"free" Navigator 10 by mapfactor.com ... uses OSM data

RGPS · 2011-02-07T21:02:12.000Z

countries covered are here : http://navigatorfree.mapfactor.com/en/maps/

MapFactor use “closed” format (.mca) created 1-2 times per month…files are downloaded by the application on PC and copying to “Storage mass” device after.

MapFactor Navigator 10 don’t use connection of the cellphone … EXCEPT for a “manual” location like with Google/Yahoo GPS search, but must have the connection online before (WM6.5.2) because Mapfactor don’t connect the 3G/CDMA device automaticly.

nafg · 2011-02-08T03:41:20.000Z

Is there any way to get new mca or cab versions from a Linux computer?

Thanks.

mapfactor · 2011-02-08T09:28:11.000Z

nafg:

Is there any way to get new mca or cab versions from a Linux computer?

At the moment the only way is to use wine (http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=22242).

RGPS · 2011-02-11T21:06:54.000Z

BUG: i have an HTC HD with internal GPS antenna…but i use an external 10Hz antenna, too.

Navigator10 not able to use a custom port…i can only choose a “declared in registry” port (COM4, my internal antenna…the COM6 isn’t displayed).

I view my 10Hz antenna in Navigator GPS setting (it’s a bluetooth Qstarz 818XT), but Navigator can’t connect to this antenna.
I use a logger program (GPS2Blue) and have not this problem…(10Hz nmea log OK).

According to this thread : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/raffael/archive/2008/05/28/gps-antenna-on-windows-mobile-internal-or-external.aspx
It’s a knowned problem…Can you add a “raw” COM port in Navigator ? To bypass the GiD of Windows Mobile ?

SOLVED: I have a ROM 6.5.2 from NRG, i have flashed to the STOCK Rom on the HTC Touch HD (6.1) and the Navigator 10 work now with my 10Hz antenna.

Strange…

Willi2006 · 2011-02-22T03:55:30.000Z

RGPS:

Also, when recording a route, what is the logging interval ? I haven’t found an option to set this.

mapfactor:

There is no such a option yet - it is every second and it used to be primarily for debugging and not necessarily for mapping. What interval would you use?

RGPS:

that’s not true (on my Touch HD) … the rate is more like “every 15-30 meters”.
I can not use the Navigator10 to GPX traces, it’s not accurate (in Bike).

In my experience Navigator just records the raw NMEA data, i.e. as they are delivered by the GPS receiver. E.g. my TomTom Wireless GPS receiver (Bluetooth) can deliver more than one point per second. And Navigator records them all when running on my netbook without other active programs. And that’s great because the maximum possible track points are available for mapping. In other software like the JOSM plugin livegps or OSMtracker the minimum you can configure is 1 second. And even this is only reached on a fast device which isn’t busy with other tasks. E.g. with my old PDA Qtek 2020i and the same GPS receiver I rarely get recorded one point per second but one every 3 or 5 seconds.

I recommend to have a look at the abilities, the settings and the other tasks running on your device. I’m quite sure it’s not Navigator’s fault.

Willi2006 · 2011-02-22T04:44:09.000Z

heyyou325:

I am looking for a (preferably free) replacement for Garmin n-route.
…
I did not see a list of compatible GPS Devices, and would like to know if my Garmin 76CS will work with your program.

Currently Navigator runs great on Windows PC and on Windows Mobile, also on my old Windows PocketPC.

For Garmin have a look at OSM Wiki Garmin. Many OSMer create maps for Garmin devices and offer downloads for free OSM Map on Garmin / Download.

maxbolo · 2011-04-12T12:05:35.000Z

Hi all
I’ve installed Navigator 10 free and loaded Italy map.

The program starts, then crashes.
The log file says:
ERR 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Exception thrown: .\src\PoolFont.cpp(211)
ERR 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Exception mpfc::exception& ex caught: .\src\PoolFont.cpp(251) message:‘mapFactor exception: PoolFont::idFont - can’t retrieve font Tahoma, Regular.’
ERR 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Exception thrown: .\src\PoolFont.cpp(211)
…
…
ERR 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Exception thrown: .\src\filedriver\ArchiveManager.cpp(70)
ERR 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Exception mpfc::exception& ex caught: .\src\mpfc\PictureReader.cpp(30) message:‘mapFactor exception: ArchiveManager: archive ‘C:\Users\Maxbolo\Desktop/Data\images\sign.mca’ not found’
DMP 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Routing: opened italy_osm as 0.
…
…
ERR 2011/04/12 08:13:54 Exception thrown: .\src\TextAtom.cpp(52)
DMP 2011/04/12 08:13:54 __except-ion handling (hard crash)

Someone can help me?

Thanks

mapfactor · 2011-04-12T14:21:40.000Z

Hi maxbolo,
it looks like some parts of PC Navigator were not properly installed? Did you manually removed some downloaded data? Can you send me whole navigator.log.txt?
thanks
Martin

maxbolo · 2011-04-13T07:35:23.000Z

Hi Martin,
pc navigator seems to have some magic autocorrective function… today I try again to run it for make a brand new log for you and always run well!!!

Thank you

maxbolo · 2011-04-14T11:50:07.000Z

I have some other issue, so I re-install PC Navigator and the maps and now seems to work perfectly.

mapfactor · 2011-04-20T13:31:07.000Z

only a small update about House Numbers (I was asked about them repeatedly)

mapfactor:

… the house numbers available on OSM are not converted to MCA files yet. Anyway, you should be able to search by country/city/street name (crossing) at the moment.

Since March 2011 data you should see some house numbers even in application with OSM data. It was only first attempt to see the data and if simple approximation could have any value for users. There were no comments about it, so it probably did not work well (?). Used tags were ‘addr:street’, ‘addr:housenumber’ and ‘addr:streetnumber’ (with higher priority).

Note, that this is only the first step and more complex cases will hopefully follow soon …
regards
Martin

GoUSF · 2011-04-27T16:50:38.000Z

So I am having some issues with the program. It may be a learning curve or i dont know what. If it helps i am in Tampa FL.

I have not yet used the POI Import tool so I wont say anything about the low availability of those as it is not your fault.

The city searching feature is horrible, i may just be using it incorrectly. But i tried to locate “Montague st.” in Tampa FL, did not work by zip code or by searching tampa, it turned up under town n country. I live in town n country and my street did not turn up under there.

So then i have had much luck just browsing the streets by the county, only problem with that is I rarely know what county I am visiting, for instance I am going to a wedding this weekend in Virginia, I will be in a few different counties but no idea what they are.

Another problem i run into is when I search for “Tampa” I get like 5 different options, “east tampa”, “South Tampa” i have never heard of these cities, “south tampa” is referred to as a little area of the town, but it is not a geographical reference. but these all cant just be lumped up into “Tampa” the only way i have had luck again is just by using the county search on this. the issue is even worse when again I am traveling to a new area, falls church in VA has numerous options and again I have no idea what the county is, and zip codes dont work.

Would almost prefer the ability to search by every street name in that state and have the city the street is located in in parenthesis.

Also, I notice while in 3d Mode, the “car” or arrow that represents me goes way off the road when I am driving on the highway even when im going just straight down the road, this only seems to happen in 3d mode not when I have it in 2d is there some issue with the rendering or what?

All things considered this is a great little program and Id have no issues with it if I had a data plan so I could use the “Internet search” feature to find the places I am going to. I suppose we will be waiting a bit longer for the house numbers on the US streets

whytom · 2011-05-07T21:09:05.000Z

Hello! I have just checked the Navigator 10 with Hungarian map. The app is excellent, however I find some problems with the maps coming with it. Budapest is not complete on the map, and some other towns are also not complete. I mean, a lot of streets are missing. But in openstreetmap.org, Budapest seems to be OK on the map. Accorting to the MapFactor site, the map is from April 19, 2011, so I’m using the latest map. Maybe there was some problems with these maps during conversion.

whytom · 2011-05-08T09:27:30.000Z

I had a problem with my GPS device, when GPS device was tried to be detected automatically with 57600 baud, Navigator 10 freezed. My GPS is at COM1 with baut 4800. Finally I have found a site how to configure it manually. It is described here: http://directions.ltd.uk/modifying-settings-xml-in-navigator-10

mapfactor · 2011-05-17T14:01:38.000Z

whytom:

Hello! I have just checked the Navigator 10 with Hungarian map. The app is excellent, however I find some problems with the maps coming with it. Budapest is not complete on the map, and some other towns are also not complete. I mean, a lot of streets are missing. But in openstreetmap.org, Budapest seems to be OK on the map. Accorting to the MapFactor site, the map is from April 19, 2011, so I’m using the latest map. Maybe there was some problems with these maps during conversion.

Hello,
I did a quick check of number of streets and administrative areas in Hungary from planet-110504 and it is similar to April data:
May 253479 links, 3103 admins
April 240453 links, 3078 admins
If you have any particular street/way ID I may check it. The hungary_osm_110517.mca should be available this week …
thanks
Martin

whytom · 2011-05-20T18:59:45.000Z

Hello Martin,

Sorry, I was wrong, I did not zoom enough to see the streets, so the map was empty But please let me explained this a bit detailed.

When I wrote my comment about the Hungarian map, I thought the each grey area is covering a city, but not. For example, Esztergom did not have such grey area around the city, but after zooming deep enough, I could see the streets. Sorry for my mistake.

And when I wrote my first comment, I tried the street search, I entered the city “Budapest”, and there were two results:
Budapest (COUNTY)
Budapest, Budapest

First I looked a street called “Práter” in “Budapest, Budapest”, and I did not found it. This is why I thought there is something with the map. Now after your comment, I checked once more, and when I searched this street in “Budapest (COUNTY)” section, I cound find it. So I was wrong, however, I think searching the street in county section is misleading. I observed this behaviour wiht a Geman city “Nürnberg”, street “Rennweg”, this street is located in “Nürnberg (COUNTY)”. But at least, now I know where to search for it

Best Regards,
Tamas

Alexandru_Nekula · 2012-02-12T11:23:25.000Z

I,ve just installed Navigator Free from Mapfactor and it works great on Pocket PC Loox N560. I’ve tried Romanian map and it works very well. Great job. I’ve abandoned OpenStreetMaps because i couldn’t find a navigation software good enough, but I think I’ll get back to work to Romanian map because of this software. Thanks for the work you did and please keep on the good work.

Pierre12 · 2012-04-20T21:58:13.000Z

Hello Martin,
Would be possible to split the map of France (for example North, South) because his important size is a problem on low memory systems. Thank you

chris66 · 2012-04-20T22:16:55.000Z

Hi,
I’m using it on my android phone and it works rather well…
Some wishes:

acustical feedback when driving over speed limit
possibility to avoid unpaved roads
faster display update (0.5 sec instead of 1.0 sec?)
Chris

Jeroen_Muris · 2012-05-19T20:03:37.000Z

Just installed Mapfactor Navigator 0.9.100 on an Asus Transformer (Android ICS) and my first impression is “wow”. Would more impressions be appreciated? If so, what would be most interesting?

J----- .