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    SPLAT!: A Terrestrial RF Path and Terrain Analysis Tool for Unix/Linux
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               And now, for Windows!

Splat! was originally developed by John Magliacane (KD2BD) and is available 
at http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/splat.html. This distribution of Splat! (ver 1.2.1) has 
been compiled for Windows (Win32) using the open-source MinGW compiler. It has been 
tested under Windows XP SP2 only. It and its associated utilities are command line 
programs. 

--Differences from Linux version--
You can use the included usgs2sdf utility to convert the USGS DEM's to Splat! data 
files, though I have not implemented the "postdownload" script that is included in the 
Linux distribution. This script seemed to be less useful in the Windows environment 
and would not be trivial to duplicate. I have also used the srtm2sdf utility to 
generate Splat! data files from both the BIL format finished SRTM 3-arc sec data at 
seamless.usgs.gov and the HGT files linked on the Splat! home page. The citydecoder 
utility seems to work fine as well. Any other stuff you don't see in this package was 
probably specific to Linux.

I made a few minor changes to the source code for splat, srtm2sdf, and usgs2sdf to get 
them to compile in Windows and will provide the source upon request under the terms of 
the GPL.

--Other programs you may need in Windows--
Splat! generates maps in PPM format which is not native to Windows. There are many 
free software utilities that will open and convert PPM files to other image formats. 
The open-source GIMP image editor is a good option if you really like to tinker with 
the image, I also like the free IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com) which will open 
tons of image formats, including PPM.

If you want to use the plotting function of Splat!, you will need to download the 
Windows binary version of GnuPlot (http://gnuplot.sourceforge.net/download.html) and 
add the "bin" folder to  your path. Basically, if you can open a command prompt and 
run "pgnuplot" you should have no trouble using it with Splat!.

John McMellen KC0FLR
February 2008