[Xastir] Converting National Geographic Maps?

[Matt Werner]

The TOPO! CDs that I have are fairly easy to figure out.

Each map has it's own directory, with a format that is similar to what the
mapfgd.pl script takes (I haven't tried it, but I assume that it is the
same).  In each folder are small segments of the map, in .GIF.  Each segment
is numbered in their own numbering scheme, but if you look at a known map
vs. the map on the CD, it will take you all of about 30 seconds to figure it
out.

I want to write a script to generate .geo files for each piece, but have
been a little tied up lately.

73 - Matt

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Curt, WE7U" <archer at eskimo.com>
To: "Ran Talbott" <ran at netgate.net>
Cc: <xastir at xastir.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: [Xastir] Converting National Geographic Maps?


> On Mon, 8 Mar 2004, Ran Talbott wrote:
>
> > There's a tantalizing reference to converting Topo! maps for use by
> > Xastir in one of the webpages about using it,  but I haven't found any
> > other mention of that except an old note on the xastir-dev list about
> > the possibility of doing it someday.
>
> I need to track down that reference and kill it.  We probably won't
> be supporting any commercial map packages now or in the future
> unless we have agreements from them to do so.
>
>
> > Since I don't have a broadband connection,  I bought a copy of Backroads
> > Explorer,  hoping to either get it to run under WINE (it doesn't,
> > dammit),  or at least get a collection of usable maps on CD.
>
> Have you tried VMWare?  One of the free clones of the same?
> Commercial VMWare runs pretty much anything.  You just have to be
> willing to pay for it.  They have student discounts though.
>
>
> > I assume that BE is pretty much the same as Topo!,  but with 100K maps
> > instead of 24K.  So I'd really like to find out whether that conversion
> > program ever got done (or at least to the point where I could make it
> > usable without having to climb a long GIS learning curve).
>
> Well, most commercial map companies don't want you to read their
> formats, and if they're easily figured out, they probably will
> change their format.  TOPO! used to have an easy-to-figure-out
> format (as in no though required to do so).  They've changed it.
>
> What sorts of maps are you trying for?  What area?  U.S. or Canada?
> If so, there are free sources for what you're after.
>
> --
> Curt, WE7U     archer at eskimo dot com
> Arlington, WA, USA http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
> "Lotto:    A tax on people who are bad at math." -- unknown
> "Windows:  Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates." -- WE7U
> "The world DOES revolve around me:  I picked the coordinate system!"
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