[aprssig] APRS Location to Text

[Heikki Hannikainen]

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008, Scott Miller wrote:

> If you want to do it off-line (not relying on Google or something) then 
> you're going to need a database.  I've done it using Oracle Spatial, loaded 
> with the USGS GNIS database for place names.  Then it's a matter of looking 
> up the nearest population center and getting the distance to it.

   I'm using GeoNames (http://www.geonames.org/) for http://aprs.fi/ - it's 
a free and global database of coordinates and names for places. A 
regularly updated collection of such data available from numerous public 
sources.

   Quickly looking up the nearest town is surprisingly complicated if you 
wish to do it yourself, a database engine with spatial extensions 
certainly helps a lot.

   - Hessu, OH7LZB