[NLRS] for Aurora

[John P. Toscano]

Dave Aho - N9TTX wrote:
> 
> Here's a weird wanted item.
> 
>    I am looking for a large MN and WI map  with the
> Grid squares superimposed on them.  Anyone have
> something like this with the streets and
> highways...not just a geographical map.  Basically
> looking for EN28 thru EN23/EN68 square.  or some such
> thing for roving in June.  Also if anyone has a CD of
> "Roverlog" I need it for the laptop.
> 
>      Dave...N9TTX

Dave:

How large is "large"?  Seems it would need to be monstrously large to 
cover that area with street level detail.  Do you plan to use it to 
wallpaper your shack, or were you thinking you could fold it up and 
carry it around with you as a rover?

Recent versions of Delorme software (Topo USA, 3D TopoQuads, etc.) have 
a "tiled print" feature in which you can select a large area and have 
the software print it out on a single sheet, on a 2x2 array of sheets, 
or on a 3x3 array of sheets.  The latter would allow you to have a 25.5" 
x 33" map once you pasted the sheets together.  I don't think that at 
that magnification, you'd yet have much street-level detail.  But you 
could do that whole process 4 or 9 or 25 times, and create an ever 
larger mosaic of maps.

Oh, and by the way, before you start any printing, you would have to 
draw in the grid lines yourself, using the annotation tools that are 
included in the program.  The good news there is that you can draw lines 
by specifying lat/long of the endpoints, and so can create pretty 
accurate grid boxes with a bit of patience.

Getting back to reality, if the 3x3 mosaic of maps was good enough, 
Delorme used to have available a handy transparent plastic map holder 
thingie into which you could slip your 9 maps to make a large map with 
no gluing/taping/etc. and folded up neatly.  I don't know if they still 
have them.

Another thought, inspired by a previous Aurora presentation on roving. 
You are wanting to cover an area of 5 x 6 = 30 grids.  Perhaps you could 
print out 30 maps, one of each grid.  Or better yet, since rovers often 
are concerned about grid corners, there would be 20 grid "corners" 
inside that area (4 x 5 of them for 5 x 6 grids), and you could print 
out 20 maps centered on the GRID CORNER.  In any case, when you had your 
maps all printed, you could put them in a 3-ring binder and flip to the 
page of interest.

If you decide to go this (Delorme software) route, you will be best off 
with TopoUSA with a single DVD holding the entire USA.  The 3D TopoQuads 
would require buying one DVD or one set of CD's per state, and your area 
of interest includes MN, WI, IA, MI, and IL if I'm not mistaken. And 
don't worry, they are not ONLY topographic maps, they also have very 
detailed street-level detail if you zoom in enough.

We have some folks on this list who are even more infatuated with maps 
than I am, and they could probably point you to a source of large-size 
maps, but my guess is that you would not find one with Maidenhead Grid 
Squares printed on them, since it is my understanding (or possibly, my 
mis-understanding) that the Maidenhead Grid Square system was a Ham 
Radio invention across the pond years ago, and not a "mainstream 
cartography". OTOH, it's sufficiently mainstream that Garmin includes it 
in most of their modern GPS receivers...  In any event, I suppose if you 
found a good map or set of maps, you could draw in the grid squares 
yourself if the map(s) had lat/long markers on it/them.

Good luck.
W0JT, John