Just what the doctor ordered!!

[Kiest63]

Dan,

I was thinking about purchasing TOPO USA 2008 when I stumbled on your site.  This is unbelievable.  Thanks for all of your work.  I was thinking of giving VA shot using your directions, unless it is on your short list. 

[-Oz-]

It is not on the short list; especially since my new computer that should have sped everything up isn't working with postgis.

We are all here to help you out.

[Kiest63]

Well, I'm a bit nervous about doing it having just read the water section.  I am ready to download my first quad as soon as the IDL download for Dem2Topo is complete.   

[-Oz-]

The water section is definitely logistically the most difficult part.  I can definitely help you out once you have all the stuff downloaded.

[Kiest63]

Apparently you have to have a license to use the IDL software.  I should have assumed at some point this was going to get expensive.  Is there any way around this?

[Boyd]

Evidently something has changed with the distribution of the IDL runtime because the free download is no longer available at the URL referenced in the tutorial. I found their site very confusing and couldn't figure out a way to download the the runtime. After some Googling I found various references to this problem elsewhere but no solutions. It may be possible to register on their site and then download the free version, but I got frustrated and gave up eventually.

I finally decided to purchase the full version of Global Mapper after playing with the free trial for awhile, and I'm glad I did. It's a very impressive package which I'm already using for a variety of things, although not cheap. If there is a way to still get the free IDL runtime then I'm sure that a full explanation of the process would help others out.

[Kiest63]

I did register on the site and download, but can't get past the license page.  I can use it for free for 7 minutes, but that's not quite enough time 

[-Oz-]

Kiest, I'll work on releasing my GUI for FWTools tonight.  Then we'll just stop using dem2topo.  FWTools is free and my GUI is free.  The most difficult part is that I can't get postgis to work on my vista install so it kills my GUI.

[-Oz-]

Kiest: check this thread out for my tool: http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/topic,104.0.html

[Kiest63]

OK, thanks for the replies.  Let me get some data downloaded using the Excel hyperlinks to the USGS web site first.  I tried last night but after about 30 minutes I got an error message asking me to try again later.  When I get to the processing step, I will start a new thread in the map making forum.  My computer has a 1.99 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM and about 23 GIG on the hard drive.  Is this enough to do this?? 

Kevin (Kiest is my nickname, feel free to use either one)

[Kiest63]

Free space.

OK, I just tried again to download my first set of topo data.  I got this message both times:

The Extract System has encountered an error with your order. Please try the link at a later time or contact:

   Customer Services
   Tel: 800-252-4547
   Tel: 605-594-6151
   TDD: 605-594-6933
   Fax: 605-594-6589
   Email: seamless@usgs.gov

   Business Hours: Monday thru Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., central time

Parameter String: zid=20081215.164914844.072082114228

DEBUG Message: Zip ID not found in database


What does this mean and what should I do about it.

[-Oz-]

For my program make sure you use the GeoTiff files.

Errors will pop up semi-frequently, just try again.

[Kiest63]

I read the USGS FAQ section about download problems and had to change some stettings on my computer.  It works now as far as downloading goes.  I'll get back to you when that process is complete