>The ETAK SkyMap GPS/Moving Map Display System< *NOT the SkyMap PRO version* Review by Joe Mehaffey and Jack Yeazel ( Revised 15 March 1998 ) For those who have been looking for a CDROM vector map system with higher resolution and map accuracy with a remote control, take a look at the US$300 ETAK SkyMap system. It is a system designed for automobile navigation with the use of a laptop computer and includes the ETAK PCMCIA GPS module, an Infrared Remote Control as well as a comprehensive map of the USA. The map itself is the highest accuracy vector map I have reviewed. It is stored on two CDROMs which come as part of the kit. However, a CDROM drive in your laptop computer is NOT required for operation. It is possible (and desirable) to load your frequently used maps to your hard drive using LapLink, LAN or similar. Approximately 50 megs of hard drive space will be required for the overview map plus a detailed map of the local area. The map system can be operated with map data on the CDROM but by downloading from the CDROM to your hard drive, a significant improvement of map re-draw speed is achieved. Note: The laptop system should be a 486-75 or faster with minimum 8 megs of RAM, Windows 95 operating system (only), with at least 20 megs of free hard drive space. A PCMCIA card slot is ESSENTIAL as the program at present is ONLY compatible with the included ETAK PCMCIA GPS module. The ETAK GPS draws about 155ma from the laptop for power. A unique feature of SkyMap is the remote control unit. It is a battery powered InfraRed control similar to a TV remote control unit. An IR receiver is mounted on the protruding part of the PCMCIA module. From the remote control, the user can cause the display to pan up/down left/right and combinations using a round rocker key. Other features permit the user to select heading up or north up, mark positions, zoom in and out, and select points of interest for display. In addition, a MENU key permits the selection of various functions though a keyboard is still necessary for data input. This system is obviously designed for operation of an embedded "in the dash" type system. The remote control is of questionable use if the laptop is in your lap. However, those who want to mount their laptop to the vehicle will find the remote control useful. SkyMap offers a "find me a route from A to B" capability. (Unfortunately, the system cannot route to individual addresses. Instead, ROUTING must use only the overview map with only major roads shown. This significantly limits the usefulness of the ROUTE feature.) Within these limits, the ROUTE system is easy to use and is the best we have seen at finding a useful route. (In our area, Georgia 400 is a freeway of interstate quality and is marked by ETAK as Route 19. As such, it is equated with much smaller two lane routes such as Georgia 141 when directions are compiled. This sort of error will probably cause most programs (including SkyMap) to produce less than optimum routes until electronic maps accurately detail road types.) To use automated routing, the user places a "start" ICON on the road near the starting point and a "finish" ICON on the road near the end of the route. Then clicking "show path" causes SkyMap to produce the recommended path on the map. Only the "most direct" option is permitted. Freeways are favored often even when they are not the most direct route. There is no "scenic route" option. Written directions are also produced. These written directions were clear and accurate in the tests we ran. The included 12 channel parallel (ETAK brand) GPS receiver includes an antenna module and a PCMCIA type II card module connected by a five foot cable. The MAXIMUM speed capability of the ETAK system is 300mph. (This limits its use in commercial aircraft.) ETAK provides no specifications for acquisition time for the SkyMap GPS. We measured 70 seconds for cold start. For self locate where we set in our location as California and waited for it to find out we were really in Georgia the lock time was 4.5 minutes. These times are about average. The ETAK GPS was compared in simultaneous tests with the Garmin G-II+, and G-12xl receivers. While the ETAK unit provided excellent results in open sky conditions, the receivers in the Garmin 12 channel parallel GPS units routinely showed lock on more SVs than did the ETAK receiver. We noticed that the ETAK receiver's "unlocked" indicators would come and go as you passed under underpasses at 50mph indicating that the SkyMap GPS receiver has no "dead reckoning" assist for momentary signal dropouts. Note: In tests on tree lined residential streets, lock with the ETAK was spotty and often the unit would be unlocked for many blocks between momentary locks. Others report spotty performance in high rise city areas. This type of performance is more typical of older scanning receivers such as the Garmin G-45 and the Magellan 4000 series. Placing the ETAK antenna module on the car top did not materially improve performance over the car dash position in our tree cover tests. Zoom operation with the remote control is quick and intuitive with the remote control. Without the use of the remote control, zooming and panning the map is a bit tedious. To zoom in using the laptop controls, you put the cursor arrow on the point you want to be center of your map. Then you hold down the right mouse button and pull the mouse cursor toward you until the box that appears frames the area you want the present map to occupy in the new scale. This works pretty well unless you want a large scale change. In this case several iterations are required. A similar procedure is used to zoom in. In addition, ctl+I will zoom in and ctl+O will zoom out. Placing the cursor on a point on the map and pressing the RIGHT mouse button will cause the map to center on the mouse cursor. SkyMap offers the feature of locating a specific metropolitan area address for you. An address (including optional house number) along with city, state and zip code is input. The program can then place a "map tack" on the specific location. Our tests showed that this feature requires a SPECIFIC address, and will not respond with any options for SIMILAR addresses. A comparison with Street Atlas 4 shows that the database contains more recently added streets. However, some addresses aren't "parsed" with address abbreviations in mind. i.e., Hunter's Knoll is listed as Hunter's Knls on the map, and the correct name won't locate the address. A non existent house number will also result in a "not found" for the street. This problem can usually be worked around if you know to look for it. Skymap offers the feature of locating nearby tourist attractions. Categories such as food, shopping, transportation (gas, airports, etc.), culture (museums, galleries, etc.), finance, parks and zoos, lodging, and general points of interest. This feature works well and appeared to have a large inventory of businesses and points of interest. The table provides approx- imately 500,000 entries. The map can get quite cluttered if several categories are selected. Clicking on a particular "point of interest" icon on the map brings up additional information about the restaurant, museum or etc. Skymap offers the ability to print out maps, copy maps to the W95 clipboard, and export maps as bitmap files. When using SkyMap with the PCMCIA GPS module, you may select displays with "heading up" or "north up". A system option will automatically center your current location on the map. The "auto centering" turns off when the map is moved manually. A GPS information panel optionally shows the SVs in view and the current lock status. A heading display shows only eight unique directions. Summary: SkyMap version 1.0 is a well written program with about the best MAP ACCURACY we have seen. All of the roads we looked for were present and accurately located. The base map obviously was rooted in the Census Bureau's Tiger Maps as there were a number of misnamed streets and roads which we have learned were misnamed in the original Tiger Map series. This map has many additions and corrections and appears generally more complete, accurate and up to date as compared with SA4. The vector map segments are all reasonable length producing good quality maps generally conform- ing to actual road locations. (Note: In a few non-metro areas, we noted SA4 had more streets on the map than did SkyMap. Examples: Sea Island and Jekyll Island Georgia.) The GPS module operated well but did not have exceptional sensitivity compared with the Garmin G-12xl and the G-II+. The ETAK GPS receiver performance under tree cover was significantly inferior to the 12 channel Garmin samples. The SkyMap program exhibited no operational problems and was well documented. The current version is the first release and SkyMap has indicated that they will add a number of additional features in future releases. If the GPS module will operate with any other map software when switched to NMEA mode is not known. The 300mph max speed limitation may be a problem for some potential users. What we missed in the ETAK SkyMap system: 1) SkyMap offers no compatibility with GPS units other than the ETAK PCMCIA module. 2) There is no track line is painted on the map showing your path. (Coming in the next SkyMap release [ver 2.0] scheduled for January 1998.) 3) There is no track log is provided to permit storage and recall of tracks. (Coming in the next SkyMap release [ver 2.0] scheduled for January 1998.) 4) There is no waypoint storage capability to permit storage and recall of groups of waypoints. (Coming in the next SkyMap release [ver 2.0] scheduled for January 1998.) 5) There is no ROUTE capability using user input waypoints. In summary, SkyMap is a quality Laptop Computer GPS mapping system with the best quality vector maps we have reviewed. The GPS was quite competent but not quite up to par in sensitivity and ability to stay locked in tree cover with the better 12 channel units. SkyMap software was high quality with no bugs or anomalies found. Many will enjoy the easy laptop operation and the included infrared remote control. If any errors or omissions are noted in this review, please let us know. Joe Mehaffey Jack Yeazel