I own and have experimented with both the TOPO! upgrades, including TOPO! GPS, and Delorme's Topo USA. Chuck is mistaken about the full GPS support with TOPO! 2.0, full GPS support requires the purchase of TOPO!GPS, either on line or from your local retailer. REI has a better deal on TOPO GPS than the manufacturer. The download of TOPO! GPS gives you the functionality to work with your GPS on the detailed TOPO! maps that you have to purchase separately. The TOPO!GPS CD includes several levels of USA maps that can be used for route planning the maps have detail coresponding to paper state maps. Both vendor's programs allow transfer of waypoints, routes and tracks between a PC and a GPS. I have had problems with programs crashing when I was downloading routes and tracks. The Delorme Topo USA, has contour lines at 100 foot intervals, while that is not a problem for kayakers while they are on the water, I found that lots of dry land details are missing when compared to the details visible on a 10 foot contour interval USGS topographic map. The Delorme product also includes Solus Pro, software that will allow the downloading of maps to a PDA. Whether or not either of the programs is worth the money depends on what you expect. Topographic maps of the entire US for $99, is a pretty good deal, and the GPS functionality is fun to play with. Dana Dickson Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:28:31 -0600 From: CHUCK_at_multitech.com (Chuck Holst) Subject: [Paddlewise] TOPO! Upgrade Users of the TOPO! topographic map program can upgrade it to version 2.0 for free by downloading the upgrade from http://www.topo.com/down200.shtml. If you have the TOPO! disk that includes the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, you can also download for free two new files that show official campsites and maintained portages. Version 2.0 appears to have full GPS support, among other improvements. BWCAW campsites are marked with GPS coordinates, and the TOPO! Web site says BWCA portages can be downloaded to your GPS unit as routes (just in time for winter camping!). The new version also supports UTM coordinates. The TOPO! CD-ROM discs for Minnesota, which include the BWCAW, also include Isle Royale and a couple hundred miles of Lake Superior shoreline, including the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, which is a popular sea kayaking destination. I just downloaded these upgrades, so I haven't tried them yet, but it looks like the new BWCAW info should greatly simplify route planning. Chuck Holst Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 15:44:33 -0500 From: Bob Denton <BDenton_at_aquagulf.com> Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] TOPO! Upgrade Has anyone seen or used the Delorm Topo discs? Are they worth the $99? cya *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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