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Posting Route Plans

CQ/X provides capability of posting two types of QSO party maps:
  1. Maps of individual mobile routes
  2. Maps showing overall activity in each county
1. Posting Individual Mobile Routes
CQ/X provides a means of developing the files needed to post your route as a Google Map for distribution on the Internet either as a simple sequence of counties or as a sequence of counties along with the sequence of county line crossing points, and a trace showing your route. In both cases the county boundaries will be shown and in the latter case a marker will be shown at each county line crossing point. Both of these methods are explained in the documentation referenced below.

Developing the file for posting as a simple sequence of counties is quick and can be performed using the QP Tools | Plan Route menu item discussed in Planning - No GPS. Including the county line crossing points, of course, requires the user to define the latitude and longitude of the crossing points. This information is useful in order for CQ/X to show the distance and estimated time to the next county. If this functionality is desired, part of the trip planning process will include the development of a file containing each planned crossing point. The crossing point information may be prepared using the Crossings Locator wherein CQ/X analyzes a file of lat/lon values downloaded from a Google Map of the route to determine the county line crossing points.  

Once this crossing point data has been prepared the program has the capability of converting this file into a KML file that can be placed on a web-server for processing by Google Maps providing a cool way of distributing your trip plan to other participants. The CQXClient Help File explains how to do this. Post a Route Using Google Maps is a separate document that collects the various steps in one place with detailed instructions. In order to carry out these steps using CQ/X you'll need the following:
  • Version 1.7.4 of CQ/X patched through Patch 174-04 or later available from the Downloads page
  • A web server to store the KML file on
2. Posting Maps Showing County Activity
CQ/X provides a means of developing the files needed to post activity in each county on a Google county outline map of the state. This will be of use primarily for the web master or coordinator of the QSO party. The resulting maps are helpful in coordinating the operation across the state to allow maximum coverage. The document Show Activity Using Google Maps explains how to do this using the QP Tools | Plan Route menu item after first collecting plan activity from the various stations in the state.

Here are links to a number of example maps of both types.

Copyright: C.W. Sanders, NO5W

Last Updated: 27-April-2020