New BLM Maps

The following BLM 100K maps are being processed (Feb 4, 2008):

• El Centro CA
• Carbondale CO
• Montrose CO
• Two Buttes Reservoir CO
• Palisades ID
• Billings MT
• Hardin MT
• Harlowton MT
• Philipsburg MT
• Winifred MT
• Carson City NV
• Deming NM
• Hobbs NM
• Riverton WY

They are not on the mapserver yet and BLM 100Ks take longer to process than quads, so look for digitals in a week or so.

M

New in AllTopo: Arbitrary Griding

Lets say you are laying out a grid of mining claims and they are 600 feet wide and 1500 feet high. You want to build a grid of claims five wide and 4 high, and you want to align the center claim along a load-bearing claim that lays along a line N 32 14 00 E.

You could do this using the mouse-driven projection tool, or with '@' blocks in the source editor, but AllTopo now supports adding this block directly using the Arch-Grid Tool.

As an added and needed complication, you can choose the projection to project over (from Great Circle (Lat/Lon), State Plane Grid or UTM Grid); the North Reference used as a basis of bearings (True North, State Plane Grid North, UTM Grid North or Magnetic North). Cell sizes can be specified in any valid AllTopo unit (Feet, Survey Feet, Yards, Meters, Rods, Chains, Links, Poles/Pearch, Nautical Miles, Varas, Varas Conoquera and Varas Castallana). (whew...!)

This latest version is available from this location:
http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/beta/justatm_b7479.exe

Latest Software Versions

The latest full software release is Build 7455. Beta software which adds new functionality is typically always available.

For the record, these are the latest (beta) software versions and notes on how to best implement them.

0. If you are interested, you can read about enhancements here [ http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/versioninformation/AllTopoVersion.html ]

1. From the main AllTopo map viewer window, look at the title bar (the top-most place on the viewer window.) The 'Build' number will be displayed within parenthesis: (Build 7432). Now, close the AllTopo viewer, the GPS tool and BigTopo.

2. If the build number is less than 7455, first update with this link: [ http://www.igage.com/ms/atmv7pro/setupv7sa.exe ]

3. Next update the viewer with this link: [ http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/beta/justatm_b7478.exe ]

4. Finally update the GPS tool with this link: [ http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/beta/justgps_b7511.exe ]

Nov 23 2007: 23 New Maps added to V7

The following 23 quadrangle maps were released this morning (Friday):

200711; Alexander; ID; 2005; o42111f6_fd
200711; Canaan Peak; UT; 2002; o37111e7_fa
200711; Egan Basin; ID; 2005; o42111a5_fd
200711; Flake Mountain West; UT; 2002; o37112g2_fa
200711; Grace; ID; 2005; o42111e6_fd
200711; Mapleton; ID; 2005; o42111a6_fd
200711; Mc Leod Basin; MT; 2000; o45110e2_fa
200711; Midnight Mtn; ID; 2005; o42111c5_fd
200711; Mink Creek; ID; 2005; o42111b6_fd
200711; North Canyon; ID; 2005; o42111d5_fd
200711; Nounan; ID; 2005; o42111d4_fd
200711; Oneida Narrows Reservoir; ID; 2005; o42111c6_fd
200711; Ovid; ID; 2005; o42111c4_fd
200711; Paris Peak; ID; 2005; o42111b5_fd
200711; Paris; ID; 2005; o42111b4_fd
200711; Pollock; LA; 2003; o31092e4_fa
200711; Ringgold; OH; 2002; o39081e8_fa
200711; Rokeby Lock; OH; 2002; o39081f8_fa
200711; Round Bottom; OH,WV; 2002; o39080f8_fa
200711; Saint Charles; ID,UT; 2005; o42111a4_fd
200711; Soda Peak; ID; 2005; o42111e5_fd
200711; Thatcher; ID; 2005; o42111d6_fd
200711; Wheeler Mountain; MT; 2000; o45111e1_fa

are now available for use by AllTopo V7 customers via internet download.

To update your local list, from the main menu of the AllTopo V7 map viewer select "Updates: Update New Map List From Web...".

The Triton

Wow, the Magellan consumer GPS receiver 'Triton' is going to be the blow out GPS for 2007:

• 1/4 VGA Color Touchscreen
• 2 megapixel Camera
• 4-gig SD Card
• Flashlight
• tiltable Compass
• Voice Recorder
• support for Raster Images

I don't have one yet, so I don't know what the user interface is like but raster image support is the holy-grail of GPS from my perspective.

Hopefully you will be able to take a picture, have the picture time-stamped, location-stamped, azimuth-stamped and perhaps tilt-stamped.

If the raster image support is as good as the raster image support on the ProMark3 Survey Receiver, then the Triton will be the bomb.

I can't wait till I get mine!

All Topo V7 New Beta Software: Build 7477

Another beta software release is available. I would caution that this really is beta software... there may be unintended consequences … that said, the beta’s are typically more reliable than the full releases.

The current released software is Build 7455. The current beta release is Build 7477. You can read about all the enhancements at:
http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/versioninformation/AllTopoVersion.html

One issue that is address in the latest beta is: “No Disk in Drive” windows error messages.

You can download a signed-self-extracting install tool from:
http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/beta/justatm_b7477.exe

The latest GPS tool (Build 7511) is available from:
http://www.igage.com/out/atmv7/beta/justgps_b7511.exe

If you have not already updated to build 7455, you might consider doing so
http://www.igage.com/ms/atmv7pro/setupv7sa.exe
before or after you download the beta. (The order of installation does not matter.)

And finally if you update, you might notice that there is a full legend tool included in AllTopo. You won't figure out how to use this tool by messing around with it, but if you have a broadband connection you can watch this movie:
http://www.igage.com/out/atm101/CH27_Legends.wmv
which should help. The windows movie file is 250 megabytes long, best to save it to disk, then watch it from disk.

698 New Maps Released - Fri Nov 9 2007 2:20 PM MST

698 additional maps have been released into the V7 Professional Series for web download!

Complete lists can be found at
By MapName:
http://www.igage.com/out/maplists/20071109/MapList.html
By State, MapName:
http://www.igage.com/out/maplists/20071109/StateList.html

These are updated FSSE sourced maps and include veg layers. Some of these maps do not (yet) exist as purchasable paper, others have already been released, sourced from Igage scans of released USGS paper maps.

To update your local list, from the main menu of the AllTopo V7 map viewer select "Updates: Update New Map List From Web...".

Bad Douglas 100K Map in Wyoming

It was recently noticed that the "Douglas Wyoming, 100K 2005" BLM Edition (Filename F42105E1_IM.IP5) had bad georeference information. The map has been replaced on our server.

You can download an updated copy in the AllTopo V7 viewer by opening the Douglas map, select "Updates: Choose Map Revision", select and display the OrgDist version, then select "Updates: Choose Map Revision" again, uncheck the 'simplify' checkbox at the bottom, then choose the IM version from the web and download the map again.

Thanks to MikeJ for finding this issue!

Updated Map Lists

We really jump through hoops to acquire new topographic paper maps as they are produced. I won't bore you with how we figure out that a new map has been produced, but I will admit that we can and do miss new maps.

There is a pretty good description of the process at http://www.igage.com/how_all_topo_maps_are_made.htm

If you think that there is a new map that we don’t have, please call us and we will get right on the case. We can usually get maps and have them online within 2 weeks. Once we get the map processed, you can download the updated map to your V7 AllTopo map set using "Updates: Update 'New Map List' From Web". Then when you view a map, a list of available versions can be displayed using "Updates: Choose Map Revision..."

We used to guard our updated map lists as a company secret, but I have decided to make our lists available for you to checkout. Here are links to the lists (updated Friday Nov 2 2007) One note, these lists are huge (1 meg +) and will take a few moments to download:

By scan date: http://www.igage.com/out/maplists/DateList.HTML
By State, Map Name: http://www.igage.com/out/maplists/StateList.HTML
By Map Name: http://www.igage.com/out/maplists/MapList.HTML

Again, if you know of a map we don't have, please let us know about it.

New USGS and BLM Map Updates: Nov 2007

These map titles have been scanned, reprojected, color normalized and added to the web update tool:

ACOMA PUEBLO 100K NM 2007
AHWAHNEE CA 2004
ALAMO SPRING AZ,MX 2004
AUBERRY CA 2004
BALLOON DOME CA 2004
BASS LAKE CA 2004
BATTLESHIP ROCK SD 2005
BLACKCAP MTN CA 2004
BOB THOMPSON PEAK AZ, MX 2004
BUCKINGHAM MTN CA 2004
CASCADEL POINT CA 2004
CATTLE MTN CA 2004
CYPRESS BUTTE AZ 2004
DINKEY CREEK CA 2004
DUCHESNE 100K UT 2006
DUQUESNE AZ, MX 2004
EL CAPITAN CA 2004
ELLISTON 100K MT 2007
HAY CREEK SD 2005
HELLS CANYON SD 2005
HUNTINGTON LAKE CA 2004
IRISH BUTTE SD 2005
J B HILL SD 2005
J K BUTTE SD 2005
KINO SPRINGS AZ, MX 2004
LAME DEER 100K MT 2007
LOCHIEL AZ, MX 2004
MAMMOTH POOL DAM CA 2004
MARIPOSA GROVE CA 2004
MILLERTON LAKE EAST CA 2004
MONTEZUMA PASS AZ,MX 2004
MOREAU PEAK SD 2005
MOUNT LYELL CA 2004
MT ABBOT CA 2004
MT GIVENS CA 2004
MT GODDARD CA 2004
MT HENRY CA 2004
MT HILGARD CA 2004
MT RITTER CA 2004
MUSICK MTN CA 2004
NAVAJO RESERVOIR 100K NM,CO 2007
NELSON MTN CA 2004
NORTH SLICK CREEK MT,SD 2005
NORTH SLICK CREEK MT,SD 2005
PAJARITO PEAK AZ, MX 2004
PATTERSON MTN CA 2004
PIYAU DOME, CA CA 2004
ROUGH SPUR CA 2004
ROVER PEAK AZ 2004
RUBY AZ, MX 2004
SHAVER LAKE CA 2004
SHEEP MOUNTAIN SD 2005
SHUTEYE PEAK CA 2004
SLIDE BLUFFS CA 2004
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS 100K CO 2007
TEHIPITE DOME CA 2004
TIMBER KNOB CA 2004
TRIMMER CA 2004
WALDEN 100K CO 2007
WARD MOUNTAIN CA 2004
WAWONA CA 2004
WHITE CHIEF MOUNTAIN CA 2004

DeedPlotter+ Verticies Exported to Shapefiles

At the request of Mike Johnson, imported DeedPlotter+ DXF vertices are now exported to polygon shapefiles. The output includes rotation and scaling.

You might think that you could just convert the DeedPlotter+ output files directly to a shapefile, or that DeedPlotter could just directly write the shapefiles. You would be wrong: Shapefiles need to fully qualify exact coordinates.

AllTopo does a good job with scale, rotation (basis of bearings) and insertion points. AllTopo already knows how to export shapefiles. So AllTopo is a good candidate to make the conversion.

This enhancement should be fairly transparent for all users. Existing AllTopo projects with DeedPlotter+ elements can be exported to shapefiles (Annotations: Import/Export: Export Shapefile) and the DeedPlotter+ element will be exported out with any other polygons.