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The Insider
Where on Eartha?
December's Where on Eartha challenge brought a number of interesting responses including Hong Kong, Brunei, and Lesotho. The LandSat image in question actually shows a portion of northwestern Scotland where the ancient celebration of Hogmanay rings in the New Year. Congratulations to Daniel Wong from San Francisco, CA whose correct entry was the first pulled from the hat. Daniel will be receiving a copy of XMap 5.0 Professional along with the 2007 edition of XMap Street Level Data.
This month we visit an island that has been devastated by recent volcanic eruptions which have buried the island's capital and forced most of the population to flee. Name the island in the image and you could be the next winner of a copy of XMap 5.0 Professional. To enter, send your response to contest@delorme.com before January 31, 2007.
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Click here to order 3-D satellite imagery of the world for XMap. |
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XMap Developments
Introducing the DeLorme GPS2056 — DeLorme's OEM GPS Module
GPSmodulequarter.gif) DeLorme is pleased to announce its latest GPS product venture, the release of the GPS2056 OEM GPS Module for integration into new electronic systems.
The new DeLorme GPS module is a self-contained assembly of electronic components and circuitry that combines the elements necessary to receive GPS satellite signals and provide positional data for processing by a host computer (i.e., for display or logging). A module greatly simplifies the design of GPS-based equipment because it eliminates much of the overhead necessary to develop the receiver subsystem.
A typical GPS receiver requires a complex radio frequency (RF) front-end to isolate the GPS satellite signals. Once the signals are identified, the satellite can be locked and tracked by one of the multiple receiver channels. The position data is then transmitted to a host for further processing.
The GPS2056 module is based on the ST Microelectronics STA2056 chipset, providing excellent performance in a small 25 x 25mm footprint. The Module contains the entire GPS position engine, including LNA, SAW filter, STA2056 GPS receiver, oscillators, and power conditioning. Just add an external antenna, serial communications, and power source to produce GPS positional data.
The DeLorme GPS module combines all of the subsystems into one package, making it easy to add GPS position-based features to any electronic system. DeLorme’s GPS Modules are ideal for designers without extensive RF or GPS expertise, or with very tight time-to-market schedules where minimizing design risk is critical. OEMs with volumes that range from 1,000 to 100,000 units per year will find the module to be a compelling solution.
A GPS module is a perfect compliment to the DeLorme product portfolio. Already an industry leader in GPS receiver technology through DeLorme’s Earthmate GPS product series, the GPS Module enjoys a natural synergy with DeLorme GPS hardware, mapping software, and DeLorme’s extensive library of mapping data.
For more information, visit www.delorme.com/gpsmodules. |
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Tab Tip – Viewing MrSID files in XMap 5.0
Tab_Tip_MrSID.gif) When XMap 5.0 was in its design phase and a list of functional enhancements was being compiled, one of the first items on the list was support for MrSID files. MrSID, an acronym for Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database, is a highly compressed image format that was developed by LizardTech primarily for GIS applications. Because of the relatively small size of MrSID files, many agencies and organizations have adopted this format to make satellite and aerial imagery available for easy distribution and download. Users of XMap can now integrate these imagery files into their XMap projects.
MrSID support is available in XMap 5.0 Professional, XMap 5.0 GIS Editor, and XMap 5.0 GIS Enterprise and allows GIS administrators and field technicians to access the same imagery data. To import a MrSID file into XMap, click the Map Data tab and click the Data button on the right of the tab area. Choose Add and in the resulting dialog box, browse to the location of the MrSID (*.sid) file to be imported. The dialog box offers the option of adding the image file to either the primary or secondary maps or to both. This selection allows side-by-side views of an area, with imagery on one side and alternative base map on the other, or a 2-D view of the image in the Primary Map and 3-D view in the Secondary map. Click the Add button and the imagery will be positioned correctly in the selected map window.
By default, the image will appear on top of any DeLorme vector base map, such as USA Street Network or USA Topographic. However, it is possible to customize the layering sequence so that selected vector map features (roads, contours, etc.) appear on top of the image. In the Map Data tab, any imported MrSID files will be listed under the Raster Data tree view. Click on the plus sign to expand this list, right-click on the imported MrSID file name, and select Properties to adjust certain settings. Options in the resulting dialog box include establishing a transparent color (which is useful if there is a border around the image), selecting which components of the vector map appear on top of the image, and setting the zoom levels within which the imported image appears.
The ability to incorporate MrSID files is a significant reason to upgrade to the latest version of XMap. These image files are typically small enough so that a large coverage area can be easily stored on a hard drive, which is ideal for mobile applications. Using XMap, a field technician can now make use of DeLorme’s advanced navigation tools while following their course on a high-resolution aerial image.
Numerous MrSID files can be added to a project simultaneously to ensure continuous coverage over a wide area. However, for a more efficient solution, DeLorme can process multiple image files into a single seamless XMap dataset. To find out more about this service, contact DeLorme Professional Sales. |
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