Edition 373: 13th February 2015
Hi ExplorOz Reader, Welcome to our weekly newsletter. In this issue, you'll find a useful guide to choosing the best device for tracking, communications & emergencies; plus we have an opportunity for one lucky reader to win a $300 voucher to spend on ABR - Sidewinder products; and we feature a unique video of the Gibson Desert shared through the eyes of a true ExplorOzer - Member Equinox. As always, we feature 3 products in our Super Specials, and we have the Tip of the Week.
So, whichever way you ExplorOz - Enjoy!
Michelle, Adele, David
| Tips for Choosing the Right Device
Deciding on how you wish to record your travels, communicate with friends and family while on the road, and get help in case of an emergency are important issues that face all travellers.
There are a wide range of products to assist your set-up of tracking, communication and emergency devices so we've put together an easy guide to help you determine which products suits your needs and budget.
Read our Guide to Tracking, Communication & Emergency Devices here.
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| New Devices on Sale Now
Get in quick while sale lasts:
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| A Glimpse of the Gibson
The ExplorOz Members' Blogs are a treasure box of adventure, inspiration, and sometimes exceptional talent. This week we feature Member - Equinox, who recently put together a clever documentary featuring a few days exploring the Gibson Desert region of outback WA. In this 9 minute personal video you'll see Alan narrate the clues he picks up from the terrain to steer his search for the Warri Well site, you'll see how he loads his quad bike onto the tray back of his LandCruiser, and of course there's scrub driving and desert scenery to enjoy, as well as staked tyres, blocked radiator repairs, and of course a cute Kelpie. Move over Mr4x4, move over Russell Coight - Equinox is here!
Follow this link to Gibson Desert Video Blog.
Follow this link to Equinox's Member Profile for more info.
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| ExplorOz Mobile Site Improvements
The mobile site has undergone significant backend improvements to resolve some long-term bugs and issues. For more information read This Post on the Forum written by David. In the meantime, you should notice major performance improvements using the ExplorOz mobile site from your Android, iPhone, or tablet.
Also new is a status bar to indicate when you are logged in. If not, click the Menu and at the bottom of the list you'll find login. |
| What is map quality?
The "quality" of a map is a combination of:
- data accuracy and relevance to purpose
- how well the map conveys information
- image resolution
Quite simply the better the scale and the better the clarity, the higher the quality of your map.
EOTopo are topographic maps that are produced for display in onboard navigation devices in vehicles (tablets, Hema navigators and even small screen smartphones). The move to produce a 200K scale map for this purpose instead of the legacy 250K scale was due to improvements in consumer electronics. The 200K scale achieves a greater zoom detail than the 250K and allows more information to be put on the screen. The higher screen resolution of smartphones and tablets also caters for a higher map resolution to effectively give greater clarity and detail. In fact, a 200K map at 200dpi has an effective "on screen" scale of 100K.
You can get a good idea of the quality of what you'll get when buying the EOTopo 200K mapset from viewing the EOTopo Online map at full zoom. Take a look - you won't find a better map for the whole of Australia.
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| EOTopo 200K Mapset
EOTopo maps are raster map image files produced at 200dpi file resolution - resulting in high quality screen resolution optimised to suit modern tablet devices. For best quality files get EOTopo on micro SD, USB, or buy the download. Go to Digital Maps - Australia wide in the ExplorOz Shop To use the maps you buy from ExplorOz, you will need an Android, Windows or PC device and you'll also need a mapping program such as OziExplorer.
iOS (Apple) devices are quite different - they cannot handle files in the same way - you can only use Apps but you will not find EOTopo in the app store - as we have not made a navigation solution. Instead, we have worked with Memory-Map to make the map files available within their app. So iOS users need to get EOTopo via an in-app purchase from Memory-Map.
Need more info? See EOTopo Help and FAQ
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| Take Our Survey & WIN $300
We want to know your opinions about our newsletter. Take a few moments to take our short survey and go in the draw to win a $300 voucher to spend on Sidewinder products, thanks to Derek Bester from ABR-Sidewinder.
Take our Survey HERE.
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This Weeks Super Specials
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