Are you a great outdoorsman who is looking to plan the next big adventure? Des Newman's OziExplorer allows you to create GPS maps from purchased digital maps or scanned maps. This may be useful for creating GPS-compatible maps of any location in the world. Finding accurate electronic maps for locations around the world is more challenging than finding rural U.S. topographic maps.
Des Newman confronted these issues himself while trying to plan a fun 4x4 trip in his own area of Australia. Because Newman was unable to find exactly the right mapping software, he decided to create his own. And so OziExplorer was born.
While OziExplorer is geared toward those who enjoy 4x4 trips, many other people, such as boaters and aviators, have found this to be helpful GPS software as well.
OziExplorer supports these main GPS receiver brands: Garmin, Magellan, Lowrance, Eagle, Brunton, Silva and MLP.
This GPS mapping software earned our silver spot simply because it does not offer nearly as many features as our number one pick, TOPO North America, however it does offer more features than our No.3 pick ExpertGPS.
We found that OziExplorer was the most difficult GPS mapping software for us to use. When first planning a trip with this mapping software it is quite similar to starting out with a plain map. It does not offer any specific routes, or points of interest. All of these items have to be added manually.
Though the basic version of this mapping software looks like it's been stripped of functions and capabilities, you do have the option to purchase additional utilities to help beef up the program. Adding some of these extra utilities could definitely enhance your GPS mapping experience. One of these helpful utilities is a database of world cities and names. By including this utility you now have the convenience to search for these places by name.
OziExplorer GPS mapping software is definitely for rural adventure travel only. The program does not support the city traveler by including city grids or any types of street maps.
One of the highlights that we found is the ability to view your exact GPS position on the map. Because this feature is in real time you have the functionality to be able to track your movements using the GPS map in your hand.
However, one of the important features of OziExplorer is that you have the ability to plan your next exciting outdoor adventure on your computer by plotting specific waypoints and chosen routes that can be uploaded to your GPS.
Though OziExplorer GPS mapping software does not have built-in points of interest, it does have the capability to search through POIs that you have entered using either the coordinates or the name of the POI.
Map customization is OziExplorer's specialty. You can create custom routes, tracks and POIs. And you can attach notes to any point on a map. The program has a night vision feature to assist with nocturnal travel, and you can check your distance and bearings from a predetermined mark.
Objects can be dragged and moved across the map, and a 3D mode is available with an add-on product called OziExplorer 3D. You can create a 3D map from any map with OziExplorer, as long as you have elevation data for the region.
This GPS mapping software also offers you several utilities to run with the topographic map software, one of those being the Map Merge function. This allows you to create a new map inside of another map. You also have the ability to choose which scale would work best. This is very helpful if you would like to have a zoomed-in, detailed view of a map sitting inside of another map that you have created.
As with any standard GPS mapping software, OziExplorer gives you a compass and a status box to help you to keep track of your position.
OziExplorer was installed with ease and precision. We didn't have any problems at all.
We found that OziExplorer offers great online resources for those in need of their help and support. They offer user forums and a decent size FAQs section. All FAQs are broken out by help topic which we found useful when searching for answers to our questions. There is also a tutorial located in the help section of the software.
This GPS mapping software also has an online form where you can submit help questions. However, because they are located in Brisbane, Australia, the large time difference may cause a bit of a delay in their response.
If you are an outdoor enthusiast looking to map your next great adventure into the back country and don't mind creating your own map from the beginning, then OziExplorer may be the GPS mapping software that works best for you.
