[aprssig] USGS DLG CD for Florida?

[Arte Booten]

+============================================================================+
||>->-> When replying, remove "!rEm0vEn0sP at M!" from the reply address! <-<-<||
+============================================================================+
Hi all,

      Years ago the USGS published a series of CD's containing their  1:100,000
Digital Line Graph (Optional Format) map data.  This could be utilized by APRS
mapmakers to create detailed maps for the DOS version of APRS.   I have copies
of these disks for the northeast (which is where I'm from), and have made such
maps for Long Island, New York City and portions of New Jersey.  Unfortunately
these disks are no longer available, and I'd like to try to make some maps for
the Tampa area.   Maybe more later, as well ... if I can locate a copy of that
CD.  Does anyone have one that can make a copy for me?

      Apparently,  the data is supposed to be downloadable,  but I haven't been
able to do so.  When you go to their website, it says you need to wait for the
tape server to load ... which seems to take forever.

      Why do I want to make  maps for a dinosaur version of APRS?   Among other
reasons, APRSDos will run on literally any PC clone from 8088's up, with 486's
being the sweet spot for fast map loading.   Any old laptop you have gathering
dust can be  set up at a shelter or EOC in a deployment and utilized for APRS,
or other DOS-based packet programs.

      While many newer APRS clients have flashier maps,  interesting bells-and-
whistles and can interface with the internet,  APRSDos has many features which
no other client does.

      As the brainchild of Bob Bruninga WB4APR "The Father of APRS",  it's true
to his original concept of what APRS is about, namely that:

  "APRS is a real-time tactical digital communications protocol for exchanging
   information between a large number of stations covering a large local area."

It seems that much of this original concept  has been supplanted with the idea
that APRS' most useful - and, to many, sole - feature is to track vehicles and
other movable assets.   There are so many users that have never used APRS with
anything more than a self-contained box (Kenwood TM-D710, Yaesu FTM-350, Tiny-
Track, etc) and have never connected one to a computer, and ran an APRS client
on it to see some small part of what APRS is truly capable of!

      If, by creating some local maps, letting users dust off an old clunker so
they can get a taste of how APRS can be  utilized in tactical situations or in
a disaster scenario, then it'll be more than worth it to me.  And, I hope, the
Emergency Management infrastructure would also see its value to their efforts.

      So if anyone has a copy of that 1:100K DLG disk, please contact me.    73
+============================================================================+
||>->-> When replying, remove "!rEm0vEn0sP at M!" from the reply address! <-<-<||
+============================================================================+

+============================================================================+
||>->-> When replying, remove "!rEm0vEn0sP at M!" from the reply address! <-<-<||
+============================================================================+
| Mr. Arthur "Arte" Booten      Tampa, FL     <n2zrc!rEm0vEn0sP at M!@arrl.net> |
|   Cruise Missile Coordinates: 2756.75 N / 08228.79 W            [EL87sw]   |
|  PGP Key Fingerprint:  86B2 D349 8B94 3534 4FDA  B4CE C41A 4945 A16F 5A25  |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+