GPS Database

[geezer-lock]

I have visited nearly 400 USPSA Club links posted on the USPSA web site in order to extract location information on shooting ranges for a GPS database.

What I have attempted to do is establish, as precisely as possible, the road map location of each range as it would be used by a turn-by-turn navigation system. Few of these systems are adept at steering you to an off-road location or even down a named dirt road, which of course, is where most shooting ranges are found. Nearly all of the coordinates in this database will take you to the gate or mailbox of the specified range. Some are the nearest PAVED intersection.

I have gathered data (name & coordinates) on 240 ranges in the continental United States. In the main this was intended to be a USPSA database. Some ranges included may not be formally affiliated with USPSA, but allow USPSA clubs to use the facilities.

The following caveats apply:

Use at your own risk.

.

Not every range is in the database. If I could not verify a location I did not use it. At least one notable instance here is PASA Park, IL, which is in a very low-resolution area of the available aerial mapping.

The Google KML/KMZ file formats are quite portable but will still have to be converted for use in GPS systems. I have successfully converted the files to GPX, CSV, TomTom binary and others using an application called PoiEdit.

If you are interested in this for your GPS unit, PM me and I will e-mail a copy of the KML/ KMZ file.

David C

[Rob Boudrie]

The USPSA club profile allows clubs to specify their own GPS coordinates.

If you have this in a format with the club number + coordinates, I can blast it all into the club database since not that many clubs have actually bothered to update this info.

Rob

[Skywalker]

David,

I'm not sure you have seen it, but I have been trying to compile (here and on the Global Village) a world-wide ranges database for GPS navigators of various brands and models.

You can find it here or at the GV.

I'd be happy to add the ranges you have located to the North American database.

Rob,

last time you told me that the DB from USPSA concerning ranges and clubs database would have been available for compiling the ranges DB. How can I access it, or, would you send me an extract (Range/club name and coordinates)?

[geezer-lock]

The USPSA club profile allows clubs to specify their own GPS coordinates.

If you have this in a format with the club number + coordinates, I can blast it all into the club database since not that many clubs have actually bothered to update this info.

Rob

I wish I had that.

I started this by looking at the USPSA clubs database. Of the nearly 500 listings only eleven had put anything in the “Club Coordinates:” field. Of those eleven only two were useable without editing or converting.

It doesn’t get better.

Of the nearly 400 websites listed on the “USPSA Club links” page only five had the range coordinates correct and useable without some manual manipulation. There are several that have the coordinates imbedded in a graphic of some sort so you wind up typing in the numbers anyway. In addition, nearly 20% of the sites listed are dead, parked or MIA and there is a huge amount of duplication. And lastly, only 1 club in 30 has a range that they call their own. That means that you are not very likely to find a range if all you know is the USPSA club name.

I did this the hard way because there is no easy way.

If you would be interested in a little collaborative work to enhance the clubs database with GIS and web info, give me a shout. I’m not selling anything and I work for peanuts…or less.

David C

Edited October 5, 2007 by geezer-lock

[Merlin Orr]

Excellent endeavor! I will send Lat and Long info on the clubs I shoot at... to you!

[geezer-lock]

David,

I'm not sure you have seen it, but I have been trying to compile (here and on the Global Village) a world-wide ranges database for GPS navigators of various brands and models.

You can find it here or at the GV.

I'd be happy to add the ranges you have located to the North American database.

You are welcome to it but be advised that I pinned the locations to a known roadway specifically for use with a turn-by-turn navigation system. You can fly to the pin but it is often a mile or more from the actual range location.

David C

[Rob Boudrie]

I could add bulk download code, but there's not enough data to make it interesting (yet). Here is all the data clubs have entered:

+----------+----------+-----------+

| club_num | latitude | longitude |

+----------+----------+-----------+

| AL15 | 31.27 | -85.763 |

| AZR02 | 33.4851 | -111.622 |

| AZR03 | 33.4851 | -111.622 |

| AZR04 | 33.4851 | -111.622 |

| AZR05 | 33.4851 | -111.622 |

| IPSC44 | 47.7072 | 116.676 |

| MID05 | 40.8404 | -74.9166 |

| MID18 | 40.994 | -74.2993 |

| MS06 | 32.1749 | -90.2399 |

| NW07 | 45.12 | 110.6 |

| OH12 | 41.631 | -80.9531 |

+----------+----------+-----------+

If you want me to bulk add coordinates, I'll need them in this coordinate system (whatever you call it) and in a format with club_number (using the USPSA club code), latitude and longitiude. I'll also add a flag to the club info record to indicate if the coordinates were supplied by the club or a third party.

[Skywalker]

Rob,

the format is fine for me, the only thing I'd ask for besides what's provided, is the clubs names to match the USPSA clubs codes, just to have a bit more info to display.

David,

do you mean you pinpointed the clubs locations to the nearest known road by the navigation system?

[geezer-lock]

David,

do you mean you pinpointed the clubs locations to the nearest known road by the navigation system?

First of all let me make it clear that this is NOT a database of USPSA clubs. It is a database of US shooting ranges. Some are USPSA affiliated but many are not. Most are the venue used by one or several USPSA clubs for their “home range”. The information was collected from websites listed on the USPSA Club links page of USPSA.org.

I used Google Earth to “fly” to the range using the directions posted by the USPSA clubs that use that range. I then zoomed in to pin the range name to the best street location I could resolve. In some areas of the country, Google does not have high resolution photographs available so I was not able to confirm (to my satisfaction, at least) visually, a good location for every range. The example I used here was PASA Park, IL, home to many a national USPSA competition. Another problem I encountered is that some ranges have multiple points of entry. In those cases I pinned the location closest to the range office or club house.

I am cross checking my work using two GPS devices. The map software in one device is TeleAtlas and the other is NavTeq. Together these products are used in about 75% of the car navigation devices on the market today. By bulk importing the coordinates as POI’s, I am able to query the device for a route. Of the locations I have tested so far (61) the results have been satisfactory.

{edit to add} TeleAtlas and NavTeq are also used by Google.

Email me if you want the Google KML/KMZ file.

David C

Edited October 8, 2007 by geezer-lock

[geezer-lock]

If you have tried my email and it did not work, please try again. I had neglected to update my BE account.

David C

Edited October 8, 2007 by geezer-lock