[Xastir] Using GeoPDF maps experience

[Kurt]

Hey,
  Your esteemed script kiddie here KC9LDH to post on the experience of getting the USGS topo maps readable and working with Xastir.  Lee, K5DAT, figuratively held my hand and led me when I couldn't get the script written correctlyfor Ubuntu 14.04.    Ran the script, got the maps in /usr/local/share/xastir/maps where the ole' Cloudmade maps from 2008 reside.The map conversion wasn't too bad with the old dual core laptop I am running as a trial machine time wise.  Been a loooooooooooong............ time since this script kiddie messed with the maps.  I have one machine where the old 2006 Tiger maps live and one with the 2008 Cloudmade version.  If I would have known then they were going away,would'a made an effort to get more states as opposed to a few states in the midwest where I reside.  I concentrated on getting the "now" geotiff maps displayed and succeeded.  I see where Lee suggests using a machinewith "processing" power to use this as it takes awhile to get them loaded by Xastir on the old dual core.  Once in and up, I like them though they are best usedzoomed in a bit.  I downloaded the 7.5 X 7.5 grid maps.  I monitor a relatively small area for tracking amateur rockets and this is quite nice. Now have topo info so I know if the walk with be "uphill", "downhill" or "level". :-)
  Now for a little flavor, I selected both mapsets, the geotiff and 2008 Cloudmade to be displayed at once.  Yeah it can be done with some playing around with the parameters.  What I found out is the water features registration is "drop dead on".  I like the darker blue that the Cloudmade adds in some places.The major highways are also pretty darned well in registration.  The Cloudmade labels are helpful too.  The only thing that gets a little squirrely isthe local street registration is just a little bit off in some of the smaller towns.  Since the street lines in Cloudmade are so narrow, it's not so bad on the eyes.  If the combination of labels gets "too busy" and hard to read when zoomed down in a town for instance, just drop out the mapset you don't want to use at the moment.  It's great, one click in map chooser and the set you don't want is gone (temporarily of course).
This is a great option for topo maps but.........................when wanting to survey a broader area, I've found that a simpler map display is easier on the eyes.  It would be nice if a portable map solution could be found in the future that would simplify things for new users who would like to be able to use the program off the internet grid.  That's the Holy Grail.  That and not violating someone's copyright proclivities.
Thanks again Lee for that edited script.  You might want to make it available to others who mess up on modifying the stock one that comes with Xastir.
Kurt KC9LDHGoogle Maps APRS