+Spoo Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 (edited) OK....I have been out of things for a few months given the New England weather, so maybe there is a thread on this that I have missed. DeLorme supplies NGS Benchmark maps. Very cool. http://www.delorme.com/professional/benchmarks/default.asp Spoo edited for content Edited April 14, 2005 by Spoo Quote Link to comment
ArtMan Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Good find. Apparently well done, though at $40/state in most cases, it can get pricey if you travel a lot. I do pretty well with USAPhotoMaps and imported .GPX files, which also gives you benchmarks displayed on aerial photos. One nice touch on the DeLorme product - what looks like different markers for horizontal and vertical control. -ArtMan- Quote Link to comment
+bicknell Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Loudoun County Virginia sells a wall sized print of all NGS benchmarks in the county for $10 at the clerks office. We got ours for free as it was smudged in one corner. Look like good maps though, handy for route planning. I like them in MapSource though as I use different icons for found, not found, note, and destoryed. Quote Link to comment
+TetrAmigos Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 That's pretty cool. I download data from NGS and convert it to a GPX file, which I then convert to a Mapopolis file so I can see each waypoint on my moving map as I drive. Very useful. Quote Link to comment
mrh - terre haute Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 USAPhotomaps will also display .gpx waypoints on topoquads and it is interactive with gps. Pretty cool. Welcome back Spoo. mrh Quote Link to comment
+BilboB Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 That is very handy, and even better that I get 2 states (VT/NH) for the price of 1. Quote Link to comment
+BuckBrooke Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Well, I would have to get two maps out of it. Quote Link to comment
avalon01 Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Stupid newbie question: where do you get the .GPX files to import into Photomaps? Av. Quote Link to comment
+TetrAmigos Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Geocaching.com Pocket Queries. $3 a month membership to get access. Quote Link to comment
ArtMan Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Stupid newbie question: where do you get the .GPX files to import into Photomaps? Piece o' cake. You need a program called BMGPX, which you can download from Ron Parker's "Fuzzy's Geocaching Page o' Wonders". This very small program (zip download is only 12K) will extract the needed information from a DAT file and format it as a GPX file. DAT files can be downloaded for any county in the country from the NGS website. Easiest way to use it is to unzip the download, then drop-n-drag a DAT file onto BMGPX.EXE. In a few seconds you'll have a GPX file to be imported into USAPhotoMaps. The GPX file will be quite large because each PID will have a lot of imported data fields. Here's an ArtMan hint: once you have your benchmarks displayed in USAPhotoMaps, move one of the dots slightly — perhaps to slide a mark to coincide with the representation on the map. Once you make a change, USAPhotoMaps will rewrite the GPX file, but it will strip away all the unneeded fields an leave you with a lean, quick-loading file. Example, using Charlottesville city, VA The DAT file is 57K The GPX file is 85K The GPX file is 3K after unneeded fields are deleted, as described above. What unneeded fields? Here's an original GPX entry for one PID in RED, followed by the stripped-down version in GREEN: <wpt lat="38.028611" lon="-78.476944"> <time>2005-04-22T22:58:10Z</time> <name>HW0449</name> <desc>455.68</desc> <url>http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=HW0449</url> <urlname>455.68</urlname> <sym>Geocache</sym> <type>Geocache</type> <Groundspeak:cache id="-2040449" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:Groundspeak="http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0"> <Groundspeak:name>455.68</Groundspeak:name> <Groundspeak:placed_by>USGS</Groundspeak:placed_by> <Groundspeak:owner id="0"></Groundspeak:owner> <Groundspeak:type>Unknown Cache</Groundspeak:type> <Groundspeak:container>Regular</Groundspeak:container> <Groundspeak:difficulty>1</Groundspeak:difficulty> <Groundspeak:terrain>1</Groundspeak:terrain> <Groundspeak:country>United States</Groundspeak:country> <Groundspeak:state>Virginia</Groundspeak:state> <Groundspeak:short_description html="True">NGS Datasheet</Groundspeak:short_description> <Groundspeak:long_description html="True"> <h1>455.68</h1> <b> PID </b> HW0449 <br> <b> STATE/COUNTY</b> VA/C OF CHARLOTTESVILLE <br> <b> USGS QUAD </b> CHARLOTTESVILLE EAST (1997) <br> <p> <h2>Current Survey Control</h2> <hr> <b> NAD 83(1986)</b> 38 01 43. (N) 078 28 37. (W) SCALED <br> <b> NAVD 88 </b> 138.608 (meters) 454.75 (feet) ADJUSTED <br> <hr> <b> GEOID HEIGHT</b> -32.53 (meters) GEOID03 <br> <b> DYNAMIC HT </b> 138.512 (meters) 454.43 (feet) COMP <br> <b> MODELED GRAV</b> 979,937.8 (mgal) NAVD 88 <br> <p> <b> VERT ORDER </b> SECOND CLASS 0 <br> <p>The horizontal coordinates were scaled from a topographic map and have an estimated accuracy of +/- 6 seconds. <p>The orthometric height was determined by differential leveling and adjusted by the National Geodetic Survey in June 1991. <p>The geoid height was determined by GEOID03. <p>The dynamic height is computed by dividing the NAVD 88 geopotential number by the normal gravity value computed on the Geodetic Reference System of 1980 (GRS 80) ellipsoid at 45 degrees latitude (g = 980.6199 gals.). <p>The modeled gravity was interpolated from observed gravity values. <p> <table border=1><tr><td> </td><td> North </td><td> East </td><td> Units</td><td> Estimated Accuracy</td></tr><tr><td>SPC VA S </td><td> 1,188,140. </td><td> 3,502,020. </td><td> MT</td><td> (+/- 180 meters Scaled)</td></tr> </table> <p> <h2>Superseded Survey Control</h2> <p> NGVD 29 (??/??/92) 138.851 (m) 455.55 (f) ADJ UNCH 2 0 <br> <p>Superseded values are not recommended for survey control. NGS no longer adjusts projects to the NAD 27 or NGVD 29 datums. See file dsdata.txt to determine how the superseded data were derived. <p> <h2>Marker Information</h2>U.S. NATIONAL GRID SPATIAL ADDRESS: 17SQC214119(NAD 83) <br>MARKER: Q = CHISELED SQUARE <br>SETTING: 30 = COPING <br>STABILITY: D = MARK OF QUESTIONABLE OR UNKNOWN STABILITY <br> </table> <p> <h2>History</h2><table border=1><tr><td>Date </td><td>Condition </td><td>Report By</td></tr><tr><td>UNK </td><td>MONUMENTED </td><td>USGS</td></tr><tr><td>1935 </td><td>GOOD </td><td>NGS</td></tr> </table> <p> <h2>STATION DESCRIPTION </h2> <p>DESCRIBED BY NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY 1935 AT CHARLOTTESVILLE. AT CHARLOTTESVILLE, ALBEMARLE COUNTY, ABOUT 300 FEET SOUTHEAST OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY STATION, AT THE SOUTH END OF THE CROSSING OF THE LONG STATE HIGHWAY 239 BRIDGE, ON THE TOP OF THE EAST CONCRETE COPING OF THE APPROACH, AND 1.5 FEET FROM THE SOUTH END. A CHISELED SQUARE. </Groundspeak:long_description> <Groundspeak:encoded_hints /> <Groundspeak:logs /> <Groundspeak:travelbugs /> </Groundspeak:cache> </wpt> <wpt lat="38.028611" lon="-78.476944"> <name>HW0449</name> <desc>455.68</desc> <sym>Geocache</sym> </wpt> Here's the text of the Readme file — The purpose of this program is to convert the .dat files available from the National Geodetic Survey to GPX files that can be read by the many free programs that are available to geocachers. This program is a command-line program, so you should be familiar with the command prompt. *** TO INSTALL: Just put the file bmgpx.exe somewhere in your path. *** TO USE: Before using this program, you need a .dat file. To get a .dat file, use your web browser to go to http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/datasheet.prl , click on the "ARCHIVED DATASHEETS" button, then click on the "YEARLY_ARCHIVES" button. Select your state and click "GET COUNTY ARCHIVES". Select the county you want and in what format you want to receive the data, then click the "Download File" button. When you have the file, uncompress it if necessary. Now you're ready to use bmgpx. If I've downloaded the .dat file for Allen County, Indiana, I would type this: bmgpx in003.dat allen_bm.gpx in003.dat is the name of the .dat file I downloaded from the NGS website. allen_bm.gpx could be any name, but I chose one that tells me what's in the file. Now I can use allen_bm.gpx with EasyGPS, GPSBabel, Watcher, or any other program that can work with gpx files. For more detailed usage information, including hints on usage with Unix pipes, type "bmgpx -h" Starting with version 1.06, bmgpx will automatically generate an output filename from the input filename if you provide only the input filename. Previous versions would write the output to standard output. If you were counting on the old behavior, you'll have to use shell redirection to achieve the desired result: bmgpx <in003.dat This change allows bmgpx to be used as a drop target. Just drag a .dat file and drop it on the bmgpx icon and it'll automatically generate a .gpx file in the directory where the .dat file is. Quote Link to comment
mloser Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Excellent tutorial Artman! I already do all that, albeit slightly differently, but I rely heavily on USAPhotoMaps for my pre-trip research. And I even sent in a donation, which I recommend for anyone who uses it with any regularity. Quote Link to comment
mrh - terre haute Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 EasyGPS also has the option to output .gpx files Quote Link to comment
avalon01 Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Thanks ArtMan! That was an excelent primer, and I was able to import the .DAT files into PhotoMaps. Av. Quote Link to comment
Dan Vull Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 The Geodetic Surveys Department in VT allows you to download the shape files for all geodetic control in the state (h&v) then if you utilize the free ARC View software from ESRI you can querry each mark. Kind of nice and kind of free. Quote Link to comment
+Klemmer Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I was struck by the bucks that Delorme is charging for data available for free from NGS. Looks like $39.95 per state (or partial state for big ones). OK, you would have to download each county DAT file and convert it to GPX files (which I have one for the 4 -5 counties around me). But - wow!! Serious money for taxpayer owned data. I wonder if they get many takers. By the way I use Delorme TopoQuads. Works quite well. I also use Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) software to go from the GPX to a Delorme format .txt file that will import into TopoQuads. Summary: NGS .dat file -> BMGPX -> .gpx file -> GSAK -> .txt file -> Delorme TopoQuads Gives you whole counties at a time, onto genuine USGS 7.5 minute topo maps. I also get files from GSAK for my Palm T3 PDA (Cachemate), and direct write file for my Magellan Meridian (SDD card writer, very fast). Ditto for caches from PQ's. Anyone needs details, email me thru GC.com Klemmer Quote Link to comment
mrh - terre haute Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I was struck by the bucks that Delorme is charging for data available for free from NGS. Where do you get the free quads from USGS? The last time I ordered one it wound up costing about $15. Multiply that by 770 quads for Indiana and you have some serious $$$$$$. Sent me scrambling for USAPhotomaps Quote Link to comment
holograph Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 You can download a lot of quads free in the form of scanned images. See http://www.holoscenes.com/special/drg_sources.html Quote Link to comment
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