Software for DIY off-road navigation

Saving OSM Files

Although Merkaartor saves files in its own format, to be able to work with it outside of Merkaartor, you will have to export it to OSM at some point. This process can take a long time, perhaps an hour or more. I recommend converting the files, as described earlier, into a pair of TDB and IMG files that QLandkarteGT can read. Figure 7 shows the resulting conversion loaded into QLandkarteGT for the map in Figure 13.

Figure 7: If possible, the tool integrates information about the altitude from the geonames.org server when calculating tracks from a route.

Figure 13: Worth the wait: The outskirts of Cadiz downloaded by Merkaartor from the OSM server, saved as an OSM file, and made readable by Splitter and Mkgmap for QLandkarteGT.

Vehicle Inspection and Traffic Regulations

I'll end with a few comments about road traffic – vehicular traffic isn't just about operating the vehicle. This is, after all, off-road navigation – where the normal rules don't apply.

In the African savannah, there's really no sense to be talking about speed limits or the such. Other countries have other requirements, traffic regulations, and so on. Hence, you should be aware of whether the equipment installation in your vehicle is legal, especially according to local laws.

To provide at least some assurance, be sure that the equipment installation in your vehicle is done by a reputable workshop. Automobile clubs can give you some advice about local regulations. For example, some netbook mounts can be easily installed and uninstalled, which can lead to trouble in some countries where this isn't allowed, and you might have to go without off-road navigation.

In any case, make sure that the vehicle's security functions aren't inhibited by the mounts. A netbook in front of an airbag wouldn't work well in an accident.

In daily use, the usual on-road navigation systems are superior to the off-road ones in this article. They can talk to the driver and allow hands on the steering wheel.

These DIY navigators don't have this capability. Therefore, a passenger should be readily on hand to check the screen and the surrounding landscape while the driver pays attention to the driving task. On-road and off-road are very different scenarios.