travisk
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Fullerton, CA
I’m kind of a map geek but I don’t have enough money for one of those fancy Lowrances, so here’s my write up on a decent low-budget solution for those looking to use their mobile phone as an off-road GPS.
Phones have come along way in providing maps and driving directions in the city, but programs like Google Maps still lack two major components that make them useful out on the dirt trail. (1) Maps aren’t available when you lose signal in remote areas and (2) there’s no way to download an off-road route from the Internet to apps like Google maps.
I found a 99 cent app that solves both of these problems. It’s called MotionX GPS. The interface isn’t quite as easy to use as the ones on a Lowrance or Garmin, but with a little pre-trip planning, it’s good enough to keep you on the right trail.
Once you get the app installed, you’ll want to get your waypoints, routes and downloaded maps into the program on your phone.
Downloading routes and waypoints
First, find a GPX file of the trail you’re looking to explore. I usually just Google “trail name gpx”. Once you find a route file on the web (or create it yourself in Google Earth), download it and then email it to [email protected]. The system will email back a link that you must open in your email program on the phone. That link will download your custom waypoints into the GPS program.
Downloading offline maps
You can download terrain and road maps directly in the program itself by going to Setup -> Map Downloads and outlining the area you want to download. Then you select the detail level you need. In this example, full zoom terrain maps covering the Mojave Road were about 800 megs in size. I opted to remove one zoom level and it was only about 200 megs. Once the maps are downloaded, you can drive out of range and your phone will still have map data to display.
When you're done, spend a few minutes learning how to use the navigation program, mount your phone to your dash and you're all set.
Phones have come along way in providing maps and driving directions in the city, but programs like Google Maps still lack two major components that make them useful out on the dirt trail. (1) Maps aren’t available when you lose signal in remote areas and (2) there’s no way to download an off-road route from the Internet to apps like Google maps.
I found a 99 cent app that solves both of these problems. It’s called MotionX GPS. The interface isn’t quite as easy to use as the ones on a Lowrance or Garmin, but with a little pre-trip planning, it’s good enough to keep you on the right trail.
Once you get the app installed, you’ll want to get your waypoints, routes and downloaded maps into the program on your phone.
Downloading routes and waypoints
First, find a GPX file of the trail you’re looking to explore. I usually just Google “trail name gpx”. Once you find a route file on the web (or create it yourself in Google Earth), download it and then email it to [email protected]. The system will email back a link that you must open in your email program on the phone. That link will download your custom waypoints into the GPS program.
Downloading offline maps
You can download terrain and road maps directly in the program itself by going to Setup -> Map Downloads and outlining the area you want to download. Then you select the detail level you need. In this example, full zoom terrain maps covering the Mojave Road were about 800 megs in size. I opted to remove one zoom level and it was only about 200 megs. Once the maps are downloaded, you can drive out of range and your phone will still have map data to display.
When you're done, spend a few minutes learning how to use the navigation program, mount your phone to your dash and you're all set.
) 
