Google Earth

I had Google Earth on the old computer and never added it to the new one - until now.  I did this because of the Google Earth feature that's included in Ham Radio Deluxe.

If you click on one of your QSOs in the logbook display and then click on "Google Earth" from the "More" drop down menu, you'll get a graphic display that shows you the straight line path between you and the station you worked.  This is really cool, especially for those of us who only have verticals and wires which don't require us to point our antennas.

I am looking at how my signal traveled today to the DX stations I worked.  You grow up looking at paper maps and at least for me, even though I know it doesn't really work that way, I always envisioned my radio waves traveling from my QTH, east across the Atlantic to Europe.  Google Earth has shown me that my signals to Europe actually shoot almost straight North/NorthEast to Europe.  Looking at the globe view is somehow even more meaningful that just looking at one of those Great Circle Maps.

On a side note, I have found that the HP Laptop with the dual core processor that I got from eBay a few months ago is by far the fastest computer that I have out of the three that we own.  Google Earth works better on it than either the Acer or the family computer.  In fact, graphics wise, the family computer which is now a little over two years old, is the slowest of the three.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!