[Scan-DC] New Mapping Feature

[Lou Campagna]

As a scanner buff I have always thought that we were a 
resourceful group of hobbyists. Take a look in any serious 
scanner monitor's shack and you'll find computers, books, 
maps, notes, emergency contact numbers and whatever else 
deemed appropriate to make our listening hobby a bit more 
enjoyable.

With this being said I have an extensive listing of maps that 
cover the Philadelphia metro area. I'm partial to the ADC line of 
maps since there are easy-to-read and happen to be updated 
more frequently than the others. Some needed replacement 
since they have literally worn out.

While doing some investigation work while monitoring an event 
yesterday, I took a chance and gave Google a shot at looking 
up an address for me. I had no idea what township or county 
the event was taking place in so I typed in the address in the 
Google search window and proceeded to click "map".

I knew what to expect as far as mapping information goes but I 
was surprised to see that Google had added an additional 
feature to their mapping program. Normally you can view MAP 
(obvious), SATELLITE (photo), or HYBRID (photo with map 
overlay).

Yesterday I noticed "TRAFFIC" as a clickable feature and to 
my amazement a real-time traffic information was placed as an 
overlay over the image I was already viewing. A very simplistic 
indicators showing GREEN, AMBER, RED to indicate the 
current traffic conditions over the roadway being viewed.

As an added note this additional traffic information is only 
available in those areas already equipped with roadside 
sensors. Obviously this TRAFFIC feature will yield no results if 
you live outside the major metropolitan areas.

After a bit more investigation, I came to find out the our own 
locally-based www.Traffic.com was recently acquired by 
Navteq. By the way Navteq is the engine powering the Google 
mapping program.

It looks like this new technology is making headway into 
everyday use. Hope to someday see little icons showing fire, 
police and EMS events as an overlay in the near future 
specifically for scanner buffs. Wow, you can someday view a 
map on an area of interest and see live weather data, real-time 
traffic, icons blinking indicating events (maybe click on these 
items and hear streaming audio pertaining to event too!) and 
whatever additional information the user desires to see.

Looks like the technology and the application is REALLY 
coming together. Looking forward to seeing some really 
intuitive computer apps being integrated into the scanning 
hobby!

I'm interested in any other tips and tricks scanner enthusiasts 
are utilizing to enhance their scanning pleasure. Comments 
are welcome to the board or privately. Enjoy!


Lou Campagna
Starion1 at email.com