[Xastir] Maps Offline?

[Kurt Savegnago]

   I've downloaded the maps and set them up in /usr/local/share/xastir/maps/GPS.  I use the ftp://aprs.tamu.edu/pub/TIGER_2006_SE/ files as they are already setup for Xastir use.  I stick'em in the directory then unzip them.  They are ready to go right away.  I know, not the latest and the greatest but the simplest to setup in my opinion.  Trying to download the latest Tiger maps is a pain.  Try to do each individual county and when I did it, I got a jumbled mess.
   The OSM maps are great and get downloaded and used only if one has live internet access.  Yeah they get cached to the machine but without internet
access one can't use them again.  In otherwords, it's impossible to download the maps with varying resolutions directly and use them again without an internet connection.  Try it and you'll get a blank screen.
   That, I think, is the biggest thing hobbling the program.
   A windows program called USAPhotoMaps will download aerial photos or
topography maps. One can be online and download the maps at varying resolutions which get stored in cache and then one can use them without
an internet connection at a later time.  Works under WINE and a TNC-X.
The photos are a bit dated but for tracking R/C models and amateur rockets,
not such a bad deal.
  Now if Xastir could be made to download the OSM maps while using them
(at varying resolutions) and then allow access to them from cache without an internet connection, that would be kicking A--!
  Don't get me wrong.  I really, really like Xastir and if it was a piece of cake getting all the different types of maps out there to be used
(like I see others do) I'd like it all the better.  BTW, I installed 1.99
on a Slack machine and I compiled all the code from scratch.  Stuck everything in there.  I kept pulling and installing code like gdal and when I got down with ./configure, I perused what it told me was in my machine, and if I didn't have it, I went out and got it.  Keep doing a make clean and when I saw all the different display supports were there, 
I did the make and make install.

                                       Kurt KC9LDH

--- On Sat, 9/18/10, Eldon Brown <eldonb46 at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Eldon Brown <eldonb46 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Xastir] Maps Offline?
> To: Xastir at lists.xastir.org
> Date: Saturday, September 18, 2010, 6:47 AM
> As a Newbie, it is my understanding
> that; one of the reasons that "Xastir"
> is useful and necessary for plotting APRS is that it can
> access locally
> stored maps (that were download while online) making them
> viewable while
> offline.
> 
> The  problem (as I see it) I do not know "how to know"
> which maps (and at
> what "zoom level") I have downloaded until it is too late
> and offline :-(
>  What I get is a big RED area for missing map sections.
> 
> Note, as a Newbie, I may be using Xastir wrong or lack
> understanding, and
> maybe there is already a solution to this - if so, please
> help.
> 
> I have tried to zoom and pan to as many location that I
> think I may "need"
> while offline, but inevitable I have found that I missed
> many
> maps sections at a different zoom level that I  could
> use.
> 
> Is there a way to shade missing map sections for one (or
> two) higher zoom
> levels above the current displayed level?  If so, I
> could easily ensure that
> I have down loaded the maps that I plan to use while
> offline.
> 
> Thanks,
> Eldon - WA0UWH
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