NOTE: SA 2005 WAS SHIPPED WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO HAVE MULTIPLE LAYERS. So you need to download the fix file from Delome at: http://www.delorme.com/support/streetatlas/2005004.asp and follow their instructions to modify SA2005. Choose ADVANCED FILE MANAGEMENT. Do this before installing County Names as described below. On December 16, 2004, NOAA released a new version of the file that will make the previous version (which was released with most DeLorme mapping applications) obsolete. You must download and run the update found on Delorme Support site. Go to: http://update.delorme.com/ to find the update file. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My opinion of 2005 is mixed. Sure the data is more up to date, but TWO counties remain from past years not in the searchable database. Clarke County GA missing in database as well as Hamilton NE. Yellowstone National Park remains not well idendified with an outline. And Highlighting county borders with a mouse click in the search results window does not work as in earlier versions. There are some good enhancements using the trail funciton of the GPS. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ What is the best mapping program to use for County Hunters? Good question without a perfect answer. But here at WQ7A I have used Street Atlas USA by DeLorme for a number of years. Early on, SA had the county names on the display, but they were so tiny and poorly located that they were unusable. At that time I wanted to use SA to track my "needs" for USACA. So I began to place county names in a Draw layer. It should be noted that the ability to add information to the display did not exist in early versions but came about, I think, about version 9 with the Deluxe offering. Over a period of time I finally added all 3077 names to that map. I shared this with Tim, KD5CXO. Tim came up with the file structure that contained this info and found that we cound place it on the display without a symbol. With Tim's help and several others the overlay began to lose its errors and became near perfect. It is now practical to have at least three superimposed county names for each county. Feel free to experiment with this and let me know your improvements. But to simplify this exercise, I will stay with three and use Street Atlas USA version 2004. This system works for any version of SA that has the ability to create Draw Layers. To define each layer we must start with the "Basic, do not remove, always there no matter what layer". This will be the bottom layer and will be the one shown after the two layers superimposed upon it are deleted. Copy DeLormeCounties.txt and DeLormeCountiesCAP.txt into the DeLorme Docs/Draw folder on your hard drive. Then: Click on the DRAW tab, then choose the "T" symbol. (If you don't see the 'T', it is the second button down on the right column under Tools on the left side of the Draw Tab. If there is a flag, click and hold the mouse button on that flag and a "fly-out" menu will appear.) Earlier versions just choose any symbol as it will not be shown later. In version 2006 choose either the 'T' or the boxed 'T' in the lower left Tools. Then choose a font style. I would suggest ARIEL 16PT BOLD BLUE for a font, but any will work. Now decide whether or not you would like this layer to be in all CAPS or Lower case. Either will be fine and it can be re-done later. (I might note here that I use a 19" monitor, 1280x1024 resolution and have SA set to Map Display Magnification set to 75%.) Next: Click on DRAW, FILE...,Import, and choose either the DeLormeCounties.txt for lower case or DeLormeCountiesCAP.txt for upper case names. Now look at the screen and see if the 1)map display is OK for you and 2) are the county names suitable font size? If not, delete that draw layer and change the screen size and font size, re-import and look again. While still in the File area of Draw tab checkmark the "Lock" square. Now this layer will not accidentally get modified. Now decide what other two,if any, awards you would like to track on the map. If you only want the county names and do not intend to track counties worked for awards, there is no need to import other layers. In my personal application, I created two more County.TXT files by duplicating the original two county files. One called COUNTIES NEEDED FOR BINGO.TXT and one called COUNTIES NEEDED FOR USACACAP.TXT. You would want to do this before importing to SA. Also, editing the .TXT files, erasing those counties worked before importing will make the map an accurate representation of your current county needs. Just double click on your newly created file and delete the lines that contain your counties already contacted. After importing the original DelormeCounties in Blue and locking this layer, I then changed the color to Green and imported COUNTIES NEEDED FOR BINGO.TXT. Then I changed the color to Red and imported COUNTIES NEEDED FOR USACACAP.TXT. As I work a county, I delete the Red Capital county name. As I work the county for Bingo I delete the Green county name leaving the Blue showing. If the Blue bottom layer is Locked there is no danger in erasing it. Editing the .TXT files, erasing those counties worked before importing will make the map an accurate representation of your county needs. Now the reason for importing one lower case and one CAPS file. If you have three layers superimposed, the bottom permanent layer is not a factor. But choosing which of the optional two layers to delete is the problem. As you work a county for one of the optional awards, you will use a Right Click on that county name. Then choose Manage Draw.. and follow the menu. (Earlier versions are just "Delete Draw Object). When you do the "Manage Draw, Delete draw object" and you have both optional layers present, the only way to identify which layer to delete is if one is CAPS and the other not. Unfortunately SA does not do the "Manage Draw, Delete draw object" in color. You can temporarily disable the displaying of the county names in the DRAW, Files... window by unchecking the boxes at the left. This is advantageous when planning trips as the County Name overlays get in the way at zoom levels below 7.0. Just a couple of notes: The county lines are only visible at magnification levels of 7.0 and greater. Importing draw layers does not in any way modify the SA program, but is an option available. In fact there are drawing layers available that show all sorts of things like campgrounds, Elk clubs etc. Should you need to change font size, color, etc, you must export that layer to its own .TXT name and overwrite the original that you created. Then just re-import it. Be sure and choose SAVE when you exit SA as all changes are not automatic until you either exit the program or use the Map Files, Save funtion. Enjoy Terry,WQ7A WQ7A@arrl.net