BackCountry Navigator (How I made it do what I wanted)

[muleman]

BackCountry Navigator has been discussed here on the forum a few times but I thought I would start a dedicated BackCountry Navigator thread to discuss it's use and how to get the functionality I wanted.

A thread from a few days back got me thinking about the BackCountry Navigator GPS application. I purchased the app in August 2012 after reading a thread that Evan Hill from Hill People Gear did on a Backcountry Device. http://www.hillpeoplegear.com/Forum/tabid/679/forumid/23/threadid/2767/scope/posts/Default.aspx I played with the BCN app a little and soon forgot it as hunting season was here and I went back to my trusty Garmin Astros with Hunting GPS Maps Topos. Then a thread asking about GPS' with cameras got me excited about BCN again. The reports of lack luster picture quality from true GPS' had me turned off. Besides I have too much money invested into multiple Garmin Astro GPS setups.

After having the fire about BCN reignited, I really started to explore it in depth. For 99% of my hunts I carry my android cell phone. Out here in the West if you can hit a peak there is a good chance you can get cell service. So if I can make my cell phone and BCS work double duty. I can leave another piece of electronic gear at home.

I only have a few must haves for a GPS:

1. Ability to create and navigate to waypoints.
2. Ability to import and export data.
3. Ability to show land ownership.

The first two criteria should be met by just about any GPS. The third item gets a little harder. Since first using Hunting GPS Maps on a Garmin GPS I haven't looked for another solution until now. Hunting GPS Maps does a great job of providing actual land owner information, not just if it is public or private. This is the hardest thing to duplicate in BCN. With BCN you can see public and private ownership in a couple of ways.


Here is a screenshot from BCN using the premium AccuTerra topo map.

The colored areas on the map represent the type of land. In the picture above we have National Forest in green and private land in gray.


Here is the AccuTerra map with BLM ownership overlay.

In this example the BLM ownership overlay is turned on adding boundaries to the color coded map.

The thing I really like about Hunting GPS Maps is that most of the private property is labeled with the true owner. Here is Hunting GPS Maps ownership overlay with Google Earth.



Here is BCN with 2013 US Forest Service Topos and BLM Ownership.

This picture show the 2013 US Forest Service topo map. Switching between map layers is easy if you have network connectivity. Before going in the field you would want to decide what maps you want to use on that trip and have them pre-downloaded.

Here is BCN with Imgagery, BLM ownership and detailed ownership imported.

Notice the landowners name around the boundary. This info was imported as a KML file into BCN.


All the different map sources and overlays available for BCN plus the ability to import GPX or KML files provides me with everything I want. All of my hunts this year are in areas that I know well. So, I will be leaving my true GPS as home and only carrying my phone running BackCountry Navigator for my scouting trips. I will also test the image geocoding ability of BCN. After shaking BCN out on the scouting trips I we will see if it makes the cut.

 

[flyinsquirel]

How did you create the land ownership kml file for import?

 

[Renoit24]

One method is to purchase the private land overlays directly from the app. I believe they run from 4.99 to 9.99 per state. I purchased nm and co for my hunts. I thought it was worth the money because you always have access to these overlays. This app is very useful in my hunts. You can mark waypoints while out in the hunt or premark them ahead of time. You have different icons to label each waypoint, making it easier to determine what each waypoint signifies. I have 4 extra batteries I take along on my hunts and sometimes charge with a solar charger if needed.

 

[muleman]

How did you create the land ownership kml file for import?

If you are looking for just the basic private label you can do as Renoit24 said and buy the BLM land ownership layer through BCN.

If you want to use the actual owner name. Then that is a different story. Some how you have to get that info. You can go to County Recorder's office and buy copies of plats and manually draw that info in. What I did is buy Hunting GPS Maps for Google Earth. It is $40 for each version release Once you are zoomed in looking at a specific parcel you can save that as a KML file and import it into BCN. I hit Nathan from CritterMap up about this last year and he didn't have a seamless solution for me. So far I have had to do it on a parcel by parcel basis. Still trying to find a easier solution.

In the prime hunting areas in Northern Utah public land is mixed in with a lot of private land. Some of the unscrupulous private land owners will bully you if you don't know exactly where you are. This is the reason I want the actual owners name and the ability to show where I am currently standing on the map. Utah also provides KML boundaries for hunt units and CWMUs which is nice to be able to input. Because if you hunt on a CWMU in Utah without a CWMU tag it is a felony & $10,000 fine. Not to mention no more guns, voting, etc...

If you want detailed instructions PM.

 

[wapitibob]

Will BCN download an entire unit worth of high res topos and sat images without having to zoom in ?

 

[blb078]

Will BCN download an entire unit worth of high res topos and sat images without having to zoom in ?

Yep, you can download a very large area, probably 1/4 state is you want. Biggest I've done is two units at once, then just zoom in once you download your desired area and go from there.

 

[muleman]

Will BCN download an entire unit worth of high res topos and sat images without having to zoom in ?

You would need to download the topo and imagery separately. Once downloaded you can switch easily between the two.

I find using the Map Package feature very handy for keeping track of what I downloaded.

 

[flyinsquirel]

Yep, just get yourself a big SD card and download away. Mine holds a 32gb.

 

[maverick]

BCN has a free trial period too.

 

[muleman]

Here is my current favorite map layer (USTopo: Imagery with Markup) in BCN.



I really like the ability to switch between layers to get different views. It only takes a few seconds to switch map layers. With a little bit of planning and preparation, I'm able to have a lot of resources available in the palm of my hand, independent of of cell service.

Another thing I really like about having my phone be my GPS is the ability to go over maps and mark waypoints of interest, while waiting somewhere. Of course that requires me to stop reading Rokslide and start BCN.

 

[Grizbacker]

Is this app available for the iPhone? I can't seem to find it on the App Store?

On a side note, I did find an ap by hunting GPS maps. It looks like it can do all the same things?

 

[muleman]

BCN isn't available for the iPhone.

I got an email from Hunting GPS Maps yesterday announcing the Hunt App for iPhone & iPad. The announcement said Android is on the way. I'm really excited to see the Hunt App on Android. Currently BCN has more maps available and the ability to use / make custom maps. Where Hunting GPS Maps shines is in the detailed land ownership information.

 

[wapitibob]

Disappointing topo's being used on the huntinggps iphone app.

 

[muleman]

Disappointing topo's being used on the huntinggps iphone app.

What topo maps do you like? What features do you like in your maps?

 

[wapitibob]

What I would like to see is something along the lines of mytopo or esri's USA topo's as well as Bing aerials.

 

[muleman]

Bing does have nice aerials. Over the winter I'll have to mess around and see if I can figure out how to get Bing sources. MyTopo used to be natively available in BCN. It may be possible to add them in manually as a custom map source or through MOBAC. I'll have to look into that also this winter.

I'm really digging the clean look of the USFS 2013 maps and prefer them over esri/ArcGIS. I do wish that there were more countour labels like in the esri/ArcGIS maps. The samples below intentionally have a seam in the data to show how both get stitched together.

MyTopo used to be directly available in BCN.



I am really liking the clean look of the USFS (2013) Topos.



esri / ArcGIS Topo.

 

[Chem-E]

I just started using BCN on my Samsung SIII. Im so happy. Camera, GPS, Notepad, books, other files, Saved web pages, .... all in one little device! I put it in airplane mode and one battery charge lasted me two days! I carry a 7000 mAh backup battery. I can read books, listen to audiobooks, read saved forum topics, scan maps, all from my tent on one device. Finally!

If only the junk SPOT app would work for my SPOT Connect I would be set.

 

[wapitibob]

I do like those 2013 maps. I need pc integration for scouting so I've been using topofusion lately.
I think you can get a personal key for Bing, esri was going that route prior to this latest explorer desktop release.

 

[BowElkStalker]

Looks good, I have been using Hunt GPS by trimble and it works great. I like that I can plan a hunt on the computer and sync with my phone.

 

[muleman]

Looks good, I have been using Hunt GPS by trimble and it works great. I like that I can plan a hunt on the computer and sync with my phone.

Is that the former Cabelas app?

Tracks, waypoints, and polygons can be imported into BCN via gpx or kml files. There isn't a formal sync, you just import the file directly in the app.