Editing Elevations in HDPath™
Q: How can I edit elevations using more accurate map values in HDPath?
A: With TAP6.0.2149 or later and a Maintenance Subscription date of January 31, 2007, or later, you can save the topographic elevation data values along the path, edit the values, and redraw the path using the edited elevations.
For example, with a path displayed in HDPath, click the Save button on the toolbar near the top of the form:
You will be prompted for a description of the path (this will be used later when you want to reload the same path):
When you click OK the program will save the path specifications and the topographic elevation values for the path. This may take several seconds.
To load the saved path profile (now or during a future HDPath session), click the Open button on the toolbar:
You will be prompted to select the profile you want to open:
Select the profile you want and click Continue.
The profile will be reloaded, with an informational message to remind you that the data is from saved ASCII data, rather than directly from the topographic elevation data files.
If you want to open the file, click that label. The comma-delimited ASCII file (.CSV) will be opened. For example, if .CSV files are configured on your operating system to open with Excel:
Note that the first row of the file shows the units used for the distance along the path and the path elevations at each distance. These are the units used when you saved the profile. Do not change the units in the ASCII file. If you want to change the units you must change them in HDPath and save the profile again.
You can edit elevation values in the file. For example, suppose you know from a map that the actual elevation at about 9 miles from the transmitter site was 5650 feet above mean sea level:
You can change the value in the file:
Click the Save button (or the File-Save menu) to save the changes in the file.
You should NOT use the SaveAs menu to change the name of the file. The file name (Pxxxxxxx.CSV) is linked to the database record ID for the profile you saved. Changes made or saved to other file names will not be available in TAP.
A warning message may be displayed about the file format. Be sure to click Yes to save in the .CSV format and NOT the Excel .XLS format. If you want to use the file values in other software that uses the .XLS format you can save the file in that format, but TAP will not use the .XLS file.
You can click the Draw button (the pencil icon) in HDPath to see the result of the changed elevation:
Remember you must save the changes in the .CSV file before they will be shown in HDPath. You can keep the .CSV file open to make changes and view the result of the changes in HDPath.
Currently, the field strength calculation functions in HDPath (Calc Field at RX Location, Show Field at Mouse Cursor, and the VHF/UHF Link Budget calculations) only use the indexed topographic elevation data files. These calculations are not supported using the ASCII elevation data, since the elevations are not the same as in the indexed files. If you try to execute one of the field strength functions while using the ASCII data a warning message is displayed:
As the message explains, you can click the Yes button to redraw the path with indexed topographic elevation data, and compute the field strength based on those elevations. This action does not affect the elevation data in the ASCII files. The edited data can be opened again later by opening the profile as described above.
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Copyright 2007 by SoftWright LLC