JeePS - Offline Trail Carputer

[Chad1376]

PC bodge done:

I connected a socket to the front panel on/off/reset switch (yellow boxes.) This will be extended to the monitor location so I don't need to reach under the seat to turn on the computer.

I installed the GPS reciever where the hard drive would normally go. it's mounted on a shelf made with styrene plastic. The reciever is wired to use an external antenna. I also soldered up the USB plug to keep things reasonably tidy.

I've used this reciever in other projects, and it's really nice for the price: 10hz updates with WAAS - it's fast to aquire sattelites and is generally accurate to about 1 meter.

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[Chad1376]

More dodgey bodges - This time on the monitor end. I want to be able to unplug and remove the monitor easily, since I don't want to drive around with it installed all the time. Vesa monitor mount and arm are from Ram Mounts.

On the monitor:

Red is just 5v power. I ran this through the project box and it connects to the large coax plug on the box.

Blue is USB-3 for video and touch. It uses an obscure 10-pin Mini USB, and parts are nearly impossible to find. I cut off the long lead and will need to solder on a regular USB 3.0 Type A male plug. I'm a little nervous about pulling that off. The plug is on order.

Green is HDMI - don't need it.

On the box:

An LED power light and momentary switch that will run back to the pc on/off/reset via the TRRS plug. The toggle switch is also wired to the plug and will run to a relay that turns on the 12v laptop power supply for the whole mess.

 

[Lost_In_The_Woods]

As a GIS forester, this is interesting. The best phone app I have used is Gaia but I still find it frustrating and limiting. OnX just makes me want to throw the phone out the window.

 

[Chad1376]

Messing around trying to get the UI as usable as possible. Windows has a lot of shortcomings for anything on a small screen. Tablet mode isn't any better than desktop mode. The biggest challenge is making everything as large as possible. As everyone knows, aiming your finger at a touch screen while bouncing in the dirt is nearly impossible. You pretty much need to come to a stop to hit the right spot. The best I could do is set the screen scaling to 200%, and minimize what shows up on the screen. The taskbar is hidden.

Qfield, luckily, has a fairly bonehead interface.

And of course, the screen brighness built into Windows isn't compatible with my touchscreen. I had to dig up a seperate program so I don't blind myself at night.

I really wish Qfield had a Linux version. There's several several GUI's that are highly customizable. But then again, there's the endless Linux rabbitholes of trying to find and configure uncommon drivers (like touchscreen and usb to serial drivers for the GPS.) Windows, at least, just works with the hardware without too much fuss.

 

[Vanzano]

looks like you guys never heard of Osmand https://osmand.net/ ? Free APP for iPhone and Android.

No subscription bs, you can download the entire country and have it offline. But that's just the beginning. IF you know your way around a GIS software like SASPlanet you can build your own maps and import it in osmand, in sqlitedb format.

So in my case, I have the whole Canada offline on my iPad and also I have my own satellite maps for a 3 provinces that I'm around the most. Everything offline and eternally stored on my iPad.

 

[Chad1376]

looks like you guys never heard of Osmand https://osmand.net/ ? Free APP for iPhone and Android.

No subscription bs, you can download the entire country and have it offline. But that's just the beginning. IF you know your way around a GIS software like SASPlanet you can build your own maps and import it in osmand, in sqlitedb format.

So in my case, I have the whole Canada offline on my iPad and also I have my own satellite maps for a 3 provinces that I'm around the most. Everything offline and eternally stored on my iPad.

I hadn't seen this. I've only had a few minutes to look at it a little bit. I definitely will spend more time with it. I'm not opposed to doing something different if it works better. I'll finish out this project, since I'm close to being done, but just about everything could be re-purposed if this app or something better comes along.

 

[Chad1376]

I've been busy, so progress has been slow, but I should be ready to install this mess this weekend.

Umbilicals between the monitor and PC are done. PC is mounted on a bracket that fits between the front seat rails. This also includes a 12v => 19.5v power supply and on/off relay.

PC is mounted to the bracket using a quick release VESA mount. This should make it easy to bring the PC inside to do software updates, etc.

Also, more messing around with how info is displayed. I learned how to create nice hill shading from the DEMs.

And I converted the topo from meters to feet (because 'merica). Topo doesn't display untill I'm zoomed in. Contours are labled too.

 

[Chad1376]

I'm bringing my post back from the dead with updates and improvements.

I never used the above PC and screen setup much. It was too cumbersome and finicky. I ended up using QField on my cell phone, but the small screen made it hard to see and I usually had to stop and hold my phone to see anything in detail.

My new 2025 has a larger info screen with a handy frame around the top to hook something to. I bought a nice used Surface 7 tablet from ebay. An i7 with 16gb of RAM and 256gb of storage. From that, I made a mount to hang the tablet from the info screen.

The downside is the tablet covers the info screen and center AC vents, however it's very easy to move it to get to the other screen. I just use the tablet off-road anyway. Covering the AC vents is sort of a good thing. The surface tablets run hot, and will throttle, however the AC blows directly on the back of the tablet, keeping it nice and cool.

 

[Chad1376]

On the GIS end, I'm still using Open Street Map data for roads and other features. I have project files broken into smaller areas (chopped up by county boundaries) to keep rendering speeds fast. I've also included a federal land layer (BLM, Park Service, etc.) This is all stored on the tablet for offline access. I spent some time fine-tuning the map styles to present the information needed at various zoom levels, with a focus on off-road trails.

 

[Chad1376]

Rather than download, proccess and store background data like topo and imagery, I'm relying on online data. Currenly, I've incorporated Google Terrain, Google Satellite, and OSM.

 

[Chad1376]

Now of course, online data is useless if there's no cell service. That is, unless there's Starlink. I have a Starlink Mini mounted on overhead storage. No special mounting adapter was needed, and it fits great under the convertable top. I used it last week in a forested area, and had great reception, regardless of the Jeep's orientation.

 

[Chad1376]

Typically, I map out trail waypoints on Google Earth, and import them into QGIS. Just a few easy steps. Here's one I mapped in Utah.

But anything can be imported. Here's some GPX data for trails near Tuscon (we're headed down there next week).

I curretnly have project files assembled for Nevada, Arizona and Utah. Southern California will take some work, since the road networks are so dense. That's something to do while I'm bored and watching TV.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

OH MAN, I'm not sure why I'd not seen this thread already. This is the same kind of tinkering I love doing. I'm not computer inclined, that's my son's area, I'm more mechanically inclined. But this is an awesome read. I've gone more the consumer route and just mounted a Tablet using OnX. It doesn't give me the satisfaction of an actual map and compass (I started land nav stuff when GPS was still a military thing and they were the still the size of a tablet) but I'm jealous of the technical aspects of your project. Thank you for sharing.

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