Read about this in latest news letter
Take a look at the film Outback based on a true story
See what happens to the hapless souls who rely on their GPS alone
Maybe it will become a niche market and therefore very expensive.
There used to be multipe brands of street directories (UBD and Gegory's come to mind), but check out the motoring stores now. If nobody is buying something it won't be long before they no longer get produced. The same with state and national road maps. I keep a small sized Hema maps book but rarely refer to it. Also have old NRMA maps for numerous localities, but again rarely refer to them.
It is so much easier to get a large zoomable image on my PC screen. But a small mobile screen ??? Maybe not.
It's sad to see the demise of paper and books, but understand that if I rarely buy them now, then many others are doing the same.
With you there.
Was cleaning out my shed a few months ago and came across a pile of old maps.
Kept the lot.
Even found a few of my old plastic dam fishing maps.
I reckon they are like gold.
Went to the footy (bush) for the first time in ages yesterday (been sick and locked down for a few years) and asked if they had programs for sale.
Unbeknowns to me at the time they are now scanned and go into your phone for a PDF file.
That put the cat amongst the pigeons with a bloke older than me on the gate trying to get it on my phone, took about 15 minutes.
Then another half hour in the grandstand missing most of the reserve grade trying to work out how to access the b@$t@rd on my phone.
I used to love the old paper footy programs and somewhere else buried in the annals of time at home is an old 1968 program with Changa Langlands and Billy Smith autographs in the middle of it.
I keep saying take me back to 01/01/1970 and leave me there.
Life was so much better then.
We haven't used paper maps for years, but always carry them & a compass with us in remote areas in case the electronic technology fails. That said we have several different GPS/mapping navigators/software on several different devices too.
I use the maps to find the best access tracks for fishing spots deep in remote mountains and gullies before l leave home,
As l do with with paper marine charts, even though l have a reasonably good chartplotter and exterior aerial.
The maps and paper charts ALWAYS work in pea soup THICK fog, along with the magnetic compass... whereas the electronic doo hickeys won't work in the same terrible conditions.
I think that for me, a person who likes to stay on the bitumen
A paper map, is not a priority, any more
I rely on Wikicamps, and Whereis internet maps, and sometimes Trip Planner / Travel RACQ
When in holiday mode, (most of the time), I will set the GPS to my destination.
When I realise that the GPS is taking me the long way around, I still stick to it, if I have never been on that road before
For me, the journey is just as good as the destination
When I realise that the GPS is taking me the long way around, I still stick to it, if I have never been on that road before
I think that for me, a person who likes to stay on the bitumen
I would never trust the accuracy of my GPS, in that area (west of Ayers Rock), as it would probably only say, driving off road, or words to that effect
I would never trust the accuracy of my GPS, in that area (west of Ayers Rock), as it would probably only say, driving off road, or words to that effect
a GPS, away from the bitumen
That's why I prefer a navigator which shows a map with our position on it (as well as the ability to show our route to date allowing us to backtrack if needed. We can do this with Hema maps on an app, or on the HX1 navigator, as well as the the Exploroz Traveller navigation app. There have been a couple of occasions when Hema has shown us not to be on a track even though we could see a clear track through our windscreen.A Check with Exploroz Traveller showed the track we were on, & that it would take us to where we wanted to go.
With you there. Was cleaning out my shed a few months ago and came across a pile of old maps. Kept the lot. Even found a few of my old plastic dam fishing maps. I reckon they are like gold. Went to the footy (bush) for the first time in ages yesterday (been sick and locked down for a few years) and asked if they had programs for sale. Unbeknowns to me at the time they are now scanned and go into your phone for a PDF file. That put the cat amongst the pigeons with a bloke older than me on the gate trying to get it on my phone, took about 15 minutes. Then another half hour in the grandstand missing most of the reserve grade trying to work out how to access the b@$t@rd on my phone. I used to love the old paper footy programs and somewhere else buried in the annals of time at home is an old 1968 program with Changa Langlands and Billy Smith autographs in the middle of it. I keep saying take me back to 01/01/1970 and leave me there. Life was so much better then.
I agree.
If I want to see the big picture I go to paper maps.
Am currently planning a few days in Melbourne CBD. I'm finding it very difficult on electronic maps.
I have complete indepth army maps, that I rely on for most of Australia, I will never not stop, having them, but will have to consider having them laminated to keep them intack
Am currently planning a few days in Melbourne CBD. I'm finding it very difficult on electronic maps.
I understand what you are saying, it does very much depend upon screen size of the device on which the electronic maps are being viewed though.
For Melbourne CBD the screen google maps on my 13" Macbook is adequate - just. Larger would be better. My wife's ipad is too small.
The large format spiral bound Hema Atlas' covering all of Australia are easier to handle inside the confines of a car, or outside when windy than paper maps.
We threw our gps unit into the bin 4-yrs after wasting $1200 on it .... it was completely useless
Since day-1 with the MH 20-yrs ago we have had / used / enjoyed / coveted our paper maps + road atlas books and use them every day of our travels
We do a fair bit of off-hwy travel and 'alternate-roads' travel to get away from the trucks and zippy-big-smoke mob who want to be somewhere yesterday
And as we travel these remote / outback places it also gives us the opportunity to add small triangles to our newly discovered places where we can overnight 'out-there' and enjoy the stars
How do you see small towns in the outback on Google maps? If I zoom out so I can see the general layout of the road, all the towns disappear. When I zoom in enough to see the town, I have no idea where it is compared to my location. A paper map is much better as it shows all small towns along your route in the outback, even when you have the whole state on the map.
For example if I look at Google maps at the Northern Territory it shows me Darwin and Alice Springs and no other towns. If I look at a paper map of the Northern Territory it shows me every one-horse town and every roadhouse along the roads in the outback. The paper map is made to provide all the main information you need. Google maps is scaled to only show you towns depending on town size and zoom level, so it will never show a one-horse town unless you are very zoomed in to a location. So it is much easier to plan my route on the paper map as I can estimate which small town I will be near, at various times along my route.
Not only do we use a fairly up to date atlas, we take a 1981 atlas. Will need to do some more repairs to it. It's lightweight, easy to read, sometimes find places not printed on the current map & vice versa.
As mentioned previously, we also have a GPS, but you have to have it set at 300 metres (from memory) to see tracks.
I do have a second one. It stopped working, luckily we were in Orange at the time so bought another one. Did get is going again when back home by giving it a charge from 240v. But at the time not impressed.
So probably use it but set it at 12 km resolution to save zooming in & out with one GPS.
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How do you see small towns in the outback on Google maps? If I zoom out so I can see the general layout of the road, all the towns disappear. When I zoom in enough to see the town, I have no idea where it is compared to my location. A paper map is much better as it shows all small towns along your route in the outback, even when you have the whole state on the map. For example if I look at Google maps at the Northern Territory it shows me Darwin and Alice Springs and no other towns. If I look at a paper map of the Northern Territory it shows me every one-horse town and every roadhouse along the roads in the outback. The paper map is made to provide all the main information you need. Google maps is scaled to only show you towns depending on town size and zoom level, so it will never show a one-horse town unless you are very zoomed in to a location. So it is much easier to plan my route on the paper map as I can estimate which small town I will be near, at various times along my route.
Screen size matters.
On my 13" laptop I find the online Exploroz Traveller map good for larger route planning info. For me the 13"screen is the minimum useful size though. I find the zoom/info balance is better than google maps. It's full zoom capability together with satellite views shows small off road tracks that Hema doesn't know about, let alone Google Maps. Zoom from all of Australia right down to walking trails seamlessly. When offline I still find the large format Hema atlas books most convenient for route planning & revert to electronic when 'on the move'. Currently (for the past several years) the Hema HX1 navigator. Cant beat having a permanently on navigator showing our position on a map ( or turn by turn navigation in unknown towns). I would choose Exploroz Traveller over Hema, but it is an app, not a dedicated navigator. If/when we have a vehicle with more cab real estate I will switch to Exploroz Traveller on a mounted (& dedicated) tablet, instead of Hema. Currently having to get the ipad out (wife/navigators job) is almost as inconvenient as having to get a paper map out (in comparison to a brief glance at the Hema screen on the dash) as it inevitably means having to pull over, so I, the driver can look at it. It is however very reassuring in remote areas on the occasions that Hema has not recognised the road we are on to be able to double check with Exploroz Traveller. Hema tends to only have the 'main' tracks even on full zoom, whereas Exploroz Traveller has many more.
When one has been ruined by two 30" & 24" screens, a 13" screen just doesn't cut it.
I know what you are saying, but unless you have lots of space in your travel outfit the larger sizes are impractical. My 13" laptop is the smallest I've had, but it has surprised me how quickly & how well I ave adapted to it. Less weight, less bulk, faster charging, charge lass longer etc etc more than make up for the screen size, & the reason I consider it to be the minimum size for route planning , is a comparison with my wifes 10" ipad running the same mapping apps. I did convert to laptops years ago, preferring their portability even when at home. 24" & 30" screens plus the compuer box are too cumbersome when in the recliner or bed. All my laptops have either been 17", 15" & now 13" Macs. Last Desktop I had ran Windows 98, & had a 40Gb HDD.
One of the best paper maps we bought is a 1:500,000 scale map of Italy. Amazing how much they squeezed onto the map.
Have it near the TV so when there is a program, we can whip it out & compare the location with the green highlighter pen mark on the map & see a good chunk of Italy in one go.
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Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
One of the best paper maps we bought is a 1:500,000 scale map of Italy. Amazing how much they squeezed onto the map.
Have it near the TV so when there is a program, we can whip it out & compare the location with the green highlighter pen mark on the map & see a good chunk of Italy in one go.
