GOM - the Global Overlay Mapping System
Find a Map Feature
A new and much requested feature has been added to the latest version of the Global Overlay Mapper: the ability to locate a feature and display the map that contains it. To see how this works, click 'Locate > Find' on the main toolbar. Note that the page is very data-rich, so may take a while to load on older computers.
The page lets you load a map and mark a position in 3 different ways: Select by Name, by Position, or by Grid Locator. To select a map by the name of a feature, click on the 'Select Map by Name' dropdown-box. It contains features split into 6 different groups:
- Amateur Radio Prefixes
- Capital Cities
- Country Names
- Admin Areas
- Major Cities
- IOTA Groups
Some of these groups are then further sub-divided for clarity, and to stop the lists getting too long. Choose one of the entries from the list. When you do, the dropdown-box below will be populated with the entries for that category, and will re-size itself depending on the length of the text for those entries. Choose one of the entries in this second list, then click the 'Go' button next to it. The correct map will be loaded, the position of the entry you have chosen will be marked with a flashing icon, and the map will be scrolled to a more convenient position. The flashing icon will stay in view no matter what map overlays you turn on or off. To hide the icon, click on it.
The second way to load a map and mark a position is to enter a specific Longitude and Latitude position. The boxes that let you do this can be seen in the middle of the 'Find' page. You can enter a position using Decimal notation - i.e. 123.45 for a position of that value, or in the format 'Degrees Minutes Seconds'. A position of 123° 44' 35" should be entered as 123d44m35s. Don't forget to choose the correct hemisphere (West or East for Longitude, North or South for Latitude) using the additional drop-down selectors. Click the 'Go' button to the right, and the correct map will be loaded, the position will be marked with a flashing icon, and the map will be scrolled to a more convenient position as before.
The third way to load a map and mark a position is to enter a 4 or 6 digit Grid Locator in the box at the bottom of the page. For more information about Grid Locators, see HERE. Just type the 4 or 6-digit locator into the box (case is not important) and press the 'Go' button to the right. The correct map will be loaded, the position of the Grid Locator you have entered will be marked with a flashing icon, and the map will be scrolled to a more convenient position as before.
 
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