[at-l] Re: AT CD

["Cricket" <D_Blick@email.msn.com>]

I've got the AT Southern Region CD (Springer to Damascus) by MapTech.  There
are some good things about it and some things that I think could have been
done much better.  I'll go over both the good and bad as I have found it,
but since I have used it only a few times there may be things I am missing
or haven't figured out yet.  Overall, I think they are a pretty nice
planning tool and "wishful hiking" game.

Basically, the CD's consist of seamless, scrollable current 24K USGS topo
maps with the route of the AT added as a layer on top.  Campsites and scenic
views are also indicated as another layer (or perhaps it's the same layer as
the route.  You can't print individual layers - only no layers or all
layers - so it's hard to tell.)  You can click on segments of the trail and
pull up on a separate screen that section of the AT Guide Books.  You can
also do searches and "go tos" by town name, etc.  There are also tools so
you can add your own routes, points of interest, notes, etc. and determining
distance between points. You can zoom in and out several levels.  UTM grids
(for GPS) can be turned off and on. You can print sectional elevation
profiles of the AT route.  These things are all good and useful.

Things that could have been done better:  Print doesn't give you the same
image that shows on your screen. The built-in print preview shows the image
to be printed so small that you can't read the writing on the map so it's
hard to see exactly what area actually will be printed.  Although the
campsites and scenic views, etc. are shown as symbols on the map they are
not linked to any data about those things.  For example, it would be nice to
click on the symbol for Muskrat Creek Shelter and bring up info on Muskrat
Creek Shelter or at least be positioned to that portion of the sectional
information.  The profile maps have no labels attached to them other than
lat/long so if you print three of them say, you have no indication of which
one is which and you don't know the name of that *&%#%$@ 4,000 foot
mountain.  The profiles are not really generated from the AT route, but
rather the images have been "coded into" the sections.  Also, the profiles
print on approx the upper 1/4 of a page of paper and the rest of the page is
blank - no way to print multiple profiles on a page. The line indicating the
route of the AT does not correspond to the route indicated on the topo maps.
This is probably because the route on the topos is old, but there is no
documentation on how the AT route that is in the software was derived, so
you really don't know - probably from ortho quads, but it doesn't say.  The
interface is a little kludgy and non-intuitive at times.

Personally, I think the DeLorme CD's of the US are much better done and more
intuitive for Windows users, but they don't have the AT route marked on
them, you have to draw it in yourself.

I'd be interested in any other opinions and how others have used either of
the CD sets.

Cricket

>
> Has anyone tried the ATC's CD of the trail?  What did you think?
>
> t.



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