The single most popular page on this site is the one with OziExplorer utilities, so clearly a fair number of visitors to this site have an interest in OziExplorer. Here I’ll talk about how Nicole and I use this particularly brilliant piece of software. I’ll start by describing the computer that runs the software in our Pajero.

I’ve used OziExplorer running on laptops, both in our car and in other people’s cars. That’s fine until you get onto the rough tracks and the laptop gets bounced around because you need your hands to hang on. I’ve seen it used on Windows CE but to be honest, with my eyesight those tiny little screens are very near useless unless you’re on a sealed road or are stationary. I’ve seen some nice installations using tabled PCs or those laptops where the screen can be swivelled around and used while folded back over the keyboard. Unfortunately, both those options are expensive and there’s always a risk of damaging them when off-road.

I’ve built a PC into the back of the car, located just in front of the fridge and can be accessed through a door behind the left rear seat, shown in this photo. The computer itself is an old but very compact HP model that originally ran off a 19 old DC power pack. That’s a bit more than the car can provide directly but by replacing the regular PC hard drive with a laptop model the PC no longer needs to supply a regulated 12 volt line, so will now happily run straight off the car’s 12 volt system.

I’ve made some small changes to the computer’s circuitry so that it will automatically switch on when the car starts and will cause the Windows to hibernate and the PC to power down about 5 minutes after the ignition switch is switched off. By leaving the ignition switch in the accessory position the computer can be used without having the engine running.

The monitor in the car isn’t a touch screen, so to control the PC we normally use a wireless mouse and an on-screen keyboard. One issue with a mouse in a car that is used for some pretty rough off-road driving is that the cursor is always moving about and the buttons get pressed, always at the most inconvenient times. To solve this I’ve added a tiny on/off switch to the mouse. For those times when a “real” keyboard is required or preferred, such as when typing trip notes, we keep a roll-up keyboard tucked in a little otherwise useless space in the back of the car. It’s plugged in only when it’s needed.

Over the years we’ve accumulated a good collection of maps from various sources. I’ve also scanned all our paper maps, or at least those which are suitable for calibration, and have added them to the collection. Nearly all our paper maps can be purchased in electronic form but to be honest they tend to be more expensive than can reasonably be justified. Besides, we like to have paper maps as well, as electronic devices can fail and we still need to be able to navigate.

Although OziExplorer doesn’t do the turn by turn type of navigation found in those little GPS units that people have stuck to their windscreen, or are built into an ever increasing number of new cars, we use it for navigation both on the road and in the bush. Of course we may yet add one of those commercial GPS units to the car but so far haven’t had much need for it because when we go somewhere one drives and the other navigates.

I think the single feature I appreciate most about OziExplorer is the ability to record where you go. I know some GPS receivers can also do that but most can’t. The map image on our Tasmanian holiday page shows what I’m talking about. Using my own OziPics software we later create waypoints of all the photos we take on our trips. This allows is to see exactly where we were when the photos were taken (assuming we were somewhere near the car at the time).

During actual use OziExplorer will regularly check it’s map folders and switch maps of either you get to the edge of the one you’re on or if it finds one with a higher resolution for your current position. By some careful choices of which maps it’s allowed to use while in moving map mode you can have the best maps for navigating over a large area, yet still be able to choose a higher resolution map when you need to see greater detail. It takes a little trial and error to get the balance right but the results are worth it.

While we don’t do a great deal of details route planning before hand, OziExplorer does allow you to do so. Some people I know go to great lengths to carefully plot their entire route, which they then follow while driving. We prefer to simply place waypoints as important places or intersections. By giving each one a name representing the direction we need to turn we have the information we want without cluttering up the on-screen map. This is of course a key point – You do things the way that suit you, rather than being locked into only being able to do things one way.

Using my OziSpeed program, which gets its data from OziExplorer, we can also have a large easy to read and accurate speedometer whenever we feel the need to check the accuracy of the car’s speedometer. This an be important when we change tyre sizes, which causes the speedometer to read incorrectly.

OziExplorer is a Windows program but of course not everyone is a Windows fan. If you’re one who doesn’t like or doesn’t want to use Windows you can still run OziExplorer. I’ve personally used it on my MacBook, running under Darwine. It also runs under wine on Linux computers. For us this is a real bonus because the MacBook goes on our trips with us and can take over from the car’s PC if that becomes necessary. Simply unplug the GPS received from the PC and plug it into the Mac and we’re back in business.