One alternative to online maps is the series of map books that DeLorme puts
out. They have one Atlas and Gazetteer for every state and cost around $20.
I have one for Wyoming and South Dakota and used them both whenever I went
out ther. Never steered me wrong when I started driving the fire roads. One
page opened will cover 26 miles vertically by 40 miles horizontally over two
pages (using Wyoming book as a map. The entire state takes 71 pages. South
Dakota takes 72 pages.
Whenever I'm going somewhere, I will never go without first buying one of
thse books. They're a great lifesaver. They show fire roads, telephone and
railroad lines, creeks, lakes, towns, campgroupds and hiking trails.
-- Chris Reck Bloomington, IL'99 Dakota Sport + CC 4x4 V6 (Deep Amethyst) Shaved and polished V8 TB, Autolite 3923, 180 Thermostat, 7.5mm Bosch plug wires, Custom K&N 6x9 air intake, Rancho RSX shocks, Pioneer full audio system, Jet Stage 1 Chip, BF Goodrich 32x11.5r15 T/A KO tires
""Jason Bleazard"" <dml@bleazard.net> wrote in message news:4724.199.64.0.252.1101772822.squirrel@janor.ath.cx... > > 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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