HDMapper Presentation Options

HDMapper™ Presentation Options

Q: How can I improve the presentation of the coverage maps in HDMapper?

A: HDMapper includes numerous features for customizing the presentation of your coverage maps.

For example, suppose you have computed a tile study in TAP and the map is displayed:

The various shapefiles shown on the map include a large amount of information. The features of HDMapper enable you to organize the information in the way that is the most useful to you.

All settings and values used in the article are for example purposes only. You should determine the appropriate settings and values for your particular application.

First, you can set defaults for the shapefiles that are added for every coverage map, as well as the color settings for the layers and the order of the layers. This process is described in the Default Layers in HDMapper article.

In the map shown above, two field strength levels are shown. You can change the settings of field strength levels to be shown:

The levels you set may be related to the required field values that apply to your equipment and application.

When you set levels that are particularly useful to you, the level and color settings can be saved and reloaded on other maps.

In the above example, the field strength coverage information is partially obscured by other layers. You can change the order of the layers for a better view:

You can add additional layers from other shapefiles:

(Remember, if you always want a particular layer on your maps, you can add this to the default layer settings.)

You can add points of interest or other text to the map:

You can edit the symbols and text on the map:

You can zoom and pan to areas of interest on the map:

You can add labels for objects from the shapefiles:

You can change the fill type of the layer to show the layers below:

You can change the fill, color, or visibility of other layers on the map to highlight the features that are of interest to you:

You can add digital imagery (aerial photos, topo maps, etc.) to the drawing:

You can adjust the layers to show some features over the imagery layer:

The shapefile created for the coverage study can also be used with other mapping software that is compatible with the ESRI shapefile format. In most cases you will need to add the shapefile to a map, then set the breakpoints for field strength levels and the associated colors for the map. For example, information about adding a TAP file to Maptitude, see the Importing Shapefiles into Maptitude article.

With TAP 6.0.2163 you have the option to create a .KML file to display the coverage in Google Earth. Click the Google Earth button to create the file:

The file will be saved and automatically loaded into Google Earth:

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