This file is README.AZP for AZ_PROJ.PS v1.1, Oct 1998. AZ_PROJ.PS (C) 1994,5,6,7,8, Joseph Mack NA3T and Michael Katzmann NV3Z. LEGAL STUFF: AZ_PROJ.PS is free software released for non-commercial use; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version. All commercial rights belong to us. This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with AZ_PROJ.PS; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. WHAT DOES AZ_PROJ DO: AZ_PROJ is a set of postscript files that generates azimuthal equidistant projections of the earth from almost (not from the poles) any location, giving bearing and distance from your location to any other place on the surface of the earth. WHERE TO GET AZ_PROJ: The publically released versions of AZ_PROJ are archived in North America at ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/hamradio/dos/ham-utils/azprojxx.zip Europe at ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/ham/antenna/azprojxx.zip where xx is a version number Beta release code (if it exists) is available at the AZ_PROJ website (see below). AZ_PROJ Website and MapServer (Oct 98): http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml The location of the server(s) has varied somewhat in the course of time due to job changes and availability of people to host the site. If the AZ_PROJ server is not at this site when you go looking for it, use your web search toold to look for any or all of: "azimuthal" "equidistant" "projection" "map" "postscript" The AZ_PROJ Map Server will generate GIF formatted maps for you to download, using a subset of AZ_PROJ's features. A map of North America takes about 5mins to generate when the machine is lightly loaded. Before public release, new code is run on the Map Server first and then is released as beta test code, for anyone to try. Once the bugs are sorted out the code will be publically released via the two ftp sites listed above. While code will be always available from the ftp sites, the Website will move according to contingencies of work etc, and may not even exist by the time you read this. HOW DOES AZ_PROJ WORK: The AZ_PROJ files are Postscript and are output on a Postscript device (printer, display or through Postscript interpreters like Ghostscript - see file ghost.doc for setup suggestions) and hence are computer independent. Ghostscript runs on many computers (MSDOS, unix) producing output in X-windows (unix or DesqviewX), or under MSDOS with a 386 chip to a VGA display. Ghostscript produces native code for many printers, allowing many printers to function as a postscript printer. The data to produce the coastlines, countries, states, rivers, lakes and islands comes from the public domain CIA World Data Bank. INSTALLATION AND RUNNING OF AZ_PROJ 1. Unzip the AZ_PROJ package in a directory of your choice. 2. Setup ghostscript (if you need to display the maps on a screen or to print to a non-postscript printer). Copy some example postscript files from the ghostscript distribution, e.g. the graphics file tiger.ps and the text file use.ps, into your azproj directory and test that you can both print and display them. Note that gs_v2.61 cannot do the gamma correction neccessary for color printers, so you will be able to generate colored display maps but not colored printer maps. However gs_v3.33 (and later) can do gamma correction. On the other hand v2.61 can generate gif files whereas v3.33 (and later) cannot. So pick your version of ghoscript accordingly. To use all of AZ_PROJ features, you will need to have gs261 and a later version (AZ_PROJ has been tested through to gs5.10). If your az_proj files don't run in your setup, run tiger.ps and/or use.ps to check whether it's a ghostscript problem or an az_proj problem. 3. Run the example .bat files contained in the AZ_PROJ package (making sure to change "gs" to the name of your gs executable, which may be gs386, gs261dvx...) 4. Read the text below and the comments in az_ini.ps and in the various .dat files to customise the maps for you. FILES IN AZ_PROJ The zip file AZPROJxx.ZIP contains the following files. Files added in v1.03 are marked by an * Files newer than Jul 95 have been modified. Look at the comments in each file, to see how the changes affect your situation. text files: COPYING The GNU Public License under which this set of files is distributed GHOST.DOC Hints for setting up ghostscript SIMPSON.DOC Article about NMEA by Wayne Simpson README.AZP This file HISTORY.TXT List of features added, with version number. some of the dat files: ANNOT.DAT An example annotation file BEA_6M.DAT The 6m beacon list, from M. Harrison in G land BEA_W3EP.DAT The beacon list, maintained by W3EP DXCC.DAT The ARRL dxcc countries list, maintained by K2DI GRID.DAT An example file for grid squares that have been worked This format is now superceded by the grid2 format. It will be removed in some future version of AZ_PROJ. GRID2.DAT A modified version of GRID.DAT in which propagation mode (Au, F2, Es, EME, TEP or unknown) can be specified. MOUNTAIN.DAT An example file for plotting mountain tops NMEA.DAT An example NMEA format file for GPS location of QTH QSOxxx.DAT Pairs of QTH's and call signs for plotting paths of QSO's for other stations. Used for plotting contacts during an propagation opening (eg Es) with the idea of locating the scattering center. REPEATER.DAT An example file for plotting repeaters ROVER.DAT An example file for plotting rovers ------------------------- The commands used in .dat files (format is not totally consistent yet) for more details, look in the various .dat files. annotate:Sydney:34S:151E dot at lat/lon, name above dot (note, no : or comment field at end of line) beacon:28.125:KA5FYI:EM10DI:1:-1:AUSTIN, TEXAS:1W, SLOPING DPL:C%.9603 beacon symbol at grid location call sign and freq labels above and below % To add a transmitter to the file, supply data in the form % transmitter_type:frequency:string_1(suggested use, callsign):6 character grid_locator:power(W):beam_heading(s):string_2(suggested use, location or special operating condx):comment ignored by reading program (eg AZ_PROJ) % eg 2m beacon % beacon:144.170:NA3T:FM19gk:60:300:Frederick, MD: Joe, ph# 301-555-1212, 5dbd yagi, from W3EP, Oct 96 % eg. rover operating a weekend 10GHz contest from Mt Ascutney % rover:10:NA3T:FN33sk:::only saturday: 2m link is 147.54, cell ph# 860-555-1212 % eg TV station North America channel 2, used as a 6m propagation marker % TV:55.25Z:WPBT/02:FL05cx:100000:-1:Miami,FL,US:comment % % transmitter_type is % beacon % repeater % rover % TV % BC %usually 550-1630 kHz AM % AM %usually 550-1630 kHz AM % FM %North America is 88-108MHz % beacon:144.282H:W1RJA/B:FN41cj:60:60:http://www.qsl.net/vhfnews/2mbeacon.html label:1:54:-63:1:VE call area 1 %label:string(can include blanks):lat(real):long(real):font_size(real 1-10):string ignored by AZ_PROJ %font_size is 1 (small) to 10 (large), null defaults to 1 % % city:name:lat:lon:scaling factor for font size:comment city:London:51.51:-0.00:1:New location from Mark G4KGA dxcc:1A:SMO Malta:Eu:28:15:+1:42N:13E:1A~: % grid-red: grid is filled with the color /grid-red_color % grid-green: grid is filled with the color /grid-green_color % grid-blue: grid is filled with the color /grid-blue_color % grid-lon: grid is crossed with lines parallel to the longitude lines % grid-lat: grid is crossed with lines parallel to the latitude lines % grid-left: grid is crossed by lines running NW to SE (i.e. lines leaning left) % grid-right: grid is crossed by lines running NE to SW (i.e. lines leaning right) % grid-horz: grid is crossed by lines running horizontally in page space % grid-vert: grid is crossed by lines running vertically in page space % a typical grid.dat line is grid-red:50::FN22:comment field NA3T grid-green:50::FN42:comment grid-red:50::FN24:comment field grid-green:50::FN11:comment field grid-blue:50::FN12:comment field grid-lon:50::FN31:comment field grid:50::FN32:comment field grid-lat:50::FN11:comment field grid-left:50::FN21:comment field grid-right:50::FN32:comment field grid-vert:50::GL34:comment field grid-qra_density:1:50::BP41:comment field % the line grid:50:F2:FM19 is parsed as - % grid: symbol to show that following data is a worked grid % 50: band the grid was worked on % F2: propagation mode (F2, Es, EME, Au, Ms, TEP) % grid2:50:F2:CN70:comment field (anything you like) %see qra_density (with grid above), draws legend on map legend:qra_density:QRA 6m, operators/grid:1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256:comment ignored by AZ_PROJ mountain:Mt. Wachusett:FN42bl:: qso:50:w3abc:FN01:n2xy:FN72: REPEATER:147.21+ NA3T FM19gk 60 -1 0 rover:10:KH6CP/1:FN43:-1:-1:only saturday: --------------------------------------------- Postscript files: AZ_INI.PS The initialisation file - edit for your location and needs AZ_PROJ.PS The Postsript file which has the routines and generates the projection CONTROLD.PS The ^D symbol (EOF for a postscript printer). HF_CONFIG.PS Preconfigured file for HF maps (see comments in file). VHF_CONFIG.PS Preconfigured file for VHF maps (see comments in file). wdb files: AFRICA.WDB Positions of points on the surface of the earth ANTARCT.WDB derived from the CIA World Data Base EURASIA.WDB "" N_AMER.WDB "" OCEANIA.WDB "" S_AMER.WDB "" some of the example bat files for MSDOS: (Make sure you change the name of the ghostscript executable to that for your system. It will be something like gs, gs386, gs261dvx...) AZVIEW.BAT view a continent under Ghostscript AZVIEW1.BAT like azview.bat except data is fed to Ghostscript stdin, as if Ghostscript were a printer AZFILE.BAT generate a file for later printing, needs gs v3.33 AZGIF.BAT generates a gif file with gs v2.61 AZPRINT.BAT print under Ghostscript directly to a printer MAKBIG.BAT concatenate files MAKDAT.BAT concatenate files DESCRIPTION OF AZ_PROJ This file (README.AZP) is a brief description of the use of AZ_PROJ.PS. For a detailed explanation see the comments in each file. AZ_INI.PS AZ_INI.PS will arrive set up to give a map of North America centered on the ARRL HQ in Newington CT, at a scale of 400km/cm. To customise the maps, you edit az_ini.ps. Untill you've got the AZ_PROJ examples to work, you should not change any of the files that come with the distribution. AZ_INI.PS has variables which allow the map to be customised. In general the order of variables can be changed to suit your needs, as long as variables which are defined in terms of other variables are not exchanged in order (eg colors need to be defined before you use them). AZ_INI.PS is full of comments which will tell you how to customise AZ_PROJ. You can remove these comments when no longer needed. DATA FILES Each line of an input file is parsed individually. AZ_PROJ determines the data types from the first few characters on the line. Unrecognisable lines are ignored (with an error notice and the offending line posted to stdout if verbose is on). Blank lines are not valid data. Make sure all comment lines begin with a % .wdb files These are an ascii version of the Central Intellegence Agency Micro World Data Base (CIA WDB) adapted for AZ_PROJ. These files contain geographic information. In general you will not need to change these files. However if your favorite lake, island or river was not considered worthy of inclusion by the CIA, then you can add it yourself using the same format. .dat files: These are files containing one piece of information per line. Each line starts with a word (eg beacon) followed by a ":" (beacon:). These .dat files contain ham specific information such as dxcc lists of countries (worked and not worked), grid squares worked, beacons, mountain tops, and any annotations that you want to put on the map ("Mom's place"). Enough information has been included at the start of each .dat file for you to be able to add/change entries. Since the .dat files are just collections of independent on line entries, there is no real reason to keep the .dat files separate - in principle the .dat files can be concatenated and the lines put in any order. We have kept each type of .dat file separate mainly for bookkeeping purposes. Note: Order of files. The data (.dat and .wdb) files can be sent in any order. However the output of each file will be drawn on top of the output of the previous data files. Thus the order in which .dat files are sent to the output (the order in the command line or in the combined file sent to a printer) affects the look of the map. In particular if you're using a NMEA.dat file generated from Global Positioning System (GPS) NMEA formatted data to center your map (such as on a mountain top) then this file _must_be read first as it will move the QTH from that established in az_ini.ps. Some of the .dat files (eg grid.dat) generate solid colors that will cover anything under it. These types files should go next. The other .wdb/.dat files put points or lines on the map and these can go last. An example command line to put the files in the most sensible order would be C:>gs -q az_ini.ps -- az_proj.ps nmea.dat grid.dat n_amer.wdb *.dat When sending to a real Postscript printer, these files could be concatenated, again in the chosen order, by generating the file big.ps, using the following command line and then sending big.ps to the printer. C:>copy az_ini.ps+AZ_PROJ.ps+grid.dat+n_amer.wdb+mountain.dat+beacon.dat big.ps MAKING MAPS 1. SENDING TO SCREEN/PRINTER VIA AN INTERPRETER (eg GHOSTSCRIPT): If you don't have a real postscript printer or if you want to display AZ_PROJ maps on a screen then you will need a postscript interpreter like Ghostscript (see ghost.doc and the comments in AZ_PROJ.ps). MAKE SURE THAT GHOSTSCRIPT IS RUNNING ON YOUR MACHINE BEFORE TRYING TO RUN AZ_PROJ. RUN THE TEST FILES tiger.ps AND use.ps Run some of the example files that come with Ghostscript (e.g. the graphics file tiger.ps) and a postscript file which contains text (eg the manual, use.ps, which comes with Ghostscript). A postscript file which contains text is needed to show that you have the FONTMAP file pointing to the correct fonts (otherwise you'll get complaints from ghostscript that it cannot find various fonts). Ghostscript runs on your computer (rather than in your printer as with Postscript) and hence it can find files on your hard disk. The names of the data files can be given as parameters to the interpreter. You can send any number of different .WDB and .DAT files to ghostscript as command line parameters, rather than concatenating the files together before sending them to the output device as is done with a postscript printer. Note that AZ_PROJ checks the size of the display it is printing (or screening) on. Since the screen and printer could be different sizes, you will not neccesarily get the same picture when previewed on a screen as you will on the printer. (The versions of Ghostscipt compiled to run under X-window think they're running on 8.5x11.0" paper). - screen viewing for DOS: C:\gs>gs -q az_ini.ps -- az_proj.ps n_amer.wdb or run the supplied file azview.bat C:\gs>azview - to a file for later printing To make the file `n_amer.cdj' which can then be sent to a color desk jet 550 (which ghostscript calls a "cdj550", see the ghostscript docs for details of other printers) - C:\gs>gs -q -sDEVICE=cdj550 -sOutputFile=n_amer.cdj az_ini.ps -- az_proj.ps n_amer.wdb dxcc.dat or run the supplied azfile.bat file C:\gs>azfile The format of the command line for ghostscript is exucutable (gs) gs switches (-q -sDEVICE=cdj550 -sOutputFile=n_amer.cdj) postscriptfilename (az_ini.ps) another switch (--) datafiles (az_proj.ps n_amer.wdb dxcc.dat) - sending a file to a non-postscript printer You can send output to the printer directly (see below). However you might want to generate the file if you want to print several copies of the map (and only have to calculate the map once), or you have a spooler (recommend dmp205.zip, look on a BBS) which will give you back your keyboard again, so you can go on with something else during the printing. - without a spooler (note /b for binary) C:\gs>copy/b n_amer.cdj lpt1: - to the printer directly (PRN is the normal output target in MSDOS) To send to the printer (through lpt1:, note: can use MODE to redirect) C:\gs>gs -q -sDEVICE=cdj550 az_ini.ps -- az_proj.ps n_amer.wdb dxcc.dat or run the supplied azprint.bat file C:\gs>azprint - using ghostscript to simulate a printer A printer listens to its stdin (the printer cable). A printer doesn't know about files. Ghostscript can run in this mode. Make a big.ps file using makebig.bat. Then do c:\gs>type big.ps | gs -q - The first part of the instruction sends the file to stdout, the second part tells gs to take input from stdin (for unix change "type" to "cat"). You'll get a screen display instead of printout. Note that big.ps will already have the EOF for the operating system and controld.ps is not needed (but will do no harm). COLOR PRINTERS: If you're going to output color maps to a non-postscript printer, using ghostscript and you want the colors gamma corrected (they'll be murkier if you don't), then you'll need v3.33 of ghostscript. V2.61 either doesn't do it, or doesn't understand my code, or has a bug. If you have a color printer, read the poop in AZ_PROJ.ps about gamma correction (use an editor to search for string "gamma"). If you have a Deskjet550C or 1200C you are already covered (we've coded it for you). If you don't get the gamma correction right, then the colors you get on the printer will be darker (murkier) that those seen on the screen. GIF FILE OUTPUT: You'll need gs v2.61 for this (try AZGIF.BAT). The gif feature was removed from later versions of ghostscript, for fear of copyright infringement with Compuserve. 2. SCREEN DISPLAY IN A WINDOWING ENVIRONMENT. In a windowing environment like X-window, you can launch the program from one window and have a new window pop-up to display the map. In this case you can turn on a feature we used for debugging, (verbose, in az_ini.ps) and the launching window will tell you what is being drawn in the display window or what is being generated in the printer output file. (Remember to turn verbose to off for all other cases). 3. SENDING TO A POSTSCRIPT PRINTER: Printing on a Postscript printer is sloooooow. It takes 75 min to generate a map of the whole world on an HPLaserJet 5MP with 3M of memory. As well, AZ_PROJ needs lots of memory. Postscript printers which only have enough memory to handle text may not be able to handle all the graphics. The files must be sent as one stream (ie one big concatenated file) in the suggested order az_ini.ps az_proj.ps nmea.dat grid.dat *.wdb files *.dat files controld.ps Run makebig.dat to make such a file. At the end of the concatenated file, there MUST be an EOF (a ctrl D for postscript) for the printer to know that it had come to the end of the job. This is usually sent by the spooler, but if your setup (like most MSDOS and some unix setups) doesn't do this, you'll wait hours till the printer times out. If this is your situation, concatenate controld.ps onto the end of your big.ps file for printing. Examples: (make sure "verbose is "off" in the az_ini.ps file) - to a postscript printer (DOS)- Run makebig.bat C:\gs>makebig This will produce big.ps. Send this new file to your postscript printer with C:\gs>print big.ps - to a postscript printer (UNIX)- $ cat az_ini.ps AZ_PROJ.ps n_amer.wdb |lp Examples: (make sure "verbose" in az_ini.ps to "off" in the az_ini.ps file) - to a postscript printer (DOS)- Run makebig.bat C:\gs>makebig This will produce big.ps. Send this new file to your postscript printer with C:\gs>print big.ps - to a postscript printer (UNIX)- $ cat az_ini.ps az_proj.ps n_amer.wdb |lp CUSTOMISING AZ_INI.PS FOR YOUR NEEDS Just start changing things in az_ini.ps to vary the map. Hopefully there's enough documentation there to help you. Here are some that you're likely to want to change. QTH: You can change the lat/lon to your QTH (use decimal degrees, eg 90.05, with N and E being positive, S and W being negative), center_offset (2nd line) to "off", change the scale to "500" and scale type to "off". SCALE: A map of the whole world needs 2000km/cm DECORATIONS: For example, you can turn letter_squares and labels on/off, with number_squares and labels on/off. That's it. Have fun Our addresses are in AZ_PROJ.PS Joe NA3T and Michael NV3Z Jul 1996 Map Server (Oct 98): http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml