High Ambition: Get a Bird's Eye View of Your Route Before Leaving Home
Special to The ARS Sojourner
One website - terraserver.microsoft.com/default.asp - allows anyone to download aerial photographs and topographic maps which have sufficient resolution to be of use in planning outings to most any spot in the continental U.S.
Some satellite images are also available.
I was able to view two specific locations I was interested in exploring with my kayak on the North Carolina Outer Banks. The resolution was good enough to provide definition of sandy landing areas among the mostly marshy tidal flats. In addition, a longitude/latitude grid may be overlaid on the image to provide mapping coordinates for GPS receivers.
Once the general area of interest is determined, you can increase the resolution via on screen commands. You can also zoom out to cover much larger areas.
The topographic feature may allow folks to explore mountainous areas for likely spots to try out a sloping V antenna - all from the comfort of your cozy shack!
Just for fun, I was able to view my house and barn by asking the site to zero in on my crossroads community of Banks, NC. A local pond and adjacent pasture areas were also readily discernible from the USGS photos.
* * * * * * * * * *
Paul Stroud, AA4XX, is an avid QRPer and outdoorsman living in Raleigh, NC.