This is the manual for the latest version of BackCountry Navigator. This manual is text only, and explains the screens and menus of the BackCountry Navigator software.   

Pages

Map Page

If there is a map file loaded, the map page shows the map image data along with points of interest. The items that are shown are controlled by the View Menu.  

Moving the map

Moving the map allows you to pan to different parts of it. To pan, drag the image with the stylus. After you lift the stylus, the map will redraw in the new position.

Zooming

To zoom in on the map, press the down arrow key or View-> Zoom -> In. To zoom out, press the up arrow key or View -> Zoom -> Out. Using View -> Zoom -> Zoom to Default will attempt to find a default center and scale  of the map currently loaded. Set Default will set this default.  The Zoom Control at the top of the map allows you to quickly jump to a particular scale. It also marks the approximate size of a small line on the screen to give you an idea of the scale.  

Making Selections

To mark a point on the map, tap the screen (press and release). Small red crosshairs will mark the last point tapped. The Select Menu will then have an option to view a point of interest or create a new one. On the Select Menu, you can also choose to mark lines or rectangles by tapping the screen multiple times.

GPS Pointer

When a GPS has a fix on your current location, the GPS pointer will appear on the map. The center of the circle is the current location, while the arrow within the circle indicates the direction of travel. A line will draw from the GPS Pointer to a Goto Waypoint if one is active.

NavLine

The bottom portion of the map screen contains a panel with brief information about navigation. It contains the following information from left to right:

•  Bars indicating the relative strength of the GPS signal. These are red for no fix, yellow for a 2D fix, or green for a 3D fix.
• Bearing and speed of current course as picked up by the GPS.
• A miniature compass similar to that on the Nav Page, showing direction of travel and direction to waypoint, if active.
• Bearing and distance to a Goto waypoint, if active.

List Page

The List Page is for organization and lookup of points of interest. After selecting a list in the dropdown box, choose Load to load it into the table. The points will display in a grid, for which you can resize the columns. You can choose the following lists:

• Places: USGS places in the map.
• Waypoints: Points of interest that you have defined or imported.
• Tracks: Paths which you have marked and saved, or imported.
• Nearest WayPoints: The 30 waypoints nearest the current GPS Position or the center of the Map screen.
• Nearest Places: The 30 geographic places nearest the current GPS Position or the center of the Map screen.

You can use the Clear button to clear the list. The grid view of the list allows you to resize columns if needed. You may also scroll through the list, and select an item by highlighting a row. Once a row has been selected, you can choose a button for the following actions:

• Edit: Open a form to view or change values of the item.
• Del: Delete the item permanently.
• Center: Return to the map screen and center on the point in question.
• Goto: Activate the item as a Goto Waypoint.
• Del All: Delete all items in list from your datafile.  

Nav Page

When using a GPS, this page will track your position and movement, and when activated, your progress toward a Goto waypoint.

Course

The left half of the screen shows your speed and direction of travel. Note that this is only valid when moving fast enough for the GPS to measure. You must use a compass to find directions when standing still.

The altitude, longitude, and latitude are also displayed when returned by the GPS.

Compass

The top of the compass indicates direction of travel This indicates a moving direction that the GPS can detect and does not reflect the direction in which the mobile device is pointed. If a waypoint is active, an arrow points in its direction. This aids navigation by indicating if you need to steer right or left to reach the waypoint.  

Waypoint

The right side indicates distance and direction to a Goto waypoint, when active. A waypoint is activated by the Goto option on the Select Menu, or the Goto button on the List page.

GPS Page

The GPS Page lets you connect to a GPS device, and monitor its communication with satellites.

Satellite view

After communication is established, the satellites are shown in a diagram. Colors indicate the relative clarity of communication.

 GPS Time

The time as returned by the GPS satellites.

ER (Position Error)

An estimate of the accuracy of the current position, Horizontal followed by Vertical. Vertical error is usually more than horizontal. This indicates a bound of how far the GPS position might be off.

Detect

The detect button will switch to Automatic mode and begin to detect a GPS Device by checking the serial ports to see if an NMEA Gps deivce responds. If successful, a detected GPS will show up in the drop down box.   

Connect/Disconnect

The Connect button will connect you to the GPS and begin the process of getting a fix on your position. If a detection is still in progress, this will interrupt the detection process and connect to whatever device has been detected.  If a port and baud rate have been chosen manually, it will connect to the port and baud rate specified.

This button will become a Disconnect button after connecting.

< Button

The angle bracket button will switch between manual and automatic mode. In manual mode, the Port and Baudrate selection boxes appear. In automatic mode, a single drop down box appears. This is filled with the names of devices found when you use the detection button.

Data page

Allows you to choose the datafile that is currently loaded, and load data from other files or the internet.

Local Map Datafile location

A map datafile contains image data and points of interest for a specific location of your choice. Files will generally have the extension .db3. You can browse to a file on your device by pushing the Open button or choose a name for a new one by pushing the New button.

You must have an open data file in order to perform many of the operations needed. Some of the buttons below will be grayed until you have chosen a filename.

Download Map Images

Topographic maps and aerial photography can be loaded from Terraserver. Clicking the button will bring up a dialog that allows you to choose center point and region size. The center point will default to the current center of the map screen. You must be connected to the internet in order to download this data.

USGS Places Data

This will download points of interest from USGS geographic features database.You must be connected to the internet in order to download this data.

Find...

This button brings up the Placefinder dialog, to search for a particular place by name and state. Successfull completion of this dialog will add the chosen place to the current map database. This is often a starting point for choosing a region to download.  

Download...

This will download places for the region currently covered by the map screen. It may take a few minutes.  

Import

You can import waypoints from a file in GPX (GPS Exchange) format. This is the format that can be downloaded by geocaching.com members. Waypoint data in GPX format can also be produced by several desktop software programs, and is available at several places on the internet. Some will contain tracks as well as waypoints.

You can also import waypoints in LOC format. This will the waypoint name and coordinates only and will not have the long description.  

The File Open Dialog will appear, allowing you to choose a file on your Pocket PC to import. To explore the Pocket PC and drag files from the desktop, choose the Explore button on ActiveSync.

Export

The Export button allows you to export the data in you file as GPX (GPS Exchange Format). All waypoints and tracks from the currently loaded file are exported.  

Menus

Options Menu

• Colors: Customizes colors for various items in display. Each one brings upa color dialog with pallette of colors.
• Degree Format: Chooses the format in which longitude/latitude values are displayed throughout the program.
• Keep Alive: Checking this option will attempt to keep the Pocket PC active while the GPS is running, to prevent power save mode.  
• Registration...: Displays the registration screen. If the sofware has already been activated with an activation code, this will simply display the version number.   
• Exit: Will exit BackCountry Navigator and free up associated memory. This is in contrast to closing the window, which will simply minimize the program so that it runs in the background.

View Menu

The View Menu allows to you to enable various types of data to be displayed on the map.

• Topo: Image data from USGS Topographical maps.
• Aerials: Image data from USGS Aerial photography.
• Places: Geographical Features downloaded from the USGS database
• Labels : Shows a text caption for Places.
• Waypoints: Points of interest defined by you or imported from files.
• Labels: Shows a text caption for places
• NavLine: Toggles the NavLine on and off.
• Zoom Out: Zooms out on the map.
• Zoom In: Zooms in on the map.
• Zoom to Default: Centers the map on a default location and scale.
• Large Icons: When checked, icons shown on the map are larger.

GPS Menu

• Center GPS: Centers the screen on the last location detected by the GPS.
• Keep On Screen: When enabled (checked), will recenter the GPS pointer when location updates cause it to drift off screen. This helps you to see the surrounding area as you are moving
• Track: Controls path marking functionality (sometimes known as breadcrumbing).
  • On:
  • Save...: Will save the currently marked track. This is necessary in order to find a path.  
  • Clear...: Clears the
  • Options...: Loads the Track Options form with options that control how samples are taken for tracking.
• Mark GPS Point...: This will mark a waypoint at the current GPS location.
• Stop Goto: If a point has been activated for Goto, this will clear it.

Selection Menu:

This menu controls type of selection and allows you to operate on a location that has been chosen on the map.

• Selection: Determines what is drawn on the screen when points are selected. The color chosen as a Ruler color is used to draw and label lines. Selection points can be cleared by using Selection->Clear Selection. Selection has several available modes:
  • Point: (default) Displays a cursor at a single point
  • Line: Draws a sinlge between the last two points selected, labelled with distance.
  • Multiline: Draws a connected series of line segments between all selected locations.
  • Rectangle: Draws a rectangle with the last two selected points as the corners, labelled with width and height. 
• Waypoint / Place name: When a Waypoint or Place has been selected, the name will show up in the first menu option. Selecting this option will bring up the Place or Waypoint form.
• Mark Waypoint...: Brings up the Waypoint form to define a new waypoint at the cursor location.
• Bearing, Distance: When available from the GPS, the second menu item shows the distance and bearing from you to the chosen location.
• Center: When shown, will center the map on the chosen location.
• Activate: Will activate the chosen location as the Goto Waypoint.
• Delete: Will delete the chosen Waypoint or Place.
• Clear Selection: Will clear selected points, lines, or rectangles from the map screen.
• Download Maps...: Will bring up a dialog to download map images within a selected region. To use this feature, choose Selection as Rectangle or Rectangles, and select some boxes on the screen.
• Create Path: Will create a new track based on a multiline that has been drawn.   

Forms

Download Map Data

This dialog allows you to download map data from TerraServer web service. You will specify a center point and dimensions of a rectangular region. The Center Point is initially set to the center of the map screen.

Center Lat: Latitude of center point.

Center Lon: Longitude of center point.

PlaceFinder: This button will take you to the Placefinder to find latitude and longitude by findng a place name. Upon returning, the longitude and latitude of the place you find will be filled in on this dialog.

Layers: Choose from Topos, Aerials, or both.

1:1m Scale: Indicates you want to download the 1:1m scale, where available, for Aerials only. Note that choosing this option may increase your total map size by as much as 16 times. 

Size: Allows you to specify the width and height of the region you wish to download, in miles. Width is specified first.  

Clear Current Database: When activated, clears the existing image data in a database before loading more. Usually not used.

PlaceFinder

This dialog helps you find specific places from the USGS database of place names. You will need to be connected to the internet in order to find places.

Cancel: Exits out of this dialog without saving a place name.   

Lat and Lon: Current longitude and latitude. You cannot directly edit these values on this form, but they will change when you pick a place in the list below.

Place Name: Here you fill out all or the beginning part of a place name.

State: Select the two letter abbreviation for your state in the drop down menu.

Find: Once you have chosen a name and state, press this button to search for it.

Results: The finder will return a list of places that match the name and state. As you click on one of these, the coordinates for it are placed in the Latitude and Longitude spaces above.

Track Edit Form

This form edits properties for a track that is displayed on the map.

Name: The name of a track.

Color: Picks a color for the track. Pressing the Change... button will bring up the Color dialog.

Display: Whether the track should be displayed on the map.

Description: Optional textual description of the track. 

OK closes the dialog and records the changes you have made.

Track Options Form

This form controls sampling for recording of tracks.

Threshold: The minimum time and distance needed to mark another point on the track. The software will record a track if it is a minimum of the specified feet from a previous point, and the time since the last point is greater than the specified seconds.

Max Dilution of Precision: The accuracy needed from trackpoints recorded from GPS readings. Trackpoints are not recorded if the GPS reports a greater horizontal dilution of precision than specified here.  

Registration Form

This shows the version information and the Device ID where BackCountry Navigator is installed. If the software has not been activated, it will also dispaly the days left on a trial period and provide a place to enter an activation code. To activate the software, enter the activation code and press Activate. To skip this step for now, press Skip or OK.

WayPoint Form

The waypoint form allows you to edit the properties of a new or existing waypoint. Push "ok" to complete the edit of a waypoint or Cancel Edit to cancel. You can edit the following properties of a Waypoint:

• Name: For the waypoint label.
• Lat: Latitude of Waypoint.
• Lon: Longitude of waypoint.
• Description: Textual Summary of waypoint in a text box.
• Elevation: Height of point in feet above sea level. Push the Estimate point to estimate it with the help of a USGS web service.
• Notes: A place to put written notes about the waypoint.

Place ID Form

This form contains information about a geographic place. It includes the following information:

• Name: Place name, underlined at the top.
• Type: Type of place, such as valley, stream, or summit.
• Quad: USGS Quadrangle, or 7.5' map containing the place.
• County: County and state where the place is located.
• Elevation: Height of the place in feet above sea level. Usually only prefilled for places of type summit.
• Comments: A place to enter textual notes about the place.  

Region Download Form

This form allows you to download map images for a region you have marked on the screen. It will obtain map tiles over the internet from Terraserver.

Detail level

You can specify the max level of detail as the number of meters per pixel:

• 64m: 64 meters per pixel
• 16m: 16 meters per pixel
• 4m: 4 meters per pixel (default).
• 1m: One meter per pixel
• 1/4: 0.25 meters per pixel. Available only for urban tiles in select areas.

Type of tiles

You can also choose the type of tiles you will attempt to download:

• Topo: A scan of USGS topographical maps, containing countour lines and terrain, available up to 4 meters per pixel, equivalent to 1:24k paper maps.
• Aerial: USGS Aerial photographs in grayscale, available in most parts on the United States at up to 1 meter per pixel.
• Urban: Only available in select parts of the United States, this has color aerial photography at a resolution of up to 0.25 meters per pixel.

The Download

After making selections, press Start to initiate the download. BackCountry Navigator will coutn up the number of tiles need of each type, taking into account those tiles which are already in the database (these will not be downloaded again). After the counting phase, it will download the tiles needed, displaying a progress bar and a tally for each type.

If Terraserver indicates that it does not have the specified tile, this tile will be subtracted from the total. If you request Urban tiles in an area that does not have them , for instance, this number will count down toward zero.  

You can push the stop button to stop the download. It will generally stop after the next operation or tile. You can then close the dialog by pushing ok.

After your download is complete, you can push ok to close this form and return to the map screen.