DeLorme Street Atlas 2007
Published: August 2006
We've
all been there: the traffic starts to slow and in the distance brake lights
as far as you can see. An exit ramp is about to pass you by. Do you bail
or wait it out? Street Atlas 2007 gives you the navigational tools to end
up ahead of all those poor souls stuck in a virtual parking lot.
It happened to me while beta testing SA2007 when a freeway accident brought traffic to a standstill. Street Atlas' new RouteAvoid feature saved me from getting overheated with frustration by calculating a route around the congestion. The kids, watching their DVD, never even knew there was problem.
Road Trip with Street Atlas 2007 Plus
I recently tested DeLorme Street Atlas 2007 Plus (beta version) on a road trip to visit places written about In Limestone Country - a book by Scott Russell Sanders and the subject of this GPS map. In his book Sanders documents the history of quarrying in Indiana and, having some local knowledge myself, I wanted to use GPS to document some of the quarries and other points of interest. Since I currently live South Carolina, this was a significant journey and a good road test for Street Atlas.
The trip was about one week in duration and included overnight stays at campgrounds, hotels, and the homes of family members; numerous side-trips to out-of-the-way places; and impromptu re-routes due to interstate traffic accidents and bridge outages.
This review is organized in a manner similar to the way Street Atlas is organized, by the names of the tabs, which appear below map display window. Each tab organizes various tools and features of the software.
XData Tab
My first task was to import my Limestone Country points-of-interest from a large data file. The data included location information (place name, latitude and longitude) in text (.csv) file format. Using the Import Wizard, I successfully opened the data source, "Next"ed through the schema selection, and assigned field types.
I "Next"ed through selecting data symbols, because I was not given the option to symbolize the data based on the symbol heading. Note: if you want symbols like hiker, parking, camp, boat ramp... best to import GPS data not "XData."
Then I entered a comment, referencing the source of the data.
Clicking "Finish", the data
imported, displaying on the map and showing up as an available dataset.
However, when I tried to "Query" the dataset, I was prompted
with: "An error has occurred with querying the selected record..."
I reported the bug to DeLorme and they responded saying that the XData
import features had been re-worked and that my problem could not be reproduced
with the newest revision.
Route Tab (Mission Planning)
With my area of interest flagged on the map, I selected my destination and had the software calculate the route from Simpsonville, SC to Brown County State Park in Indiana. Street Atlas calculated the quickest route along Interstates. To make the trip a little more interesting, I inserted "Via"s located at the Cumberland Gap in Tennessee and the little town of Paoli in Indiana. Routing through Paoli would take me into the heart of Limestone Country from the South, where I could investigate a few of the places mentioned in the book.
Using the "Plan Trip" feature, I applied my parameters for End of Day and Fuel Breaks. Street Atlas calculated that I would need to stop near the middle of Kentucky.
Find Tab
Using the "Advanced" Find feature I searched "Find: Category", "Within: Current Route" for "Keywords: camp", "Distance: 5 mi" along my route. When prompted, I narrowed the search, selecting 4 camping related categories from the 8 general categories presented. The results listed Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park near London, Kentucky. I could have called the park using the phone number listed, but I decided to look it up on the Internet instead. The description of the park on the web seemed to fit my needs, and space was available, so I made a reservation and added it as a stop on my route.
Note: Here is a nice feature of the software which I learned about by participating in the DeLorme discussion forum: Once you have decided on where you will stop at the end of day you can apply these adjustments to your End of Day and Fuel breaks by setting "Stop Prefs..." from the Route Tab. These adjustments are reflected in subsequent End of Day and Fuel breaks.
Satisfied with the route that Street Atlas had calculated based on my planning requirements. I started on the trip the follow day.
Options > GPS Settings
While navigating with GPS enabled, I like having the moving map oriented in the direction of travel. It took me some time, but I eventually found this setting under the Options > GPS Settings > When tracking... "Rotate map in GPS direction" selected. I think it would make sense to have this setting listed in the map orientation drop-down box which appears on the right side of the map display window, but I understand that DeLorme wanting to consolidate the settings for related options.
GPS Tab
Once I selected "GPS Start", and 3D fix acquired, I was ready to hit the road for Limestone Country.
Route Tab (navigating with GPS enabled)
I had set my route START at the center of my hometown, not at the location where I live, so I fiddled around for a few moments before pulling out of my driveway to fine-tune the routing, using the toolbar to <Start from GPS location>
I like that the current route segment is highlighted. This differentiation is helpful when deciding how much attention to pay to an approaching directions(?) point ("directions points" are, for lack of a better term, what I call times when the program starts voice prompting directions and zooming the map display in to an approaching location) Sometimes these directions points seem... pardon the pun... pointless. But I think I understand why they occur: segmentation in lines that represent the roads.
I do like the way the map zoomed in when approaching a directions point, however, once I was routed into the center of a town which I had established as a "Via" but then realized that I should have stayed on the road going around the town. The map had zoomed in so far that when I looked at it, I could not see the big picture of where I was going. Next time, I'll be more careful reviewing the routing and relocate arbitrary vias.
While traveling on a the Cumberland Parkway, which was near - but not always directly over - the old road, Street Atlas kept wanting to re-calculate the route because it sensed that I was off-route. Not able to consult the help file while driving, I guessed that deselecting "Auto" next to "Calculate" would help, but I believe I guessed wrong. Back at home I read in the help file that deselecting "Auto" next to "Back on Track" is what I should have done. This too, is not very intuitive, but now that I know it is there I'll give it a try next time.
Voice Tab
I was very happy to be able to plug-and-play using my Plantronics headset (see: my "Navigating by Voice" article). However, I encountered a problem when I used the in-line mic on/off switch. Evidently, the software interpreted low-level noise as voice commands. When I had the mic (hardware) switched-off, the Street Atlas would "beep" and the map would pan and zoom around jumping in all different directions. The problem went away when I used the program's mic-off switch (deselecting "Microphone" on the Voice Tab). I now understand that you can combat this by requiring all commands to start with a certain word, setting this under Voice Setting in the options window. Or the problem might be resolved by simply adjusting the Sensitivity and Accuracy Settings, found in the Options>Voice Settings>Recognition Settings.
Draw Tab (Route Avoid)
On the return trip, about 25 miles north of Louisville, I saw the traffic starting to back-up for what looked like a long way ahead of me. Not wanting to be stuck in a freeway parking lot, I bailed out at the approaching exit. With a hand-held CB radio, I soon learned that a truck had overturned near the Rest Area about mile-marker 20. Using Street Atlas 2007 Route Avoid feature, I was directed to take U.S. Route 31, South, between Scottsburg and Henryville, Indiana. Within no time, we were way ahead of everyone heading to Louisville that afternoon.
Map Data
There was only a couple times that I noticed any discrepancies with Street Atlas map data. Near Asheville, NC, the I-40 exits were mis-numbered. And while navigating between Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC, Street Atlas had me routed through Hendersonville, SC on US Highway 64 instead of Highway 25 (bypass).
New Features, I did not test.
* SA2007 now features downloading and GPS-tracking on aerial images, which is nice because it is usually difficult to tell the difference between residential areas and commercial/industrial areas on street maps - aerials make land use more obvious.
* With SA2007 you can sending static maps to an iPod or other MP3 player or portable video player. I don't own a iPod but it seems like a good way to share details about where you live.
* You no longer need the separate Street Atlas Handheld program to use Street Atlas to navigate with a Palm OS or Windows Mobile 5.0 device.
Wish List
About the only thing the software didn't do for me was make hotel reservations. During my trip, I called my wife to get on the Internet and locate a hotel with an indoor pool for the kids. She found a hotel and text messaged me with the name of the hotel, the freeway exit number, the phone number, and the reservation confirmation number. I was grateful, because even though I had equipment for camping, the weather had turned and I was not looking forward to setting up a tent in the rain. Which brings another wish list item to mind: weather overlay.
* * *
I hope this helps!
For more detail about Street Atlas, see the
DeLorme web site.
- Doug
