Calibrating DOQ air photos in Oziexplorer?

[1leglance]

Ok time to pick brains again...I promised I searched here & on the net and looked in ozi's help...but I just gotta know if there is an easier way...
Here is what I am doing...
Going to datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov to get my maps since it will let me pick by county and type of map...then I ftp a zip file which has lots of stuff in it but I am only getting the .sid & .swd files.
Now I tell ozi to load & calibrate a new map...
And I fire up google earth and look for matching landmarks...this works great when the G.E. resolution is good but the area of colorado I am looking at sucks...so either someone tell google to throw thier own sat's up and fix it or someone let me know if there is an easier/faster/better way to do this.
The txt file that comes with the map has the following data..
UTM
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -108.177276
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -107.496993
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 38.396394
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 37.855921
Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Grid_Coordinate_System:
Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
UTM_Zone_Number: 13
Transverse_Mercator:
Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -105.000000
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000
False_Easting: 500000.000000
False_Northing: 0.000000
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: row and column
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 1.000000
Ordinate_Resolution: 1.000000
Planar_Distance_Units: meters
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Is there anything in here I can use...know corners of the map or something?
Any help would be great.....
uwe-whitethaiger I know you have topo which I want to buy ......feel like doing some DOQ's??? I will pay a bit extra ....
By the way anyone who thinks it ain't worth it to get his disc is nuts...a ton of work to do this without seems and borders and crap.
Thanks in advance,
1leglance

PS I still hope to find a way to use google earth's images directly for my july peru trip since the resolution is great and pretty colors also.

 

[whitethaiger]

...but I just gotta know if there is an easier way...
....

Yes. Use import rather than load & calibrate.

uwe-whitethaiger I know you have topo which I want to buy ......feel like doing some DOQ's??? I will pay a bit extra ....
By the way anyone who thinks it ain't worth it to get his disc is nuts...a ton of work to do this without seems and borders and crap.
....

Which state (counties are you working on)?

PS I still hope to find a way to use google earth's images directly for my july peru trip since the resolution is great and pretty colors also.

If you are talking about using google earth with gps, I think the pay version does that. If you are talking about downloading and using the maps offline:
I've read about downloaders and how people using them lost their access to goole's maps.

 

[1leglance]

thanks
I will try importing tonight at work...I have been using my 1gb usb stick to transfer from the work pc to the laptop so I will try that.

Yeah I also read post on forums about a program called googleMV which used mutli-thread (access) to download google maps & stitch them and google blocked those IP addy's....the hospital might frown if I tried that

I also read about a program called Stichmaps or something like that but it is $30 and I am not sure if it will do what I want.

First I will try importing and report how that works.

Lastly I am looking at SW colorado since there is a FJ Summit in July there and quite a number of trails we will be going on. Google Earths resolution of that area sucks so I started looked at the DOQ's. I know you have topo's of the area so I plan to buy those later this week or next. Still mastering what I have from you....since my HD is only 30gig on this older toughbook I will either have to carry disc with me or look at an external HD for loading maps as I need them for an area.

Oh for the future when my son will wheel with global broadband access, paper then roll out screens with terabit drives and quantum processers
enjoy
1leglance

 

[whitethaiger]

.....
I also read about a program called Stichmaps or something like that but it is $30 and I am not sure if it will do what I want.

Stiching should work, but I don't know anything about this program.

..
Lastly I am looking at SW colorado since there is a FJ Summit in July there and quite a number of trails we will be going on. Google Earths resolution of that area sucks so I started looked at the DOQ's. I know you have topo's of the area so I plan to buy those later this week or next. Still mastering what I have from you....

I've got all the DOQ's here sitting on my hard drive waiting to be processed. Maybe I should get going on that.

since my HD is only 30gig on this older toughbook I will either have to carry disc with me or look at an external HD for loading maps as I need them for an area.

I've worked with hard drive limitations like this. I kept my most commonly need maps on the machine and swapped others around as needed for a trip.

An external hard drive is not a bad option and is not too expensive anymore these days. Fry's here had a 120G notebook drive for $79 this weekend and an enclosure for $0 (after rebate). That's a nice external for not much $$$.

Oh for the future when my son will wheel with global broadband access, paper then roll out screens with terabit drives and quantum processers
enjoy
1leglance

:jumping: can't wait for that.

 

[1leglance]

If you have all the Colorado stuff on your HD already I would be happy to send you the money in advance (plus a bit for first time hassles) if you need encouragement

Thanks for the heads up on the external HD's at frys...I may go with staples since my wifes company buys a ton there and she gets the rebate checks
I like the usb connected drives to transfer the stuff over. Easier to carry 1 HD than 20 disks

Thanks again for all your help and advice,
1leglance

I can't wait for the Expo Trophy just so I can try this stuff in the field under pressure.
enjoy
1leglance

 

[whitethaiger]

If you have all the Colorado stuff on your HD already I would be happy to send you the money in advance (plus a bit for first time hassles) if you need encouragement

Thanks for the heads up on the external HD's at frys...I may go with staples since my wifes company buys a ton there and she gets the rebate checks
I like the usb connected drives to transfer the stuff over. Easier to carry 1 HD than 20 disks

Thanks again for all your help and advice,
1leglance

I can't wait for the Expo Trophy just so I can try this stuff in the field under pressure.
enjoy
1leglance

I'll get on the Colorado stuff. You mentioned Socal in another thread, I have most of those DOQ's here already also. Need to get going on organizing those 2 DOQ sets.

Doesn't really matter where you get your USB external drive, here Fry's was the best deal last weekend. Things change weekly though.

I think you will be in great shape at the Trophy the way you are attacking this thing.

 

[whitethaiger]

I should have the CO DOQ's ready by the end of the weekend...

 

[1leglance]

wow that was fast! I am still learning to import 1 not to mention still trying to figure out how to merge them and you can whip a state out that that....and that is why I never try to reinvent the wheel....and the coolness factor of thses forums.
just let me know when & how much and paypal will fly your way.
thanks so much for your work on this stuff.
enjoy,
1leglance

 

[whitethaiger]

Lance, looks like you got to be careful when using google earth (or google maps) for your routes. I just wanted to use google to verify some calibration as I work on the CO DOQ's and made this disturbing discovery: See attachment..... The marker is spot on (I put it into the intersection of the roads) as far as the 24K and DOQ in Ozi are concerned. Google shows it right on the map, but is off on the satellite image. This occurs in both GE and GM.

 

[1leglance]

I have read some post on other forums regarding how Google is off by a bit...so far it hasn't hurt me in waypt transfer but I can see how it would in map calibrations.
I don't remember the reasons (datum I think) but if you search google for google off at greenich or something like that you will understand more than I did.
Thanks for the heads up not matter what. I will make sure to remember in the future....any thoughts on solutions...maybe I will go back & see if I understand more now than I did then.
Also I will mark pts for peru and check them in july to see how much it is off in the southern hemi...
thanks again for your tireless ozi efforts,
1leglance

 

[whitethaiger]

The Greenwich issue seems to be a little different from the issue with the map/satellite image differences mentioned above. Even with the offset your way points would be close enough for most purposes. Just remember, all this stuff is just assisting you in navigating, you still have to look out where you drive. There are many examples, comical and dangerous, of people following their nav systems without question and common sense.

BTW, the CO DOQ's are ready and available. Just updated my webpage.