Legacy Support FAQs

Because we have so many legacy support FAQs, we wanted to continue to provide them to our customers. This is the page to help your locate FAQs which provide product support for the Terrain Analysis Package (TAP)™ software for customers who are running any version of our software earlier than TAP 6.0. Please look down the following list to find on-line support. For support of Version 6.0 or later, please use the searching function on the web site. This will provide access to links to all our sales and engineering FAQs as well as all the support FAQs for all out customers who are on a current software maintenance subscription.

For information on the features and capabilities of the current version of TAP, see the Maintenance Subscription Features article.

Adding a scale to the TAP Map Window.

Adding latitude-longitude lines to the TAP Map Window.

How can I add trees or other obstructions or surface features to a path profile I have plotted?

How is "aggregate coverage" or "composite coverage" computed in TAP?

How can I use TAP to determine the antenna height I need for a point-to-point path?

How do I include electrical or mechanical downtilt with an antenna?

When I edit an antenna pattern, what does the "Normalize Gain" message mean?

When I use the Antenna Import function to import a manufacturer’s antenna pattern, the preview of the antenna doesn’t always look like the antenna I expect. Is this a problem in TAP?

How do I find antenna information in TAP?

What is the Antenna Quick Plot program?

I have run a TAP 4 field strength coverage study and wish a coworker to generate the coverage plots. How can I share my work product with him?

How do I use the Area Coverage program to set up a coverage study?

The Area Coverage Setup form is too large for my screen. How do I correct this?

How do I set up a radial coverage study with radials of unequal length or spacing?

How do I use the Terrain Analysis Package (TAP)™ software for area coverage studies?

How do I set up a tile coverage study for an area that is not centered on the transmitter site?

When I print my coverage map or profile in TAP, there is sometimes a large blank area on the page. How can I get the drawing to fill the page?

How can I execute several coverage studies and have the coverage maps automatically sent to the printer?

Can I add a scale of miles automatically every time I draw a map using TAP?

How can I add a background BMP or JPG or TIF image file to a map?

I have ten coverage studies I need to run. How can I set these up to run in a batch overnight?

How can I get my Fixed Facility and Location database locations into a .BNA file I can plot in SURFER?

I don’t want to plot the entire state boundary file with my relatively small coverage area. How can I plot just a part of the file within 50 miles of my transmitter site?

I don’t want to plot the entire state boundary file with my relatively small coverage area. How can I plot just a part of the file within certain latitude and longitude limits?

I don’t want to plot the entire state boundary file with my relatively small coverage area. How can I plot just a part of the file with the counties I want?

I don’t want to plot the entire state boundary file with my relatively small coverage area. How can I plot just a part of the file within my coverage contour?

I don’t want to plot the entire state boundary file with my relatively small coverage area. In addition, I want to plot certain counties as a different color. How can I plot just a part of the file I want in the colors I want?

How can I create a boundary file for a custom area for doing coverage studies?

How can I draw a 20-mile radius circle around each of my sites on a coverage map?

I have several combinations of boundary files I use for plotting coverage studies in TAP. How can I save the file names and color information so I can use them again?

When I plot a coverage, TAP plots the boundary file for the entire state. How can I limit the plot to just the counties affected by my coverage?

How do I add boundary lines to a TAP coverage map, and how do I change the color or line width?

How do I show a labels for my boundary line files on a coverage map?

What is the Use Boundary check box on some TAP forms? How are the bounded areas used?

Can I get all of the cities within a single ZIP code, as a list, or as a BNA file to plot?

How can I show coverages from multiple sites over an area, including regions where the coverages overlap?

How can I compute a contour for a range of azimuths from 330 to 145?

Can I use the Composite Study function to run an Aggregate Study where the tile areas are identical (“congruent”)?

How can I find which state or county contains unfamiliar coordinates?

How can I print out a tabulation of the computed contour distances calculated with TAP?

How can I make the coverage contours computed and drawn with TAP appear smoother?

I want to show several levels of signal on a coverage map, but the program only lets me define one level. Plus, the color and cross-hatch information I want to use only shows up as black. What is the problem?

When I set up a coverage study in TAP, the plot always defaults to the level of the mobile unit for that study. How can I keep the multiple levels and colors I want to plot as the default?

How do I show coverage information on the TAP Map Window?

I have computed line-of-sight shadowing studies for two different sites. How can I show the areas where each site has line-of-sight in a different color?

How can I compute what percent of my computed field strength points meet my coverage requirements?

How can I improve the presentation of the coverage studies I have computed with TAP? How do I add labels, legend, scale, etc?

I have the SoftWright antenna libraries and wish to create a directional antenna which is not currently in the TAP antenna data base. How can I accomplish this?

How can I enter elevation data manually for a path if I do not have the topographic data for the area?

How can I print a report with information in the Fixed Facility data base?

How do I delete a line or label from a map or path profile graphic in TAP?

I would like to clean up my task list to contain just the ones that I actually care about now. How can I do that to maximize disc space and minimize unwanted data? How can I delete a TAP Task?

How can I arrange the layers in a TAP drawing?

How can I show the path for my system link on a map?

How can I add lines or other graphics on a TAP coverage map?

I need to enter elevation data along a path manually (digitized topographic data is not available for the area). I want to enter only the peaks and valley elevations, but the default file TAP creates in the Elevation Editor has uniform spacing between the points. How can I create the file I need?

How can I find the minimum and maximum elevation values in an area?

How can I determine how much I need to reduce my Effective Radiated Power (ERP) to avoid prohibited contour overlap with an existing facility?

How can I draw a 3D view of a coverage study I have computed in TAP?

How can I export my coverage map to a DXF file for use with other software?

I can read the TAP Results Database files to plot the Talk-Out coverage in Maptitude, but how do I plot the Talk-Back coverage?

How can I use my coverage computed in TAP in a program that uses ShapeFile format?

How can I compute field strength at point locations for a number of locations, such as SCADA sites?

I have several combinations of field strength levels I use for plotting tile and radial coverage studies. How can I save the levels, colors, etc., so I can use them again?

How can I run the same field strength study again if I only want to change one or two parameters?

I have done a coverage study over an area of interest, but how can I find the computed field strength at a specific location?

When I use the fixed facility lookup in TAP 4, if I make changes to the facility record, are the changes saved to the data base?

How can I use TAP for a study involving a fixed angle from the antenna?