Download Roadnav: Free GPS Street Navigation software

Free GPS Software | GPS Software Hub | August 29, 2008 at 3:17 pm

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Roadnav, a free GPS street navigation software, runs on a variety of operating systems. It can obtain your position from a GPS unit, plot a map of your area, and provide directions to locations in the USA. It can also verbalize directions using Microsoft SAPI 5.1, Festival, flite, and OS X’s built in text to speech engine.

Roadnav uses the free TIGER/Line (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) files from the US Census Bureau to build the maps, along with the GNIS state and topical gazetteer data from the USGS to identify locations. It has experimental support for scripting, LCDproc, importing OpenStreetMap data, and importing GPX waypoints and tracks.

Main Features of Roadnav

Generates street level maps for the US
Interfaces with GPS units to display your position in real time
Verbal turn by turn directions to any place in the US. Automatically recomputes directions if you miss a turn. (experimental)
On screen keyboard
3D (driver’s perspective) view mode
Daytime and nighttime color schemes
Automatic day/night mode switching
Plots nearby landmarks and points of interest
Can operate offline (without an Internet connection)
Antialiased output
Supports multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
Uses freely available data from the US Census Bureau and the USGS
Appearance can be customized with skins
Can output status information to LCD devices through LCDproc
GPX and OpenStreetMap support (experimental)

Roadnav Installation on Windows

1. Go to the downloads page and download the precompiled Windows setup package.
2. Run the setup program. A setup wizard will appear.
3. Click Next, then accept the license agreement by clicking Accept then Next again.
4. You can optionally change the installation directory. Click Next.
5. You can optionally change the other settings, or keep clicking Next/Install until the software is installed.
6. An icon labeled “Roadnav” will appear on your desktop. Double clicking on it will launch Roadnav.

Roadnav Installation on Mac OS X

1. Download the .dmg disk image from the downloads page.
2. Double click on the disk image in Finder to open the image.
3. Optionally drag the Roadnav icon into your Applications folder.
4. Double click on the Roadnav icon to launch Roadnav.

Using a GPS unit with Roadnav

If you have a GPS unit, Roadnav can plot your current position and heading on the map. Attach the GPS unit to a serial port. If you are running under the Linux operating system, ensure you have sufficient permissions to access the serial ports. To activate GPS support in Roadnav, go into the Tools menu, and select Preferences. Click on the GPS tab. Next, specify how Roadnav should connect to your GPS unit from the GPS Type drop down box. Select Serial to have Roadnav directly access the serial port your GPS unit is connected to, or gpsd to have Roadnav connect to your GPS unit through a gpsd daemon (must be separately installed and configure).

If you selected Serial, specify the serial port the GPS unit is attached to and the baud rate to use on the appropriate lines. If you selected gpsd, specify the hostname and port number of gpsd daemon. Generally, the default gpsd settings are correct, if gpsd is running on the same computer as Roadnav. Click OK to save your settings. If your GPS unit is locked, a red arrow will then appear on the map indicating your location.

Download Roadnav

Roadnav 0.19 Windows 2000/XP/Vista setup package
Running it will bring up an installation wizard that will guide you through the installation process.

Roadnav 0.19 PCLinuxOS RPM package

Roadnav 0.19 Mac OS X .dmg disk image
Intel Mac users: Universal binary support is still experimental. Please run Roadnav under Rosetta to download maps, otherwise an error message will appear.