Creating Blank Maps is not popular
Discussions after our previous articles Intro to Blank Map GPS Navigation and Systematic approach to create a Blank Map showed that creating his own Blank Maps does not encounter much enthusiasm.
However, if you want to use your pocketPC for Worldwide GPS Navigation, you will need a Blank Map option. So we searched and found a program for pocketPC, that can do it all. It can use self-calibrated maps and has a built-in Blank Map option.
It comfortably handles everything what a dedicated mapping or non-mapping GPS receiver can do (no auto-routing). It is called GPS Tuner (no affiliation what so ever) and we will show in detail how wonderful it is. This allows for off-road GPS Navigation.
Map calibration in the field
With the program comes a separate PC program to calibrate maps, but we wanted to try the calibration in the field.
Below is a scanned portion of a 1 : 200 000 map from 1996. We copied it as a .png file to the GPSTuner map folder on the Storage Card in the pocketPC, but we could also have used the .GIF, .JPG or .BMP file formats. We went out and looked for two points in two diagonally opposite corners of the map, that can be well distinguished on the map AND in the field. We chose the two points, indicated with black arrows.
The actual calibration
We drive to the chosen point in the upper left corner of our map image (it is not yet a map, as it is not calibrated) and stop our car just off road. We switch on our pocketPC and GPS Tuner and after the first fix, we wait another 1 minute, so that the program averages our position (it does so, because we set it this way in the settings). In the map panning mode we drag the chosen point to the center of the screen and zoom in.
Now we switch to map tapping mode and with the stylus we tap the screen exactly where we judge that our car is situated. In the pop-up menu we choose "Calibrate" and next "Add new". A new window, showing the co-ordinates, opens. We tap "OK" and a message tells us to choose at least one other calibration point. We turn off our pocketPC and drive to the chosen point in the lower right corner of our map image.
Here we add another calibration point and get the message that our map is now calibrated. We do not switch off the pocketPC, nor GPS Tuner, and drive back in the direction of the first calibration point. The following image shows the two calibration points and our track.
Zoomed in on a part of our track, we see that the result is not bad at all, especially because this 1996 map was certainly not meant to be used with GPS Navigation.
Blank Map GPS Navigation
Now that we know that we can perfectly use the program with a background map, we will continue in Blank Map mode, as this can be used worldwide, without the need to create our own blank maps. In blank map mode you can always do GPS Navigation.
Creating Waypoints
The manager of our hotel on the island of "Don't know where" ( for this island no one single electronic map exists and even the paper map for tourists is not much more than a sketch) gave us the co-ordinates of three interesting sites not too far from the hotel. The first POI was a historic important building, the second was an ancient grave site and the third a beautiful stone bridge. As he gave the co-ordinates in UTM format, we changed the format in "GPS" --> "Setup" --> "Coordinates". We could choose from Lat/Lon, UTM and UPID. Then we created the three waypoints: "GPS" --> "Manager" --> "Waypoint" --> Add new". This opens a window where we can fill in the Easting, Northing and Zone, as well as the Name, the Type (to choose from a drop down list) and a Description. "OK" creates the waypoint, but we can always Edit it afterwards.
The GoTo function
The simplest form of GPS navigation. We wanted to search for Waypoint 1. After we left the main road, a couple of kilometers before WP1, we switched on our pocketPC and GPS Tuner. We chose for the Blank Map operation mode. "Map" --> check "Blank Map". This is something different than loading a map. If you leave the map window and want to come back, you can not tap "Blank Map" again, as this would undo the Blank Map operation. Instead you have to choose "Map" --> "View". The GoTo function has got another name in the program. "Tools" --> "Set Target". This opens the list with waypoints. Choose one and tap "OK". On the screen we now see the red circled target on the WP1 icon. After a few hundred meters we took a snapshot of the Blank Map window. In the following image you can see the three waypoints and the first part of our track.
Immediately after this snapshot we switched to the Digital Compass page. "Tools" --> "Digital Compass". This will only function in case of a valid GPS fix. The moving direction is up and the compass rotates to keep it this way. You can also fix the compass with North up by tapping the black arrow above the compass. This is really GPS Navigation. The colored arrow indicates in which direction the target is situated, related to your actual position. In the upper left corner we see the name of the target and the expected time of arrival. In our case the name is "custom" and not "WP1", probably because we did enter nothing in the description field, when creating the waypoint.
In the circle we see the altitude of our actual position, then the line-of-sight distance to the target and our actual speed. The image below shows all these elements.
The next image shows our track to the target WP1.
TracBack
During Setup for the Tracklog you can choose between "Auto", "Time Interval" or "Distance Interval". We have set it to "Auto", for which we can set the "min angle", "min distance", "max distance" and "max time interval". This gives a good representation of the traveled track without collecting too many points. We also choose for "AutoSave". This means that if we exit the program, it will first save our tracklog.
The image below shows our actual track just before we decided that we wanted to do a TracBack. The program had registered 23 track points. Remark the color Green for these points. Before we can convert the Track to a Route, we must first save it to the internal memory or the storage card. We saved it to the storage card.
Conversion of Track to Route
"GPS" --> "Manager" --> "Route" --> "Open...". Now we choose our saved track file from the list and we have our Route which we can save as a Route for later use. Remark that the Route points in the image below are in the color Blue.
Reverse the Route Direction
In the map tapping mode hold the stylus on one of the blue dots. In the pop-up menu tap "Manager". In the new pop-up window tap "Backtrack". Remark that this is not called "TracBack", but "BackTrack". The following image shows the route in reverse direction.
Now we also reverse our own direction and set a Target on the Route. In the map tapping mode hold the stylus on one of the blue dots. In the pop-up menu select "Set as Target". In the next image we clearly see the target. Also remark the large black arrow in the upper right corner of the screen. This is one of the most important forms of GPS Navigation.
Once we move towards the Target we switch to the Digital Compass page: "Tools" --> "Digital Compas". Here we see that we had placed the target on Track Point 18. Once we get close enough to the Target, the program automatically sets the Target to the previous Track Point (= Next Reverse Route Point), etc. This is very precise. If the Target would be at 1000 meters away from you and you were 100 meters off-road, the compass would only decline arctan(100/1000) = 5.7 degrees. With the Target at 100 meters ahead, this same angle is already reached when you are only 10 meters off-road.
The next image shows that the Target is automatically pushed forward along the Route Points, in order to always be ahead of you. As we had left Tracklog "On", the new track over wrote the Route Points behind us.
Worldwide GPS Navigation, where-ever you go
Of course we know that a pocketPC can not replace a ruggedized water-proof dedicated GPS receiver on a tough hike in the mountains, during bad weather, but.... it can in almost all other circumstances. When, in the picture below, you see a modern pocketPC with incorporated SiRF Star III GPS chip, dimensions of only 110 x 60 x 19 mm, a mass of only 129 gr (4.55 oz) and a practical form factor, you will agree that the security of GPS Navigation can always be with you. It slips easily in a small pocket, in a photo bag or whatever and is there when you need it.
