[BC] GPS For Proofs...

[Cowboy]

On Wednesday 16 November 2005 12:15 pm, Burt I. Weiner wrote:
>Mike,
>
>The Delorme products are mapping programs, not proof programs. 

 Ain't THAT the truth ! ( but none really are )

>They will  
>do everything you mention with the exception of the XLS stuffs.

 Um....
 Within limits, I would beg to differ. ( conditioned on I haven't seen the
 specific version of Delorme he has ) (more below)

>I write  
>descriptions on a separate log in the traditional manner.

 As do I, though you could do a tag on the point marker.
 That, I found a little cumbersome.

>The software is  
>essentially consumer type in that it is inexpensive and you can easily run 
>it on your laptop.  It will allow you to draw radials, put various tags and 
>labels on the maps in various layers if you wish.  See the article in the 
>April 2004 Radio Guide I wrote on the subject. 

 Hmmm.....

>And yes, you can print out  
>real 7.5" Quads complete with radials, the points you've added and a title 
>box.  They will be better than anything you can draw on a map by 
>hand.  Plus, they'll all fit in your laptop as one complete map and not all 
>over the inside of your car!

 THAT's the real draw !

>Burt

 More comments .....

>At 11:43 AM 11/16/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>>From: Mike McCarthy <Towers at mre.com>

>>So you bought the extra $100/region discs and they work under the consumer
>>software? Please clarify/elaborate.

 Yeah, that part does intrigue me.

>>Can the selected/clicked points location data be automatically exported and
>>incremented on a point by point basis to a .XLS formatted/compatible
>>spreadsheet showing lat, lon, distance to reference, and bearing to 0.5
>>deg?

 Sorta.
 The draw file export function DOES export a tab-delimited text file compatible
 with any text editor or spreadsheet worth a damn.

 Auto increment - NO.
 XLS format - NO. Tab delimited text. I think Excel can do that ?
 lat lon, you betcha ! YES !
 Distance to reference - NO. ( not without extra gyrations. Actually it can, yes, as part of the tag )
 Bearing to anything - NO. ( but you can also put that in a tag manually )

>>Will it also export a description of the point to the nearest corner 
>>or such to the same spreadsheet? 

 IF you type it into a tag, yes.

>>Then allow the same sanitized spreadsheet 
>>as well as straight line radials be reloaded back into the program to
>>create the necessary maps for filing?

 Absolutely !!

>>Can it create different point icons 
>>(circle, square, triangle, hexegon, etc) for different "layers" or runs?

 Yes, and no, sorta. Cost extra, and depends on which version.

>>Will it also allow a title box to be created?

 Unknown. Never tried.

>>Curious minds planning proofs want to know...

 Were I you, I'd ( which I did ) buy the cheapest release you can find of a Delorme
 product. ( Note that Street Atlas 2006 needs XP, while the same thing in 2005 runs
 on Win9x )
 Plug in the GPS you already have ( Delorme can accomodate several directly, and 
 anything that can do standard NMEA text output (( which should be ALL ))  ) and go
 for a drive. Play with it.
 For the $50 for Street Atlas, it's not much cash, and you'll love it for general
 navigation anywhere you haven't been before, even if it doesn't work for you
 as far as a formal proof.

-- 
Cowboy

http://cowboys.homeip.net

What is this talk of 'release'? Klingons do not
make software 'releases'. Our software 'escapes'
leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality
assurance people in its wake.