.
I can buy any USB GPS puck/receiver.
I can buy or download any maps.
I will be in remote locations with no cell or internet.
My needs are simpler than most. I do not need point a to b navigation. I do not need turn-by-turn navigation.
I only want to display my location - a moving dot - on the map. That's all. It would be nice to have auto-scrolling maps, yes, but even that is not necessary. I only want a moving dot showing my present location on the map.
Can anybody help?
(DeLorme Streets and Trips 2015 is a no because I have searched for it and cannot find it.)
Thanks all.

I hate to say it but my Windows XP box is still running Delorme Topo USA 7 (or some old version) and it still rocks. So, if you can do a dual boot/parallel (or whatever it's called) so that you can fire up the XP inside of Win10, then you may just be able to run older Delorme Topo products. I had an USB powered GPS that lived permanently on the dash. This system worked well for over a decade for me and part of me still wants to return to it. It was so nice to be able to route, save stuff, type on a normal keyboard, etc using a laptop.

I had the whole country on the HDD and didn't need to do the download BS that I do with Gaia now. Having a tablet is nice for space saving but not much else for me. Philosophically, I don't need to be connected to the internet when I'm out wheeling, setup a route on a desktop at home, nor do I care about trails around me, or what Joe Blow says about that one trail, etc. I'm not into social wheeling all that much, I guess.

I know I sound like an old codger.....

 

[Patrick56]

You could try this: https://gpswebshop.com/blogs/tech-s...xternal-gps-gnss-receiver-for-windows-10-maps

It worked for me.

 

[Ozarker]

I apologize if this is posted in the wrong forum.
I know this is an often asked question because I have researched it extensively. However, I have not found an answer.
I have a laptop, Windows 10.
I can buy any USB GPS puck/receiver.
I can buy or download any maps.
I will be in remote locations with no cell or internet.
My needs are simpler than most. I do not need point a to b navigation. I do not need turn-by-turn navigation.
I only want to display my location - a moving dot - on the map. That's all. It would be nice to have auto-scrolling maps, yes, but even that is not necessary. I only want a moving dot showing my present location on the map.
Can anybody help?
(DeLorme Streets and Trips 2015 is a no because I have searched for it and cannot find it.)
Thanks all.

I'd be interested too, pretty simple approach, easy to use, can you tag another vehicle too?

I think some Ukrainian guys were looking for the same thing, they just needed a moving dot to be displayed.

 

[Joe917]

Buy a cheap Android tablet with GPS.
Buy a RAM mount.
Install maps.me. (open street map)
Done.

 

[deserteagle56]

Buy a cheap Android tablet with GPS.
Buy a RAM mount.
Install maps.me. (open street map)
Done.

OP states he will be in remote locations. Open Street Maps does NOT show most of the remote roads and trails where I live, only the major maintained roads. Need a good topo map for the remote roads.

Been there, done that.

 

[Joe917]

OP states he will be in remote locations. Open Street Maps does NOT show most of the remote roads and trails where I live, only the major maintained roads. Need a good topo map for the remote roads.

Been there, done that.

Open street maps is very up to date and shows everything including hiking trails.
I have used it from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. It works off line. It is a fantastic resource.
By the way I ran it in parallel with an In Reach and Delorm's mapping. Open Street map was by far the most accurate and useful.

 

[pluton]

The Garmin "TopoActive" map that comes with the Garmin Montana 700 series units, and the Gaia Topo on the Gaia platform are both claimed by those respective providers to be based on OSM---so, OSM must have a topographic map as well as the paved street maps, no?

 

[out.wandering.McL]

I know that the OP asked about a solution which would use a windows laptop, but....I would highly suggest an android tablet running Oruxmaps, Locus maps, Caltopo, etc. Both Oruxmaps and Locus can use maps from openandromaps.org which is an incredible resource. When I was working in Asia, I started using Oruxmaps and Locus maps with maps from Openandromaps as it was one of the few options for offline mapping. I could download whole countries and have them on the device and not worry about cell or wifi reception. It is a very cheap and simple solution vs as others have mentioned, the laptop route gets complicated quickly or costs more or both. Peace

 

[Joe917]

100% on Android tablet.
We had all of North and South America Osm maps on out 10" Samsung with room to spare. I believe topo is now available with osm.