[Qgis-user] New user

[Stephen Wandling]

Brent,

Thanks for the reply.  I had spent literally hours on the geogratis site 
and always came away empty handed.  But, after your email, I gave it 
another try, and found useful data!

I seem to have a genetic aversion to acronyms, which may also have 
something to do with my being 76. ;-)   Their layered menus are strings 
of acronyms, but I selected things at various levels.  After sending my 
request off to what I am sure is a robot (Canadian govrnment employees 
sitting around to process my 10:30 PM request.  Not.) I received a 
download link.  With the data, combined with data from the local 
Regional District, I was able to create a useful map.

I have to confess that I built that map in ArcMap.   I was drawn to QGIS 
by the belief that they would have a friendly community that could 
rescue me when needed.  And I was right.  But, I have struggled with 
ESRI software for years to get to the primitive level I now reside on.  
The thought of having to learn a whole new software was too daunting, at 
least for now.

Thanks again.

Stephen

PS: Can I attach files, such as PDFs on the list?



On 15/02/2017 5:20 PM, Brent Fraser wrote:
> Stephen,
>
>   I can't speak about BC data specifically, but the Canadian federal 
> government has geographic data available at their Geogratis site 
> (http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/).  And there are lots of base map tile 
> servers available, but they may be hard to use if your intent is to 
> print a large map.
>
> Best Regards,
> Brent Fraser
>
> On 2/15/2017 6:04 PM, Stephen Wandling wrote:
>> I had worked a bit with ArcGIS about 12 years ago and have been 
>> struggling to make it work for me again.  I have been pretty 
>> successful except in one area.
>>
>> I do not have an ESRI account, so when I built a map on their free 
>> World Topographic Map and exported it as a PDF, it was of very low 
>> quality.  It would have been a waste of time and money to have it 
>> plotted.
>>
>> My quest is for high res data.  I live in the SW of British Columbia 
>> and have spent a week looking for all of the "free" GIS data that the 
>> federal and provincial governments say they have made available.  So, 
>> far my searches have failed to find this data.  I can get census data 
>> from 2002, but I can not get a topographic base map of the area where 
>> I live.
>>
>> I had some data from my school days, and I can build a fairly decent 
>> map with it.  But, it lacks any contour lines.  And being based on 
>> the British Columbia government cartography, which was shut down in 
>> 1992, it has significant errors, like missing a creek that runs quite 
>> near to my home.
>>
>> 8 or 9 years back, when I was seeking a map for my Garmin GPS, there 
>> were a few guys in British Columbia that had good data and were 
>> giving it away.  They did not mention where they got this data.  I do 
>> not seem to find them these days.
>>
>> If you can point me in the right direction for this data, I will much 
>> appreciate it.
>>
>> Stephen
>>
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