On Mon, November 29, 2004 5:04 pm, jon@dakota-truck.net said:
>
> I don't know how up to date it is, since I bought it a couple
> of years ago, but I do have Topo USA, and I have the data discs
> for the entire US. I actually just got a mailer from Delorme
> about the new version, so I know the latest version is out, and
> is one step above the one I have. (I haven't studied it real
> hard yet to see what the differences are though.)
There's a convenient comparison:
http://www.4x4books.com/maptable.htm
Looks like if you can live with coverage of only a single state, you can
get much more detail. There are a couple of competing products.
We have the Garmin MapSource Topo USA. I think I said before we had
Delorme software, I meant Garmin.
> As far as downloading maps to
> a GPS, I'm not sure. I want to say that it can, but I really don't
> know. (More research is required.) :-)
>From what I can see of the options listed on the page I linked to, none of
them can do this except the MapSource software we already have.
I'm just not crazy about the idea of balancing a laptop in the cab of the
truck while driving. Might be just me, though.
> That would work, assuming there is enough space for the software
> of course.
>From what I can tell, it runs mostly from CD or DVD anyway. Our laptop
has a 40G drive which is usually about full, but can be cleaned off
easily.
> Sweet! :-) (Though that would probably put you back in the midst
> of all the screaming children?) ;-) Pringles antenna? :-)
Hmmm... I wonder if they secure it and only allow access to paying
customers. That would imply a certain level of competence, wouldn't it.
> Topozone.com perhaps? (I just stumbled across that one the other
> day via geocaching.com, I haven't used it to any great extent.)
That was it. I remember thinking it was pretty cool several years ago
when I found it. Looks like they figured out they can charge subscription
money. I'm not sure if the free stuff is as good as what I remember, I'll
have to mess around with it and see what I can figure out.
> I can probably scare up a printer to bring along.
I'm hoping someone out there might have a portable printer designed for
laptop use. That would be easier to transport.
> I could
> possibly put together a computer that would be dedicated to running the
> topo software, with an attached printer, etc. but I don't know if I
> have a computer I could actually send along that is powerful enough
> to run the software.
Don't worry about it. Our laptop is actually the most powerful computer
we have, I'm sure it'll be sufficient. 3D acceleration and everything.
All we'll need to do is clear off a bit of hard drive space, won't be an
issue. With this crowd, I can't imagine computing resources being in
short supply :-).
> Good question. It always seems to be split. I assume CB would have
> better range if we were in the mountains? Then again, we probably
> wouldn't
> be terribly far apart. I just mentioned the FRS since I do have some
> spare radios that can be distributed.
Probably not a question we can figure out right now, but it would be a
good thing to standardize before making any group day trips in convoy,
just to make sure we can all talk to each other.
-- Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Burlington, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black
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