Frequently asked questions for the Hema Navigator HX-1
by Christopher O'Keeffe
November 03, 2017
73 Comments
OUR TOP 10 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR THE HEMA NAVIGATOR HX-1
We at MAPWORLD thought it might be helpful to share our experiences of the most common questions we get about the very successful Hema Navigator HX-1, although we do recommend reading the manual which is available on the machine itself (Press the ? icon on the front screen) and on this link: -
http://help.hema-labs.com/HX-1_Guide/#t=cover.htm
I personally was so used to the OZIEXPLORER operating system for the HN5, HN6, and HN7 that it has taken me some time to fall in love with the HX-1 but now I am learning how to better use the HX-1 this looks like it will be a “Fine Romance”.
1 POWER MANAGEMENT FOR THE HX-1
Most of the questions we get asked about the HX-1 relate to power management.
The first rule is please always use original Hema power leads for both the USB cable and the cigarette lighter charger. The HX-1 needs leads which have 2Amp output at 5V DC, less than this will really slow down the charging or even mean that the unit cannot recharge adequately. If you have installed USB power points in your vehicle they also need to have 2Amp capability and frequently these are 1Amp capability.
When charging the unit from either the supplied 12v car charger or a USB mains power source, the screen is turned on, but once the Hema logo has formed, a touch of the power button on the top left of the unit will turn the screen off, although the unit is in Sleep mode not Power Off.
If you just turn off the machine without forcing Power Off mode the machine will go into sleep mode, where it continues to run down power and when you go to use your HX-1 next time the power will be expired. Features such as WiFi or Bluetooth left turned on will also increase battery usage in sleep mode.
Note: If the HX-1 battery is very low on charge, there may be a delay of 5 to 10 minutes before the device will show any charge lights or screen activity. The first sign of life will be a large battery icon on the screen showing a percentage of charge. This shows the HX-1 is charging but does not yet have enough charge to run. Simply leave charging for another 15 minutes to ensure normal function.
If you need to reset the HX-1, just hold the power button down for 20 seconds while connected to a power source and then release.
2 USING THE FLOATING HEMA LOGO BUTTON ON THE SCREEN
This button can be moved just by holding it down and sliding to another part of the screen, so it does not block anything critical on your screen.
The most common use of the button is a quick press to go back one step for whatever action you have just taken.
If you hold down on the button for a couple of seconds it will bring up a control screen where on the right-hand side you can switch between DRIVE and EXPLORE mode while leaving the other mode running in the background, very useful as we will see when wanting voice directions in EXPLORE mode. Do not forget to turn off both modes when you are shutting down the machine.
3 GETTING THE INFORMATION FROM THE ICONS ON THE MAPS IN EXPLORE MODE
On the various map layers you can use in EXPLORE mode you can see POI icons such as campsites, post offices etc. If you touch an icon it will bring up the name of the POI, and if you touch it again it will bring up contact details, facilities available, GPS location etc.
4 UNDERSTAND THE ROUTE PREFERENCE SETTINGS IN DRIVE MODE AS THIS WILL DETERMINE THE ROUTING THE HX-1 PROVIDES YOU.
The HX-1 is a powerful machine with many options, the most frequently misunderstood is how your settings will cause the machine to guide you in specific fashion.
The Settings button in DRIVE mode is found by touching the Menu button on the bottom left of the screen and then pressing Settings. The Route Preferences button is located at the top of the Settings list.
You would normally set Route Preferences as follows:
Vehicle: Car
Route Planning Method: Fast
Navigation Mode: On-road
And maybe turn on preference for Motorways.
Note: Changing the Vehicle to Truck will cause an 80km/h speed limit to be applied and Route calculation speeds to be limited to 80km/h. Turn by Turn navigation is only provided when the Navigation Mode is set to On-road (Off-road provides straight line navigation only).
This link will give you more information on the options:
http://help.hema-labs.com/HX-1_Guide/#t=Drive%2FSettings%2Froute_preferences.htm
5 GET VOICE DIRECTIONS WHEN USING EXPLORE MODE ON UNSEALED ROADS IN THE BUSH
Set your destination in DRIVE mode as usual, but first change your Route Preferences to turn on UNSEALED ROADS and 4WD TRACKS. Selecting Short as the Route Planning Method may be beneficial, but it should be noted that this may also produce obscure routing in the bush on tracks that are gazetted but not yet constructed. Start the navigation in DRIVE mode but then hold down the floating Hema Logo button and choose EXPLORE.
You will now hear voice directions even though you are in EXPLORE mode, but be aware because the base is DRIVE mode, tracks will only be used if they are in the database of the DRIVE program, It is likely you will see tracks in EXPLORE mode which are not in the DRIVE database, but if you just follow your eyes the voice route will in due course re-calculate. It is not perfect but it is fun and can be very helpful.
6 THE SIMPLE WAY TO RECORD YOUR TRIPS IN EXPLORE MODE
On the bottom of the screen in EXPLORE mode you will see a hemisphere with an arrow on it which if touched will bring up your trip monitor, and on the left hand side is the RECORD button for trip logging. Just press it to record and when touched at completion of the trip will give you the options to pause recording, finish the track or delete the track.
7 DELETING ROUTES AND TRACKS
When deleting routes and tracks out of WI-FI range the deletion will not finally occur until you have once again synced the HX-1 with the cloud.
8 HOW MANY ACTIVE LAYERS SHOUD I USE IN EXPLORE MODE
The HX-1 comes fully loaded with the Hema Explorer multiscale seamless mapping, giving you pre-loaded map scales down to 1:150k but you have many options to add additional mapping for free.
See this link for more details:
http://help.hema-labs.com/HX-1_Guide/#t=Explore%2Flayers_panel.htm
It is our experience that it is not necessary to use 2 layers of mapping in ACTIVE LAYERS at a time. The use of excessive layers may cause Explore to run slowly.
You can always drag and swap an alternative layer from AVAILABLE LAYERS if needed over time.
9 HOW DO I GET THE DETAILED INFORMATION ON EACH CAMPSITE, CARAVAN PARK AND DUMP POINT IN DRIVE MODE
- Press Menu in the bottom left hand corner of the screen in DRIVE mode.
- Press NEW ROUTE.
- Scroll down to PLACES.
- Scroll to Camps 9 Locations, Camps Public Dump Points, or Caravan Parks Aust Wide
- Select your Destination
- Press the Arrow in the bottom right of the Screen
- Press Detailed Information.
If a picture of the location of the destination is available, you will find it here.
You can also search for a camp site, caravan park etc by the name if known. To do this, simply press New Route then Search in All. Enter the name (or part of the name) into the Name or address field and press the search button on the bottom right of the on-screen keyboard.
Drive will search for any item in the database with this name/text and display in order closest to your location. You can even filter the results using the Filter Bar on the right-hand side of the Search Results screen. Scroll the bar up to filter by Hema, Here or Camps poi results.
10 EXCESSIVE HEAT AND MY HX-1
It is normal for the unit to give off heat when operating under standard conditions, using the original Hema connection leads. If a power source other than2AMPS is being used the heat can become excessive and damage the machine.
Please do not leave your HX-1 on the dashboard in strong sun, particularly in an enclosed car. This will expose the unit to excessive temperatures and can cause the device to enter thermal protection mode and temporarily shut down to protect itself. Prolonged exposure to excessive heat may also cause damage to the battery, such as shortened charge cycle life or battery expansion.
11 SCREEN FREEZES IN EXPLORE MODE
In the top right-hand corner of EXPLORE mode is a small circular icon with 4 small half lines inside it, this controls the map GPS settings, (3rd from the right/ right hand side)
- If it is white the screen is frozen and will not move. You will eventually drive off the map on the screen.
- Touch the icon once and it changes to orange and the map will now move, with the map itself in a north up mode.
- Touch the icon again and it becomes V shaped, the map will move in a course up setting.
- Please note if you at any time touch the screen itself the icon will revert to frozen mode.
NEXT STEPS
As I said at the beginning this is a love affair in progress. I hope this information can help you enjoy your HX-1 more fully as you continue on your adventures. As we learn more through the questions you ask us we will share our learnings through future blogs.
Most Importantly: Please do not hesitate to ask any questions in the comments below and we will be most happy to try answer them.
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Christopher O'Keeffe
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Christopher O'Keeffe
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