From: John Tserkezis 
Reply-To: Fidonet AVtech Echo 

Brenton wrote:

> The real problem with the UBD, is that like all street directories, they are
> drawn for readability, and not accuracy.  As you know proper topographical maps
> allow for the curvature of the earth ( I forget the technical [ mapping ] term
> for this ), whereas the UBD and other directories are drawn so they can write
> the street name in the space provided :)  Still it can be usefull.

  Even some of the topos are not quite drawn to scale.  For example, if there 
is a road and train line running close together, they will move them apart for 
readability.

  The UBD has many inaccuracies in it (to prevent copying)  There are some 
curves of the freeways that are off, and there are many added streets and lanes 
that don't actually exist.

  But it's still very usable for street navigation.  With GPS as well.  In 
fact, I used it exactly for that purpose around several states.  You can't get 
lost.

>>If you're interested, I've converted their street and facilities lookup
>>database to Ozi namesearch format.

>   I have a paper version for that, which works quite well :)
> I might have a look at your site one day though.

  Paper is for girls.  Men use silicon.

>> It's not bad actually.  Quite useful as long as you don't go more than one
>>arm's length away. (preferably closer).  I used to have mine velcroed to the
>>rearview mirror (in the ute, the back was piled up to the top, so I wasn't
>>missing anything by obstructing the mirror anyway).

> Yoikes !!!  In the truck, I have the GPS mounted down near the hand-brake.  In
> this position, the driver can not see it, yet it is the perfect position for the
> passenger ( navigator ) to see and operate it, which is a good thing because
> Patricia can actually use this stuff much better than I can.

  That's all well and good.  But I'm a single geek.  I don't have the luxury of 
having a navigator on-call everywhere I go.

> I haven't done
> anything about mounting the notebook yet.  When we use it, we put it under her
> seat in tracking mode, and when we need to check something, she just pulls it
> out and it's all there.  It can be quite handy in a few ways.  On one trip
> across to South Australia, she was able to tell me how the road ahead was.  This
> meant that I wasn't making any silly passing manouvers around some of the long
> road-trains.

  See my site.  I have pictures of how it was mounted, and closeups of the 
mount itself.  Like I said, when you're travelling alone, you have to make do 
with what you can.  I do NOT have the luxury of being able to leave it on or 
under the passenger seat, I cannot afford to take my eyes off the road for that 
long.

>  Using the GPS and mapping stuff, she could see that after the next
> two corners, I had a long straight, which if clear, was plenty long enough to
> get past the long rig.  This actually made the entire section a lot more
> comfortable to drive.

  It isn't really ideal for that though.  It doesn't have a really good 
indication of topo information, even though the Natmap maps ARE topo maps. 
Since I was in a deisel, it improved my odds on overtaking (I need a really 
long run-up), which I do coming up to the straight sections.  If there is a 
hill/crest/blind spot, then the run-up was wasted.  Otherwise I have the speed 
to overtake.

>>On the motorcycle, I'm using a handlbar mount ..[]..

> Yoikes !!! When do you get to look at the road :)

  What yoikes?  You only glance at it, not bloody stare at it.

> True, but I am quite serious.  I have bought a few things for the 200 that I
> intend to look seriously at manufacturing.  The IR Led thing is one of these
> items.  By purchasing what is already in the market, I get to know how they
> work, what is wrong with them, and how to make them better.  I am now at the
> stage of sorting the whole thing out.  I've got about 4 or 5 items which I plan
> to do.

  Ok, that makes sense.  You get to learn from other's mistakes...

>>>I think there was a Nissan Bluebird which had a HUD standard
>>That's the one that I had seen.
> I haven't seen one, although I would like to.

  A friend has one, I can take pictures if you like?

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