One of the most popular software programs for highway mapping has been the Street Atlas series from Delorme, the latest being Street Atlas 2004 USA, available locally in the PC version for under $50, and in a Palm or Pocket PC PDA version for under $40. Street Atlas 2004 USA has extremely detailed and easy to read maps accurate to street-address level. By entering a street address, a map is promptly shown with that address clearly marked. Maps can be created, printed, saved, or emailed in any scale. Maps can also be customized to show points of interest, such as restaurants, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, or other such locations.

Where Street Atlas 2004 USA shines is in its ability to rapidly calculate and produce detailed and customized routings. As a uniform test to compare several online and software products, I chose my home address, and the address of my kids’ homes in Georgia, Florida, and Texas. Street Atlas 2004 USA consistently generated the shortest (miles) or quickest (time) routes, and produced the cleanest and easiest to read maps.

I selected to print the complete routing map sets, with all of the options. Street Atlas 2004 USA allows the user to select the scale of the maps produced and printed, as well as the features and points of interest desired. The first page of the printout was a full color map showing the starting and destination points, distance, time, and selected stops. The following page showed a detailed table with turn by turn directions, distances, and times for each leg of the trip. I chose routing maps on a 50 mile per page scale, with maps available on scales from 1 mile per page to 500 miles per page. Each 50 mile map page also had detailed turn by turn directions. For example, the 50 mile scale maps from home to the Atlanta area, a “quickest” driving distance of 704 miles, projected to take 12 hours, 31 minutes, was printed on 16 pages. I then chose to print the same route using the popular “auto-club” format strip maps, using a 1 inch to 14 mile scale. These strip maps showed the detailed routing, with annotations to the sides showing key points and detailed turn and directional information. In this format, home to Atlanta printed 18 pages.

For those who sometimes get confused at intersections, or with printed directions, the next option produced extremely detailed maps showing each turn and exit. These maps were on a scale of about 1 inch to 1000 feet, and were about 4 square inches each, printed sequentially, 6 maps per page. Printed under each map were the same directions printed on the larger scale maps, but enables the traveler to clearly visualize each turn or exit, thus minimizing the chances of a wrong turn. If selected as an option, gas stations, motels, shopping, campgrounds, hospitals, restaurants, or other locations can be displayed on these small maps, as well as the larger scale maps. These small but highly detailed turn and exit maps, showing each turn or direction change in the 704 miles between home and Atlanta, were printed on 3 pages.

I faithfully still use my now obsolescent Garmin Emap GPS when traveling, and it has hundreds of waypoints that I have explicitly recorded, stored in its memory. The Delorme Street Atlas 2004 USA was able to connect to and communicate with my Emap, downloading all of my waypoints in the Street Atlas, even though my GPS was made by a different company. There are varying degrees of compatibility between different GPS makes, and this software, but there is near-universal compatibility if the GPS is connected to the computer to determine location in real time. Many trucking companies, delivery and courier services, and others who spend a lot of time on the road have found that an inexpensive GPS device connected to a notebook computer or PDA can give extremely accurate locations in real time, using the Street Atlas software. As an added bonus, re-routing around detours or traffic jams can be instantly calculated and shown. Using my Emap, I was able to plot my location on the screen within about 25 feet of accuracy. For those desiring to use Street Atlas 2004 USA with a notebook computer, but not currently owning a compatible GPS unit, Delorme produces the excellent Earthmate GPS which is designed to specifically connect to a notebook computer or PDA for real time tracking and routing. The Earthmate GPS device is available separately for under $100, and can often be found bundled with Street Atlas 2004 USA, or other Delorme products, for slightly more.

In upcoming columns in the Examiner, I will write about other interesting mapping products.

For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here