Bummer! Bummer! Bummer! Darn you Google!

The current GEP no longer lets user locate by coordinates. Seems Google has also removed the feature allowing map rotation and tilt view. These were a very useful XC/contest soaring features.

Is there some other like mapping software a "broke brother" could afford to use?

On Thu, 07 May 2020 12:25:41 -0700, bensoaring wrote:

> Bummer! Bummer! Bummer! Darn you Google!
>
> The current GEP no longer lets user locate by coordinates. Seems Google
> has also removed the feature allowing map rotation and tilt view. These
> were a very useful XC/contest soaring features.
>
????? Why do you think that?

Paste coordinates into the search box and click "Search" and Google Earth
Pro goes there, just like it has always done. Of course, you need to have
the coordinates in a form it understands, but that's always been the case.

This is GEP 7.3.3.7673 (64-bit) - just tried it with co-ords copied from
a Wikipedia page, which worked as I expected it would. I also swiped TP
coordinates of a crossroad near Cambridge and that woked too with a light
edit: the DAT format is

52:07.750N,000:13.326E which GE doesn't like, so I tweaked it to
52 07.750 N 000 13.326 E which works just fine.

More annoying is the way that Google tends to change where the executable
lives on your computer and what its called just because they can. That is
just as easy to fix by edit your desktop launcher so it knows where GE
now lives and what its called, but some browsers (take a bow, Brave) will
no longer be able to find it and can't be told where it now is. This will
mess up launching it from Wikipedia map pages, but you can still start it
manually and do a cut'n paste with the coordinates.

Plenty of FOSS stuff out there - look for GPS mapping programs, but why
bother? Google Earth Pro works just fine.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 5:19:10 PM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
> On Thu, 07 May 2020 12:25:41 -0700, bensoaring wrote:

Martin,
Using your format 52 07.750 N 000 13.326 E, GEP does take me to said crossroads near Cambridge.

However, using the same format, GEP will NOT "point":

Condor2 Slovenia2 Lesce-Bled 46.21.392 N 14.10.512 E
Condor2 AA2 Mauterndorf 47.7.992 N 13.41.747 E
USA Minden, NV 39.52.20 N 119.42.04 W
USA Nephi, NV 39.44.193 N 111.52.203 W
USA Driggs, ID 43.44.553 N 111.5.794 W
USA Uvalde, TX 29.12.35 N 99.47.19 W
USA Perry, SC 33.37.37 N 99.47.19 W

So it seems GEP blocks coordinate "points" by country or region. Probably has something to do with airspace security. Perhaps you geodesists or State Department guys can explain. Man, what strange times.


> > Bummer! Bummer! Bummer! Darn you Google!
> >
> > The current GEP no longer lets user locate by coordinates. Seems Google
> > has also removed the feature allowing map rotation and tilt view. These
> > were a very useful XC/contest soaring features.
> >
> ????? Why do you think that?
>
> Paste coordinates into the search box and click "Search" and Google Earth
> Pro goes there, just like it has always done. Of course, you need to have
> the coordinates in a form it understands, but that's always been the case.
>
> This is GEP 7.3.3.7673 (64-bit) - just tried it with co-ords copied from
> a Wikipedia page, which worked as I expected it would. I also swiped TP
> coordinates of a crossroad near Cambridge and that woked too with a light
> edit: the DAT format is
>
> 52:07.750N,000:13.326E which GE doesn't like, so I tweaked it to
> 52 07.750 N 000 13.326 E which works just fine.
>
> More annoying is the way that Google tends to change where the executable
> lives on your computer and what its called just because they can. That is
> just as easy to fix by edit your desktop launcher so it knows where GE
> now lives and what its called, but some browsers (take a bow, Brave) will
> no longer be able to find it and can't be told where it now is. This will
> mess up launching it from Wikipedia map pages, but you can still start it
> manually and do a cut'n paste with the coordinates.
>
> Plenty of FOSS stuff out there - look for GPS mapping programs, but why
> bother? Google Earth Pro works just fine.
>
>
> --
> Martin | martin at
> Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Thu, 07 May 2020 15:32:21 -0700, bensoaring wrote:

> However, using the same format, GEP will NOT "point":
>
But you're not using the same format - there should be *NO DECIMAL POINT*
between degrees and minutes. The only decimal point id in the minutes
valie which is a decimal number. IOW don't use this:

Slovenia2 Lesce-Bled 46.21.392 N 14.10.512 E

Use this instead:

Slovenia2 Lesce-Bled 46 21.392 N 14 10.512 E

> So it seems GEP blocks coordinate "points" by country or region.
> Probably has something to do with airspace security. Perhaps you
> geodesists or State Department guys can explain. Man, what strange
> times.
>
I doubt it: I turned on 'Path in Tools and pasted the first three
coordinates in your line into the search box clicked search, clicked thre
pin, repeated for the second and third points and got a nice yellow path
from 1st->2nd->3rd point, so it does work.

Did you used to generate a KML file and open that with GEP, if so you
should have said so. Personally, when I want to see a flight on GE, I
pull my log into GPLIGC, tell it to export a KML file and then open that
with GE That works too: File:Open says it still accepts .kml files.

If that's not what you expected, kindly say exactly what you expect to
happen when you make a list EXACTLY like you posted, but with properly
formatted co-ordinates.



--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Got it; thanks Martin! Have a lot of love for you smart guys!