Hi ExplorOz Reader,

There's a buzz of activity happening in the ExplorOz community right now. The 2018 EOTopo raster maps have been well received and the ExplorOz Traveller app is receiving excellent reviews in the stores. These products have brought many new people into the ExplorOz community and with it, the volume of Place updates has increased significantly which keeps the content current and relevant.

We extend a warm welcome to all our new ExplorOz'ers and hope you find time to look around the website in more detail. In this edition of our newsletter we've included some information of particular relevance to our new users, but we've also got plenty of information for our longer term fans. Please take a moment to read this important update.

NEW SITE LOGIN / ACCOUNT ACCESS

For new visitors to the site, it is now more obvious to see the differences between signing up with a free Visitor account vs signing up with a Membership subscription.

Long term site users may not have noticed but the site LOGIN and SIGN UP process has been updated and is now more user-friendly. We also no longer show PROFILE at the top when you are logged in. Now you'll see the word ACCOUNT. Simply click Account and everything you need is all in the one area. Take a look.

We do have more significant changes coming to the site layout coming up soon that will better reflect the recent streamlining of our service and products. This will de-clutter the site navigation and remove superfluous content. Please let us know if something seems amiss as we roll out these changes in the coming weeks.

MORE MAP FORMATS AVAILABLE

EOTopo raster maps are obtained by firstly purchasing an EOTopo raster maps license from the ExplorOz shop (here). You will then receive an email with a link to the download site.

Premium & Standard EOTopo raster maps files are available to download in ECW, OZF, and now MMR formats. When you open the download section accept the terms and then click to open the 2018 folder to access the new map files and then click the folder with the file format that is applicable to your device/software.

NOTES:

• The difference between buying the Premium vs Standard mapset is whether you want access to the large scale 144K maps, which only comes with the Premium.
• If you want both the 200K and 144K map simply purchase the Premium which contains all the files together.
• all the TIF files are free as these do not contain the larger scale maps, only 2.5M, 5M, and 10M scale maps.
• 144K premium scale maps for the whole of Australia are only available in ECW format (compatible with OziExplorer & Hema Navigator). 144K premium scale maps are also available in OZF format in State files (SA, WA, NT, NSW, VIC, TAS).
  
• the OZF folder contains 2 file types per map sheet (ie. .ozf4 and .map). You will need to download the pair of files for each map if you want to use this file format.
• Note that Garmin units and iOS devices (such as iPad) cannot use these type of map files.
• ADDED BONUS: after you purchase the EOTopo Raster maps license (Standard or Premium) you will also be licensed to download the Premium Offline EOTopo maps (worth $49.99) in the ExplorOz Traveller app at no additional charge. (The cost to obtain the app remains the same at $59.99).
  

Try before you buy? Did you know there are a number of small scale (10M, 5M, 2.5M) EOTopo whole of Australia map files that you can download for free? These small-scale maps are useful for regional overview, but are not often used for primary navigation. The size of these files are smaller and therefore faster to download and it gives you the chance to test which format works in your system before buying the larger scale maps in the Standard & Premium raster mapsets that are more detailed topographic 4WD & touring maps (1M, 200K and 144K). Go to EOTopo

USER FEEDBACK - EXPLOROZ TRAVELLER APP

"I've been a fulltime grey nomad for the last 8 years and have travelled about 350,000km in that time. I was a fully committed fully paid up, card carrying member of the Hema and/or OziExplorer navigator club. But when you released ExplorOz Traveller I thought I would "give it a go". I'm glad to tell you I haven't used "the other" ones for my off road mapping since. Love the programme and am contributing places, comments and photos whenever I can".

"My experience with electronic map systems have been an exercise in frustration so far, with several gadgets (hema navigator, 8” tablet, ipad, phone, satellite device (inReach), classic hand and car GPS), several OSs (android windows and apple), several map systems and softwares (hema navigator, hema explorer, yours, memory maps, oziexplorer (plain and with your skin), co-pilot), systems that crash, maps that work on some things and not others, maps that I end up buying 3 or 4 times, functionality that comes and goes (mostly Hema) … it has been a nightmare.  But now I have ExplorOz Traveller I have to say it is very impressive. It is a fantastic mapping system and in some ways puts Hema and others in the shade. Really probably the most ‘usable’ nav system on the market. Certainly on map readability and clarity.  The integration of raster map with navigation and street directions and voiced turn-by-turns is amazing".

Android users - go to the Playstore to view full app description and/or purchase here

iPad/iPhone users - go to the Apple App Store to view full app description and/or purchase here

Windows 10 users - go to the Windows Store to view full app description and/or purchase here

MEMBERSHIP FACTS

On ExplorOz we have 2 types of user-account, Visitor and Member. A Visitor account is free. A Member account is a subscription based fee for either a year, or for a once-only payment for Lifetime.

Having a Membership subscription is not required to use the Forum, nor is is required to use our ExplorOz Traveller app, nor is it required to access or download EOTopo maps. Membership is required if you want to use the tracking service EOTrackMe. Tracking is an optional feature in the ExplorOz Traveller app, or can be used with a SPOT satellite device. In addition, there are a whole heap of other services available through the ExplorOz system that are reserved for Members-only. For a full list of Membership entitlements read here.

Here's how to save money when purchasing your Membership:-

1. If you own the ExplorOz Traveller app you will pay only $29.95 (not $49.95) when you sign up as a new Member.
   
2. When it's time to renew, make sure you pay before the due date to get the early bird discount and you'll pay only $29.95 instead of the usual $49.95.
   
3. Consider buying a Lifetime Membership instead of paying for the annual renewal and save $50 off the price. Pay only $249.95 instead of $299.95 and take the hassle out of making annual payments.