I have noticed that when I place the check mark on "APRS>Receive/Transmit APRS
Data" everything works as expected, but when I then click again to remove the
check mark the software will continue to receive data, and then you can not
re-check the option, the menu will disappear, but the check mark is not there. I
am not using KISS with a T2 TNC from Argent Data Systems. Other than that it is
a pretty neat setup to have. Oh, P.S. why do the stations appear on the map
first in yellow text, and then after a while they turn to black on a white
background? Is it that the very first received transmission is indicated by the
yellow and then subsequent transmissions are then indicated by another color?

N7ZMR in rainy Oregon.


      
________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

Oops. Sorry about the back-handed flame.

Doug Cox
_________________________________
You wrote (Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:31:13 -0000):

When I select UTM Grid from the View menu, the grid does not aligh with the
existing grid on the topo maps.  When I check the coordinates of a known
location against the overlayed grid lines vs the topo map grid lines, the
ovelayed lines are wrong.  the lines shown on the topo map are correct.

Am I missing something?  The only way to know what the grid coords are is to
"view" the UTM Grid, then use the closest map grid line (usually about 200
meters North or 50 meters East) for reference.

Is this by design?  Am I missing a setting or preference?  I would sure
appreciate some help.
_________________________________

The grid lines are correct.

Topo maps use an old, inaccurate datum.

To see the lat/lon (or UTM) of a location, move the mouse pointer over it and
look at the title bar.

When you say you check the coordinates of a know location, do you mean you use a
GPS to check where you're standing, and it doesn't agree with what's on
USAPhotoMaps Aerial Photo (not possible, except for some Urban Area locations,
where Microsoft screwed up).

You're lucky I didn't answer this before I had my coffee.

Doug Cox
_________________________________
You wrote (Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:31:13 -0000):

When I select UTM Grid from the View menu, the grid does not aligh with the
existing grid on the topo maps.  When I check the coordinates of a known
location against the overlayed grid lines vs the topo map grid lines, the
ovelayed lines are wrong.  the lines shown on the topo map are correct.

Am I missing something?  The only way to know what the grid coords are is to
"view" the UTM Grid, then use the closest map grid line (usually about 200
meters North or 50 meters East) for reference.

Is this by design?  Am I missing a setting or preference?  I would sure
appreciate some help.
_________________________________

When I select UTM Grid from the View menu, the grid does not aligh with
the existing grid on the topo maps.  When I check the coordinates of a
known location against the overlayed grid lines vs the topo map grid
lines, the ovelayed lines are wrong.  the lines shown on the topo map
are correct.

Am I missing something?  The only way to know what the grid coords are
is to "view" the UTM Grid, then use the closest map grid line (usually
about 200 meters North or 50 meters East) for reference.

Is this by design?  Am I missing a setting or preference?  I would sure
appreciate some help.

--- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "Tyson S." <timbercutter@...> wrote:
>
> Does anyone have a trick for deleting columns (not rows) of map
tiles? I went too far West with my F (fill screen) and am trying to
save some hard drive space. I am working with the 4 meter topo maps on
this. I tried to look at the files names to make sense of the division
by 800 to see if I could just pick them out of the file folder and
delete them but so far I am just not getting it :)
>
> Thanks.

You can delete individual quads with a mouse click/key stroke
combination.  You can read about the details in the help file.  It
does not have an index or even section labels, but you can search it
using Cntl-F, IIRC.

Well, its not the serial gps, it is the USB delorme.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Doug Cox" <jdmcox@...>
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 3:14 AM
To: <USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [USAphotomaps] delorme lt-20 gps

>
> Google
> DeLorme Serial Emulation Driver for Earthmate® GPS Receivers
> and get that serial port emulator. USAPhotoMaps should work with it.
>
> _________________________________
> You wrote (Sun, 6 Jan 2008 22:32:47 -0600):
>
> It's the delorme usb gps reciever. It only picks up the satelites.
> Everything else is left up to software. The Earthmate software does all
> the
> routes and waypoints. If not, is there anyway to put waypoints and routes
> from Earthmate 2008 into USAPhotomaps?
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Doug Cox" <jdmcox@...>
> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 9:21 PM
> To: <USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [USAphotomaps] delorme lt-20 gps
>
>>
>> What's an LT-20?
>> _________________________________
>> You wrote (Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:18:17 -0000):
>>
>> I was wondering if there would ever be any built in capabilities built in
>> for the LT-20 gps. I was wondering this so I can use it to find where I
>> am
>> in comparison to the world, instead of using the program they provided
>> that only shows roads
>> _________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> _________________________________
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Disregard the last message. I figured out what you were talking about

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Doug Cox" <jdmcox@...>
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 3:14 AM
To: <USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [USAphotomaps] delorme lt-20 gps

>
> Google
> DeLorme Serial Emulation Driver for Earthmate® GPS Receivers
> and get that serial port emulator. USAPhotoMaps should work with it.
>
> _________________________________
> You wrote (Sun, 6 Jan 2008 22:32:47 -0600):
>
> It's the delorme usb gps reciever. It only picks up the satelites.
> Everything else is left up to software. The Earthmate software does all
> the
> routes and waypoints. If not, is there anyway to put waypoints and routes
> from Earthmate 2008 into USAPhotomaps?
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Doug Cox" <jdmcox@...>
> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 9:21 PM
> To: <USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [USAphotomaps] delorme lt-20 gps
>
>>
>> What's an LT-20?
>> _________________________________
>> You wrote (Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:18:17 -0000):
>>
>> I was wondering if there would ever be any built in capabilities built in
>> for the LT-20 gps. I was wondering this so I can use it to find where I
>> am
>> in comparison to the world, instead of using the program they provided
>> that only shows roads
>> _________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> _________________________________
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Does anyone have a trick for deleting columns (not rows) of map tiles? I went
too far West with my F (fill screen) and am trying to save some hard drive
space. I am working with the 4 meter topo maps on this. I tried to look at the
files names to make sense of the division by 800 to see if I could just pick
them out of the file folder and delete them but so far I am just not getting it
:)

Thanks.


      
________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

Google
DeLorme Serial Emulation Driver for Earthmate® GPS Receivers
and get that serial port emulator. USAPhotoMaps should work with it.

_________________________________
You wrote (Sun, 6 Jan 2008 22:32:47 -0600):

It's the delorme usb gps reciever. It only picks up the satelites.
Everything else is left up to software. The Earthmate software does all the
routes and waypoints. If not, is there anyway to put waypoints and routes
from Earthmate 2008 into USAPhotomaps?

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Doug Cox" <jdmcox@...>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 9:21 PM
To: <USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [USAphotomaps] delorme lt-20 gps

>
> What's an LT-20?
> _________________________________
> You wrote (Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:18:17 -0000):
>
> I was wondering if there would ever be any built in capabilities built in
> for the LT-20 gps. I was wondering this so I can use it to find where I am
> in comparison to the world, instead of using the program they provided
> that only shows roads
> _________________________________
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>



_________________________________

It's the delorme usb gps reciever. It only picks up the satelites.
Everything else is left up to software. The Earthmate software does all the
routes and waypoints. If not, is there anyway to put waypoints and routes
from Earthmate 2008 into USAPhotomaps?

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Doug Cox" <jdmcox@...>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 9:21 PM
To: <USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [USAphotomaps] delorme lt-20 gps

>
> What's an LT-20?
> _________________________________
> You wrote (Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:18:17 -0000):
>
> I was wondering if there would ever be any built in capabilities built in
> for the LT-20 gps. I was wondering this so I can use it to find where I am
> in comparison to the world, instead of using the program they provided
> that only shows roads
> _________________________________
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

What's an LT-20?
_________________________________
You wrote (Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:18:17 -0000):

I was wondering if there would ever be any built in capabilities built in for
the LT-20 gps. I was wondering this so I can use it to find where I am in
comparison to the world, instead of using the program they provided that only
shows roads
_________________________________

I was wondering if there would ever be any built in capabilities built
in for the LT-20 gps. I was wondering this so I can use it to find
where I am in comparison to the world, instead of using the program
they provided that only shows roads

--- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "gps_greg" <gps_greg@...> wrote:
>
> I am having trouble with black lines showing up in images.
> They are only in the 1-8m/pix range.
> When I zoom out to 8-64m/pix and hit the "1" key to see what I have
> downloaded at the smaller resolution, they do not show up.
> They show up where data has previously been downloaded.
> And are only 1 row in height (so far).
> The only way I have come up with to get rid of them is to delete the
> entire row they they appear in and start over on that row; not easy to
> do when you are dealing with a width of 150-200 miles.
> AND to top that off, when I get about 1/2 way through fixing a row or
> two seems to be when another will show up.

USAPM seems to have a few bugs when it comes to integrity of the data
base.  I think there may be easier ways to fix the problems than
deleting the entire row of quads.  There is a command to delete a
single quad IIRC.  I think you use the CTL key with another, perhaps
delete.  You can find it in the help file I think.  It has been awhile
since I have been working with USAPM, so I am a bit fuzzy on it now.

Deleting individual quads does not always fix a row.  There are times
when I would see data from one row show up in a different row.  If I
deleted that image it would just reappear in the next quad.  I would
have to delete the entire row to fix it.  I think that once, I went
into the file with an editor that could edit hex values and excised
the bad portion or fixed the pointer table.  The format is not
complex, but if you have a high speed connection I don't think it is
worth the trouble.  I am on dialup... so it was worth it.

It worked for me (although I use Administrator priviledges).

Doug Cox
_________________________________
You wrote (Sat, 5 Jan 2008 10:51:51 -0800 (PST)):

Has anyone tried using USAphotomaps on the Vista OS? I suspect it would probably
work, but would like to hear otherwise before I try it. Thanks.
_________________________________

I am having trouble with black lines showing up in images.
They are only in the 1-8m/pix range.
When I zoom out to 8-64m/pix and hit the "1" key to see what I have
downloaded at the smaller resolution, they do not show up.
They show up where data has previously been downloaded.
And are only 1 row in height (so far).
The only way I have come up with to get rid of them is to delete the
entire row they they appear in and start over on that row; not easy to
do when you are dealing with a width of 150-200 miles.
AND to top that off, when I get about 1/2 way through fixing a row or
two seems to be when another will show up.

My machine isn't cutting edge by any means but I don't think I lack
hardware capability.
Specs are:
Processor:    Intel P4 3.00GHz Hyper Threaded
RAM:            2.0GB
Video Card:    Diamond X1300-AGP 256MB
Paging file:    3096-4092MB (dynamic)

Any ideas?

Greg

Tyson,

    USAPhotomaps works fine on my Vista Home Premium, and one of my
customers has one of the other versions of Vista and it works fine on his also.

    Of course, with Vista what seems to work on some people's doesn't always
work on other's.

    For example - AVG Anti-virus is supposed to be Vista-compatible and only
half works on my brand new laptop.

    Anyway, USAPhotomaps seems to work fine on my machine, quite nicely.

Marc

Tyson S. wrote:
>
> Has anyone tried using USAphotomaps on the Vista OS? I suspect it would
> probably work, but would like to hear otherwise before I try it. Thanks.

____________________________________________________________
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Has anyone tried using USAphotomaps on the Vista OS? I suspect it would probably
work, but would like to hear otherwise before I try it. Thanks.


      
________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

I hounded him a few years back the first time APRS was added to
USAPM but I think he got frusterated when there was very little
initial interest in having the capability. I am very glad that he
has added back the APRS features and greatly improved them since the
first version. The symbols being displayed on the map is great.

--- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "gps_greg" <gps_greg@...> wrote:
>
> No, not really.
> I was just wondering if anyone had.
> I have exchanged a number of e-mails with Doug.
> In fact, from the tone of his e-mails, seems I'm the one that
hounded
> him into putting the APRS routines back into the program.  [:D]
> In fact (again), just the other day, he commented that to his
knowledge,
> so far I am the only one using/experimenting with that use.
> Thanks again Doug!!!!
> Fortunately, he seems to have developed an interest in APRS too, so
> hopefully it will only continue to improve.
>
> I had received suggestions from a number of people as to what
software
> to use.
> Doug once even told me to just do a search for APRS mapping
software and
> find something I liked.
> But the more and more I looked, the more and more I liked USAPM
except
> that we'd need the APRS.
> And the more and more I hounded him.
> I had been using it for at least a couple of years for non-APRS
stuff
> (on dial up no less I downloaded the entire state of Iowa at 8-64m
> resolution) and really like the ability to just use the "+" and "-"
> buttons to zoom and a bunch of other stuff.
> The black and white images of the area around where I live are
MORE than
> adequate for our use.
> Google Earth, besides requiring an internet connection (hard to do
in a
> car in the country following a balloon) has crappy resolution
around
> here.
> I am literally about 4 miles NE of 43°N93°W if you want to see the
> kind of terrain I'm dealing with.
> I had looked at UI-View but that seems to involve too much messing
with
> maps and zooming seemed to be too much of a PITA.
> I have and really like OZIExplorer but have never had much luck
> stitching DRG quads and for the pics I'd have to assemble them,
then
> calibrate them; WAY too much hassle.
> USAPM really looked(s) to be the best for what I need.
>
> Greg
>
>
> --- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Collins" <gnuarm.2006@>
> wrote:
> >
> > --- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "gps_greg" gps_greg@ wrote:
> > >
> > > Anyone using USAPM for this?
> > > I am getting started with it.
> > > Plan is to use it for high altitude balloon tracking in real
time.
> >
> > I have not heard of anyone doing balloon tracking, but I seem to
> > recall the author of the program originally designing it for
similar
> > work.
> >
> > Do you have any specific questions?
>

Seems to be that somehow I am getting a resource conflict when running
USAPM.
When downloading image tiles, if I move the cursor off of the USAPM
window, it starts filling in squares with "X"s.
Sometimes when I move the cursor back onto the window it will start
getting the actual data again; sometimes not.
I am also getting an increasing number of errors that tell me that the
program needs to shut down.
ALSO, some of the tiles, after they are downloaded and appear, will
come up black.
This seems to happen in horizontal rows.
I looked through the Task Manager to see if anything looked out of
normal in Processes and all looked well within acceptability.
Checked perfmon and nothing leapt out there either.

Exchanged e-mails with Doug and he seems to believe that it is a
resource conflict as well.
Though he said that he cannot think of a solution off the top of his head.
He said he is planning on including a caution note in Help>Using about it.

Anyone here a programmer that might have suggestions?
I am not a programmer so can't do much there.
I used to be a hardware tech but that's been a while and I'm rusty so
there are likely much better ways to track down conflicts than I remember.

Greg

--- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "gps_greg" <gps_greg@...> wrote:
>
> Anyone using USAPM for this?
> I am getting started with it.
> Plan is to use it for high altitude balloon tracking in real time.

I have not heard of anyone doing balloon tracking, but I seem to
recall the author of the program originally designing it for similar
work.

Do you have any specific questions?

Anyone using USAPM for this?
I am getting started with it.
Plan is to use it for high altitude balloon tracking in real time.

Greg
WØGRB

> So how can they add an interface to one that doesn't have one? The
> cable thing was for a unit that did not have a cable for it. Magellan
> put the connector on the unit, but did not document the interface and
> sold no cable for it. I expect it would be compatible with one for
> another unit by the same maker, but the web page showed how to make
> one from a piece of a credit card.

    Yea, there's a little rubber seal over the pins.  The home-made
interface for mine didn't look too great both cosmetically as well as for
being able to hold it securely in place, that's why I'm holding out for the
one made by a company.

    When I was younger I would have went ahead and made it myself, but I
find as I sink firmly into middle age I prefer to buy something that looks
nice rather then cobbling it together myself, heh heh.

> Does the 100 have a track feature? Even if there is no external
> interface, they likely still support tracks. Once you get an
> interface you should be able to upload the tracks to your PC and will
> be able to import those to USAPM or any other program. GPSBabel lets
> you translate between nearly any formats for GPS coordinates.

    Do you have the GUI wrapper for GPSBabel?  I think there's two or three
versions out there.  Works better then command-lining it.

    Also, another useful tool I use is Geocalc.  Real nice addition to
USAPhotomaps and other software.  Should be easily found, if not I can
upload it to the files section.  A must-have.

    Yep, both tracks and routes.  Really, for a cheapo GPS is does have a
lot of stuff, relatively.

    Anyway, yea, once I acquire an interface for it it'll be easier to just
do a track.  But for now just waypointing any turns and corners on a trail
is easier for typing it in manually.

> Like I said, it is still very early, but is a good start. One of the
> problems is there are not many standards figured out for labeling the
> ways, as they are called. There are some for roads, but not much
> defined for trails yet. Once I start working on the trails around
> here, I will see what is needed and propose them.

    Definitely good potential there.

    I also have fun with Google Maps and the website mymapsplus.com which
allows you to embed a custom Google map into a webpage without frigging
around with an API (let them do it) for free.  My trails site, for example
(the map is down the page a little ways) - http://nnytrails.freehostia.com

>  > A friend of mine works for a surveying and GIS company and he
> mentioned
>  > a website where recent a higher res photos can be found, he's
> supposed to
>  > be getting back to me on it.
>
> That will be interesting.

    Wow, I typed that message up fast (halfway out the door).  What I meant
to say was where more recent maps can be found - it may not be an issue in
larger cities but out around here many of the satellite and aerial maps
from Terraserver are 10 years out of date.

>  > I've recently been messing around with ExpertGPS, one of the
> features I
>  > like is it can be zoomed much further then USAPhotoMaps allows. But
> the
>  > program is shareware and I'm a cheap bastard ;)
>
> What do they use for images? You can zoom in further in USAPM if you
> switch to Urban mode. You won't be able to see any terrain, but it
> will let you position and "measure" waypoints more accurately.

    Hmmm, I'd never thought of using the Urban mode without any maps
displayed,. good idea.  Thanks, that's worth joining this mailing list
right there.

    ExpertGPS uses Terraserver also, as well as QuakeMap and TopoFusion (all
shareware, though Quakemap has a freeware mode if you don't mind certain
squares showing the shareware message).  I really like Quakemap - it has
some nice features but also some awkward ones.  It zooms right down,
interfaces to Google Earth and Streets and Trips, has relief maps, lets you
save a map as a clickable webpage, and lots of other options.  I don't know
about the GPS interface part of it as yet, of course.

> I found one for Windows PDAs, and one for the Palm, which I have. But
> it crashed on my Palm which then required a reboot. Not yet ready for
> prime time!

    The program above, (Quakemap - http://www.earthquakemap.com/) has a PDA
feature also, I haven't really looked at it so I can't tell you what it has
for a PDA but it might be worth a shot.

    I just gotta tell ya - it's nice to be able to hobnob with someone else
who has the same interests.

Marc

--- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, Marc <lectrich@...> wrote:
>
>    Magellan Explorist 100.  Very cheap, no onboard maps.  But another
> company is making interfaces for it (and I did see some sites on how to
> make my own cable but I'd rather buy it, despite my background in
electronics.)

So how can they add an interface to one that doesn't have one?  The
cable thing was for a unit that did not have a cable for it.  Magellan
put the connector on the unit, but did not document the interface and
sold no cable for it.  I expect it would be compatible with one for
another unit by the same maker, but the web page showed how to make
one from a piece of a credit card.


>    There's a Yahoogroups list for the Explorist series but they
rarely make
> mention of the 100.

That doesn't mean you can't ask questions...  If you know of ways to
add an interface, I expect others would like to hear about that.


>    I know what you mean about trails, unless the trail is on an old
> railroad track or uses a valley it's hard to mark it out.  For mapping
> trails I use the GPS, and take waypoints at any turn and waypoint
them in
> USAPhotoMaps.  Once I get an interface this is going to be a bit less
> time-consuming for me, of course.  This method works well.

Does the 100 have a track feature?  Even if there is no external
interface, they likely still support tracks.  Once you get an
interface you should be able to upload the tracks to your PC and will
be able to import those to USAPM or any other program.  GPSBabel lets
you translate between nearly any formats for GPS coordinates.


>    Wow, thanks for the link.  Looks good, really good.

Like I said, it is still very early, but is a good start.  One of the
problems is there are not many standards figured out for labeling the
ways, as they are called.  There are some for roads, but not much
defined for trails yet.  Once I start working on the trails around
here, I will see what is needed and propose them.


>    A friend of mine works for a surveying and GIS company and he
mentioned
> a website where recent a higher res photos can be found, he's
supposed to
> be getting back to me on it.

That will be interesting.


>    I've recently been messing around with ExpertGPS, one of the
features I
> like is it can be zoomed much further then USAPhotoMaps allows.  But
the
> program is shareware and I'm a cheap bastard ;)

What do they use for images?  You can zoom in further in USAPM if you
switch to Urban mode.  You won't be able to see any terrain, but it
will let you position and "measure" waypoints more accurately.


>    Hmmm, yea, that's too bad.  I can imagine the addons and plug-ins
that
> could be added to something like this.

Yes, it would be nice, but he has his own ideas of where the program
should evolve and does not want to let other direct it I expect.  You
can always try asking for the coordinate edit feature yourself.  Once
a few people ask, maybe he will add it.


>    Kinda surprised that no one's came out with an open source GPS
program -
> what with GPSes, Geocaching, and the whole Open Source thing being
so big now.

I found one for Windows PDAs, and one for the Palm, which I have.  But
it crashed on my Palm which then required a reboot.  Not yet ready for
prime time!

> I'm glad you found your way here. I am sure there are a lot more
> people using USAPM who would come here if they knew about it. I need
> to try to spread the word.

    I've been doing my part via mailing lists and my websites.

>  > I have a GPS but don't have an interface for it yet (it's a cheapo,
>  > but has WAAS).
>
> What model? I am surprised at the web pages I have found for all
> sorts of units. Some don't have a cable, but still have serial I/O
> capability, like the iFinder GO for example. There are a couple of
> pages that tell you how to make a cable and get it to upload/download
> waypoints. I know there are groups here for the Magellan GPS
> receivers and I believe there are groups for Garmin as well.

    Magellan Explorist 100.  Very cheap, no onboard maps.  But another
company is making interfaces for it (and I did see some sites on how to
make my own cable but I'd rather buy it, despite my background in electronics.)

    There's a Yahoogroups list for the Explorist series but they rarely make
mention of the 100.

   I got mine from a customer, who bought it and then insisted on trying to
use it inside a metal warehouse.  I told him to take it outside but he
wouldn't listen.  He was somewhat deadbeat when I was doing work for him (I
do independent computer consulting) so he asked if I'd take it in trade for
the last (probably forever) job that I did for him.

    Always wanted a GPS, never got around to it, so this was a good way to
get my feet wet.

    I've done a few Geocaches, it's a fun sport but for me only in small doses.

> I found out about it when I was looking for something to help me with
> geocaching. But I use it for other things as well. I don't find it
> so useful for trails though as they don't show up well in the woods
> around here. Trail maps is why I found out about Open Street Maps
> http://www.openstreetmap.org/. <http://www.openstreetmap.org/.> It was
> started in Great Britain, I
> believe, and is starting to catch on here in the US. They are

    I know what you mean about trails, unless the trail is on an old
railroad track or uses a valley it's hard to mark it out.  For mapping
trails I use the GPS, and take waypoints at any turn and waypoint them in
USAPhotoMaps.  Once I get an interface this is going to be a bit less
time-consuming for me, of course.  This method works well.

> adding elevation data, so it may be useful to you. It already has
> sturctures and you can add elevation to those as well. It should be
> possible to write a program to pull elevation from the same data
> source that USAPM uses and add that to OSM data points. Then you
> would only need to add your unique elevations.

    Wow, thanks for the link.  Looks good, really good.

>  > I recently used it for find the missing corner post of a new
>  > neighbor's land, and for mapping out the foundations and getting
>  > dimensions for an long-gone structure using only what's left of the
> ruins.
>
> Are you near a major city so that you can use the Urban photos or do
> you use the lower resolution photos? I am not near enough to
> Washington, DC to get the high res photos.

    No, small city - Watertown, NY (near Fort Drum where the 10 Mountain
Division deployed in Iraq come from).

    A friend of mine works for a surveying and GIS company and he mentioned
a website where recent a higher res photos can be found, he's supposed to
be getting back to me on it.

    I've recently been messing around with ExpertGPS, one of the features I
like is it can be zoomed much further then USAPhotoMaps allows.  But the
program is shareware and I'm a cheap bastard ;)

> I have asked the author about this myself. He was not interested in
> adding it, but he said I could. However, he doesn't give out all the

    Hmmm, yea, that's too bad.  I can imagine the addons and plug-ins that
could be added to something like this.

> I would really like to be able to port this program to a PDA. But
> again, I can't get the full sources.

    Kinda surprised that no one's came out with an open source GPS program -
what with GPSes, Geocaching, and the whole Open Source thing being so big now.

Marc

--- In USAphotomaps@yahoogroups.com, "Marc" <lectrich@...> wrote:
>
> I've been using this program for a number of years now, and so glad to
> find a group about this excellent little program.  Hope more people
> eventually join.

I'm glad you found your way here.  I am sure there are a lot more
people using USAPM who would come here if they knew about it.  I need
to try to spread the word.


> I have a GPS but don't have an interface for it yet (it's a cheapo,
> but has WAAS).

What model?  I am surprised at the web pages I have found for all
sorts of units.  Some don't have a cable, but still have serial I/O
capability, like the iFinder GO for example.  There are a couple of
pages that tell you how to make a cable and get it to upload/download
waypoints.  I know there are groups here for the Magellan GPS
receivers and I believe there are groups for Garmin as well.


> I've used USAPhotoMaps for everything from planning out and mapping
> trails to mountain bike and hike and walk, to just "exploring".  Like
> the color maps for the big cities too.

I found out about it when I was looking for something to help me with
geocaching.  But I use it for other things as well.  I don't find it
so useful for trails though as they don't show up well in the woods
around here.  Trail maps is why I found out about Open Street Maps
http://www.openstreetmap.org/.  It was started in Great Britain, I
believe, and is starting to catch on here in the US.  They are
building a street map of the world including trails and waterways.  It
is still rather in the early stages so that not everything has been
figured out and nothing is well documented.  I started a group here
for it, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/openstreetmap/, but they have
their own forum and several mailing lists.  They are talking about
adding elevation data, so it may be useful to you.  It already has
sturctures and you can add elevation to those as well.  It should be
possible to write a program to pull elevation from the same data
source that USAPM uses and add that to OSM data points.  Then you
would only need to add your unique elevations.


> I recently used it for find the missing corner post of a new
> neighbor's land, and for mapping out the foundations and getting
> dimensions for an long-gone structure using only what's left of the
ruins.

Are you near a major city so that you can use the Urban photos or do
you use the lower resolution photos?  I am not near enough to
Washington, DC to get the high res photos.


> Only one problems I've run into and it isn't the fault of USAPhotoMaps .
>
> I happen to be near an area where the topo maps overlap.  So nearby
> all I get is the edge of the original scanned map instead of the
> topography (it shows the map key, copyright info, etc).  I've been
> trying to import that data by using the Terraserver website and
> zooming in past where the overlap comes into play, and then editing
> this with a graphics program an inserting it in place of what
> USAPhotoMaps is grabbing.  It works, but is too time-comsuming to be
> practical.
>
> Here's a question I've had - is there any way to access the waypoint's
> lat/long data directly - for display of the exact coords - without
> loading the .xml and editing it manually?  I know I can position the
> mouse on a waypoint while in the progam but it's not very exact.

I have asked the author about this myself.  He was not interested in
adding it, but he said I could.  However, he doesn't give out all the
source, just the c file.  So I couldn't build the program with mods.
Too bad this program is not open source.  He could release it as open
source and let the rest of us add our features while still continuing
to work on his own version to his own liking.  We could even use a
different name so the two are not confused.  But I don't think he will
go for that.


> I've also been using the waypoint's comment field to add elevations,
> which works nicely for me.  I know I can get the elevation of a
> particular point in USAPhotMaps but sometimes I use my GPS at the tops
> of structures, ruins, and such that isn't aprt of the elevation data.

I would really like to be able to port this program to a PDA.  But
again, I can't get the full sources.


> Anyway, great to find this group, hopefully some more people will post
> and participate.

Spread the word anywhere you can.

I've been using this program for a number of years now, and so glad to
find a group about this excellent little program.  Hope more people
eventually join.

I have a GPS but don't have an interface for it yet (it's a cheapo,
but has WAAS).

I've used USAPhotoMaps for everything from planning out and mapping
trails to mountain bike and hike and walk, to just "exploring".  Like
the color maps for the big cities too.

I recently used it for find the missing corner post of a new
neighbor's land, and for mapping out the foundations and getting
dimensions for an long-gone structure using only what's left of the ruins.

Only one problems I've run into and it isn't the fault of USAPhotoMaps .

I happen to be near an area where the topo maps overlap.  So nearby
all I get is the edge of the original scanned map instead of the
topography (it shows the map key, copyright info, etc).  I've been
trying to import that data by using the Terraserver website and
zooming in past where the overlap comes into play, and then editing
this with a graphics program an inserting it in place of what
USAPhotoMaps is grabbing.  It works, but is too time-comsuming to be
practical.

Here's a question I've had - is there any way to access the waypoint's
lat/long data directly - for display of the exact coords - without
loading the .xml and editing it manually?  I know I can position the
mouse on a waypoint while in the progam but it's not very exact.

I've also been using the waypoint's comment field to add elevations,
which works nicely for me.  I know I can get the elevation of a
particular point in USAPhotMaps but sometimes I use my GPS at the tops
of structures, ruins, and such that isn't aprt of the elevation data.

Anyway, great to find this group, hopefully some more people will post
and participate.

Marc

I am using the most current version dated July 31, 2007 (Doug does not
aways update the version number for small changes) and found that the
new serial port number selection does not seem to work for values
above 9.  I reported this to Doug and he is trying to recreate the
problem.  I expect this will be resolved shortly and a fix will be
uploaded to his site.

I see there are now 9 members of the group.  How many are using this
program?

I have found this program to be very useful and convenient.  It
displays downloaded map images of both topo and photo data from
http://terraserver-usa.com/.  The program was written by Doug Cox and
is freely available from his web site, http://jdmcox.com/.  The
current version is 2.76, but it seems like the version number does not
always get incremented with updates, so the date should be used to
determine if your version is current.

USAphotomaps (UPM) downloads small sections of map data from the
terraserver web site and displays them in small quads on the screen.
The data can be topo data in two resolutions or the older photo data
that covers nearly all of the US (again in two resolutions) or the
newer high resolution color photo data that only covers the larger
cities at this time (once again in two resolutions).

On top of this data you can display waypoints, routes or tracks
manually entered or from your GPS.  You can also display topo
contours, USGS landmark data or Tiger street info as overlays.

All in all, it is a very useful program.  Too bad you can't make it
fit in a hand held device or it could pretty much replace a GPS
receiver.  :^)