#OS Data for Vistapro
4 messages in this thread
Brian,
I'm hoping that you are the one who posted me a message last week. I've been on
holiday and read a message quickly without downloading and now the original has
disappeared.
I think someone is missing an opportunity.
I bought some Digital Contour Data from the Ordnance Survey to plot contour
templates for a physical model.
The Digital Contour Data worked fine but I thought it would be nice to have a
computer model as well. I discovered Vistapro and was astonished that such
powerful software was available at the price ( well done that man John Hinckley
Although the contour data is not ideal, I have managed to convert it to DEM
format with some very nice results.
As far as prices go, my recollection is that the initial price for a 20km
squae was 30 pounds. I haven't a clue about how the OS would n for DEM
converted distribution etc. but the data didn't seem expensive to me. It would
seem crazy the OS should pass up the opportunity for a mass market for their
data. VRLI should also be aware that the UK is one of the few (only?)
countries that has the data to provide DEMs at this moment for it total land
area.
Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that even without reading the OS licence small
print I cannot share any of my converted DEMS with anyone else (sob!).
I hope this long message is of interest to someone if you are not the Brian in
question.
Paul
Paul:
20 km's cover a bit larger area than the USGS quads (about 14km), and
the price is reasonable for the serious enthusiast, but for a typical
'data set' that VRLI sells (about 20 USGS quads) for about $35, it would
cost on the order of $600 (don't know exact conversion, but $1.6/pound is
reasonably close) for a similar set of OS data. I do remember that VRLI
could not re-sell without paying the fee for each copy sold. VRLI gets
complaints at $35/set, I can imagine the screams they'd hear at $600.
<grin> It's definitely something that serious individuals should look
into, but it is not practical for VRLI to convert and re-sell the data.
Clint <VRLI>
Thanks for the info Paul. Presumably you could share your method of obtaining
the results for others crazy enough to want to do it? Maybe Clint would post it
in the library?
How about polling the uk members to see if there is enough strngth of opinion
to form a pressure group to convince HMG that this data should be in the public
domain as is the case with USGS data ? I'd have no objection to paying a
reasonable handling fee, but most of the surveys were done with taxpayer's
money _before_ the OS was privatised!
Maybe we could put an item in the VRLI newsletters (amiga _and_ PC) how about
it Clint?
Brian
PS (HMG = Her Majesty's Government)
Brian:
I'll be glad to post information on how to convert OS files if I ever
get ahold of it. <grin> I will pass along the request for an item in the
newsletter to VRLI. I am just a part time contractor to VRLI for tech
support here on CIS, so I can't make any decisions as to what they
include, but I will pass it along to those in charge.
Clint <VRLI>