US airspace maps that work with certain Garmin (R) outdoor recreation-
type GPS receivers are now available on my website at
http://www.soaringdata.info.
If you use MapSource (R) to load maps on your GPS or if you can copy
an image file directly to it via a USB connection, you can probably
use these maps.
Note that these are not a substitute for a database update on an
aviation model receiver. Neither the software that produces the maps
nor the recreation-style devices for which they are intended are
approved for navigation.
It is possible that all of your existing maps and/or your MapSource
installation may become unusable if something goes wrong during the
installation. Only a very few people have tried them so far, so
please take my warning seriously about not attempting to install them
unless you are confident that you can restore your maps or reinstall
MapSource from scratch in the event of a problem.
These maps were created in collaboration with Russell Croman, a
paraglider pilot who developed the necessary data conversion methods
and designed the formats. Russ's work was in turn based on a program
for airspace format conversion written by Peter Gasparovic, who
published the source code. Thanks Russ and Peter!
As with everything on my website, these maps are free and freely
redistributable. Other stuff you can find on my website includes:
- A dynamic current airport database generator that supports SeeYou
(.CUP), Cambridge (.DAT), and ILEC SN-10 (.NDB), and Google Earth
(.KML) output formats. There is also a way documented to load simple
airport databases in recreation stype GPS receivers.
- A facility to merge the airport databases with contest turnpoint
files downloaded from the Worldwide Soaring Turnpoint Exchange.
- Sectional charts in .CMR format for use with SeeYou
Happy Downloading!
Lynn Alley
"2KA"