Configuration


This option is located on the File Menu.

System

Load Last Map - Ticking this box will cause the last map being used to be automatically loaded the next time you run the software.

Load Last Data - Ticking this box will cause the last data being used to be automatically loaded the next time you run the software (waypoints, routes, events, tracks, points).

Show Map View - For Registered users, ticking this box will display the Map View screen on program startup.

Show Zoom Window - Ticking this box will display the small Cursor Zoom Window on program startup.

Ask Before Quitting - If ticked OziExplorer will ask you to confirm before it Quits.

Window Position - Specifies the position and size of the OziExplorer window when it loads. You can select the Maximize option where the window will be full screen or the At Stored Position option where the window will assume the position and size that it had when you last pressed the Store Window Position button.

Store Window Position - Press this button to store the position and size of the OziExplorer window (see above). To save this position you must press the Save configuration button also.

Map Scroll Increment - The distance the map scrolls per mouse click on the scrollbar arrows or when using the cursor keys.

Data File Datum - for Registered users, the Datum which will be used when saving Data files (waypoints, events or routes), the Datum is stored in the file. The Lat/Long is automatically translated from the Map Datum to the Data File datum specified. This datum is not critical and could be left to WGS 84 at all times. It is useful if you want to manipulate the data files with other software.

When reading Data Files the positions are translated from the Datum they were with to the Map Datum. The Datum is stored in the Data Files with the data so it is known when the file is loaded.

Map File Path - the Folder where the map (.map) files are kept. OziExplorer will always look in this folder and its subfolders for maps, the preferred choice is to create a folder called MAPS under the OziExplorer folder. You could the create subfolders under the MAPS folder to separate your maps into various categories. Even though you can open a map file from any folder the map find function and moving map "find next map" will look in the Map File path folder as the default.

Data File Path - the Folder where the data files are stored, the preferred choice is to create a folder called DATA under the Oziexplorer directory.

Maps

Distance Units - Specify the unit all calculated distances are displayed in. If you specify Kilometers smaller units will be in meters. If you specify Miles or Nautical Miles smaller units will be in feet.

Speed Units - Specify the units to use for speed display.

Altitude Units - Specify the units to use for altitude.

Bearings - The Bearings can be displayed in True or Magnetic North.

Distance Calcs - Specifies whether the software is to use a sphere or ellipsoid when calculating distances, the ellipsoid method should be the more accurate.

The various GPS receivers use different methods, the list below is based on observation of how the the models tested calculated the distance so may not apply across the board.

Garmins appear to use an ellipsoid; Lowrance/Eagles and Magellans appear to use a sphere. It may be advisable to select the method in OziExplorer which best agrees with  your GPS. The difference between the 2 methods is about 1% so it not really noticeable for small distances.

Country or Region - Select your country or if not there select the region of the world you are in. When entering geographic positions this causes the N/S or E/W field to default to a choice valid for the region you select.

Lat/Long Display - Specifies in what format the Lat/Long coordinates are displayed in.

Blank Map Datum - Specify the Datum to use for the Blank map. This datum is used the next time a blank map is created, that is the next time the "Blank map" option on the Map menu is used, it does not affect the datum of a blank map which is already being displayed. See Datums help for more information.

Create Map Thumbnail - This applies to certain image types. This will cause a small image file (.mv1, its really just a bmp file) to be created as the map is loaded and is stored in the same directory as the .map file. The next time the map is loaded this small image is used to create the MapView instead of having to load in the large image again. There is no thumbnail created for images less than 1 Mbyte in size as these are already quick to load.

Map Load Options

Keep Map Objects - Keeps the waypoints, events, routes and tracks in memory when you load a new map, they will display on the map if possible but even if not displayed on the map they are still loaded and active, YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS, if you don't want them loaded you must use the Clear options on the Map menu. It is up to you to decide how you want OziExplorer to handle this. This feature is necessary when doing on screen navigation using moving map so your waypoints and routes  and therefore navigation assistance are retained for the next map.

Alternate Grid - this determines which grid coordinates are displayed and requested by the software. This does not apply to map calibration where you can make an independent choice.

The User Grid is based on the Transverse Mercator Projection and requires you to set up the following fields by pressing the adjacent button.

It is beyond the scope of this help file to explain the purpose of these fields, please obtain and consult other documentation on Grids and/or Coordinate systems for more information.

Use Map User Grid - This option links the Map User Grid (Transverse Mercator projection), which is setup when calibrating, to the User Grid which you setup for the Alternate Grid in configuration. If this is true and the map being loaded has a user grid set, the "map user grid" is automatically copied to the "Alternate User Grid" for coordinate display.

Map Images

This section has various option for locating the image for a map that is being loaded.

Note : This is the  image file search sequence

  1. The link to the image file stored in the .map file is checked
  2. The folder where the .map file is stored is checked
  3. The Image File Paths are checked (if specified)
  4. The Drives which have been ticked are checked
  5. The CDROM drives (if the option is enabled) are determined and checked.

Image File Paths - Each of the specified paths (if ticked) are checked to see if the required image file can be found.

Check Drives - If the map image has not been found each of the specified drives are searched. It searches for the image using the folder name specified for the image file (stored in the .map file) but uses the specified drive letter, if not found there it searches the root folder of the specified drives.

Always Check All CD Drives - If this option is checked and a map image cannot be found the CDROM drives are determined and checked for the map image. It searches for the image using the folder name specified for the image file (stored in the .map file) but uses the CDROM drive letter, if not found there it searches the root folder of the CDROM drives. This option is separate to the Check Drives option where CD drives can also be specified, the difference this option determines the CD drive letters itself before checking them.

GPS

Find GPS Port (button) - Scans the ports on the PC looking for the specified GPS type. If found the details are displayed in a list and can be used to help configure OziExplorer.

GPS Make - Select the make of GPS from the list provided.

GPS Model - Select the model of GPS you have.

GPS Symbol Set - Specifies the symbol set that the selected model of GPS supports.

GPS Parameters - When you select a GPS make and model the GPS parameters are automatically filled in, DO NOT assume that the parameters are correct for all GPS Receivers, check the features of your GPS in the manual and enter the correct values.

Click on these links below to read specific information for each of the different makes

Magellans , Garmins , Lowrance & Eagle , MLR , NMEA Only

GPS Upload/Download Datum - Specifies the Datum OziExplorer will use when it uploads data (waypoints, tracks etc) to the GPS and the Datum it assumes the data is in when it is downloaded to OziExplorer from the GPS. Garmins and Magellans always use the WGS 84 datum when uploading/downloading data. Lowrance/Eagles vary, some use the datum the GPS is set to and others always use WGS 84, you need to experiment to find out which one uses what datum.  See Datums help for more information.

GPS NMEA Output Datum - Specifies the Datum the GPS sends its NMEA position data in. Garmins always send it in the datum you have your GPS set to. Most Lowrance/Eagles always send it in WGS 84 others send it in the datum the GPS is set to. For Magellans you need to check this, some models output in WGS84 and others such as the 315/320 output in the Datum the GPS is set to. See Datums help for more information.

Communication

Com Port - Select the Com port on the PC you have used for connecting your GPS.

Parity - Select the Parity your GPS uses in its own comm setup, if not known try none.

Baud Rates - OziExplorer allows you to specify separate Baud rates for Upload/Download and NMEA communication.

Stop Bits - Allows 1 or 2 stop bits to be selected.

Upload/Download Baud rate - Set to match the setting you have in your GPS, for best performance use the highest speed available. The setting you choose for the GPS must match the setting you have selected in OziExplorer.

NMEA Baud rate - You can set the Baud rate for NMEA communication separately from the Upload/Download Baud rate. When you use Moving Map (i.e. reading NMEA from the GPS) the software will automatically use the NMEA baud rate, if not known try 4800.

Garmin USB - This is selected if your Garmin GPS supports USB data transfer.

Use PVT for Garmin instead of NMEA - Most Garmins have the ability to output their position using the PVT protocol which has all the information required for moving map (real time tracking) operation. When using this method the GPS must be placed in GRMN/GRMN HOST or Garmin mode (depending on model).

Serial Port Driver - There is an increasing use of USB to Serial Port convertors being used on laptop computers. It is difficult to provide code which works with all of these. 2 Serial Port Drivers which use different techniques are provided and each of them can be selected. If communication difficulties are experienced then the other driver can be tried. The Default driver is "Driver 2".

Click on these links below to read specific information for each of the different makes

Magellans , Garmins , Lowrance & Eagle ,MLR ,Brunton/Silva ,NMEA Only , Tripmate , Earthmate

Auto Pilot

See the Auto Pilot Output help for more details.

Outputs the Standard NMEA sentences which can control an Autopilot. The sentences output are $GPRMC, $GPRMB, $GPAPB, $GPBWC.

Active - Tick the box to enable the Autopilot output. The NMEA sentences are output to the selected com port whenever you are using moving map mode. The NMEA strings only contain valid navigational information if you are navigating along a route or to a waypoint. Otherwise the parameters in the strings are empty.

Com Port - Select the com port which has the autopilot connected, if the com port is the same number as the "General Comm Settings" for the GPS then the same Baud Rate and Parity is used.

Baud Rate - Set the Baud Rate for the port if the port number is different to the "General Comm Settings".

Parity - Set the Parity for the port if the port number is different to the "General Comm Settings".

Interval - The time interval in seconds between the batches of NMEA strings being sent to the Autopilot. All the supported strings are output in the same batch.

Objects

Route Line Width - The width of the line (in pixels) used to display the route lines on the screen.

Track

Track 1 Defaults

Line Color - Specifies the color used when a track is initially created.

Line Width - Specifies how wide the track will be drawn on the screen. For speed in drawing it is better to leave the track width set to one (1), the best visual setting is a width of two (2).

Line Style - Specifies the line style used when a track is initially created.

Track Tail Defaults

Line Color - Specifies the color used for the track tail.

Line Width - Specifies how wide the track will be drawn on the screen. The best visual setting is a width of two (2).  A track width set to one (1) will draw faster.

Line Style - Specifies the line style used to draw the track tail.

Track Log File - New File - Specifies the frequency to create a new log file.

Moving Map

These options cannot be adjusted in the shareware version.

Screen Update Rate - The interval in seconds between screen updates. Screen updating can take considerable time and cause flickering of map objects, this does not look good and reduces performance on slower laptops. Specify an update rate of a few seconds or more to reduce this.

Store Track Point Interval - The interval between track point updates in distance units (Kilometers, Miles or Nautical Miles), or how often a track point is collected.

Track Tail Length - How many points of the track are displayed. Displaying too many points will slow screen refresh performance dramatically. It is best to limit the number of points displayed. The full number of points are still collected. Setting to zero will display all points collected so far.

Dock Controls - If this option is checked the Moving map and Navigation controls will be docked to the right hand side of the OziExplorer window, if not checked the controls will be floating.

Scroll Method - Select the method to use for map scrolling.

Pointer - Select the shape of pointer desired. The boat and car (4x4) look fairly ordinary but the aeroplane is pretty good. There are 3 User pointers that can be selected - see creating moving map user pointers.

Scale - This is the size of the pointer seen on screen. The larger the pointer the more time it takes to draw so be careful if you are using a very slow laptop.

Pointer Color - The best color to choose for the pointer depends on the major color used on your maps, for dark maps with lots of brown/green a good color is orange.

Pointer Solid Color - If this option is ticked the pointer is drawn using a solid color instead of being transparent - you can see map details through the pointer.

Always Check for More Detailed Map - If the check box is ticked OziExplorer will check at whatever interval you have specified to see if there is another map available which is more detailed. The selection is based on distance per pixel, if another map has a smaller distance per pixel it will be selected and loaded. This in no way interferes with or replaces the normal function of loading the next map when you cross the map neat line or leave the image. This process involves scanning all the map files in the "Map File Path" and checking their extent and scale. You cannot set a checking interval less than 30 seconds, this is to prevent excessive thrashing of the hard disk.

Ignore Maps with Error - When scanning for a new map to load any maps where the image cannot be found are ignored.

Current map Path - If checked Moving Map will try to find the next map in the folder where the currently loaded map was loaded from. If unchecked Moving Map will use the Map File Path set in configuration to find the next map.

NMEA Check Sum - This will enable the checking of the Check Sum contained in the NMEA sentence. Any sentence (rmc or gga) which fails the check sum is flagged on the status line with <CSumError> and the sentence is ignored. This should be turned on for normal use, you only need to turn it off when using a NMEA talker which does not output the check sum.

Use Depth Sentence - If this is ticked OziExplorer will automatically obtain the depth from the DBT or DPT NMEA sentences and replace the altitude on the display and in the logged track with the Depth.

Navigation

Show Leg Details - When ticked the active route will show the distance and bearing to the next waypoint in the route along the track line. This may sometimes obscure vital information so you can turn it off using this check box. This option also controls the appearance of the same item on the distance measuring function when using the "Mark" button.

Leg Distance Color - This is the color the leg distance will be displayed in.

Route Wp Proximity - This is a radius of an imaginary circle drawn around the waypoint you are navigating to. When your position enters this circle you are deemed to have reached the waypoint, an alarm is displayed, and the next leg (if any) of the route is activated. Setting a small value means it is harder to navigate to the waypoint and you may miss it altogether. However this is not the only way to end a leg of the route, if you go past the waypoint without actually hitting the proximity zone you are also deemed to have completed that leg.

Do not confuse this with the proximity zone you can set around any waypoint, this proximity is active whenever your are using moving map mode. The Route Wp Proximity however only applies to the waypoint you are navigating to.

Alarm Duration - The length of time the alarms will sound for (in seconds), setting to 0 will turn off the alarm sound. Alarms include :

Show Line from Position - When ticked a line will be plotted from your present position to the next waypoint in the route.

Project Track Line - This will project (draw) a line from your present position along your current course.

Projected Line Width - The width of the projected line (above). If the line width is greater than 1 the line will be drawn as a solid line instead of dashed, this is a limitation of the Windows API.

Projected Line Color - The color of the projected line (above).

Compass Button - Press button to configure the Compass Rose