[Xastir] Converting Tiger 2002 files for use in Xastir

[tbaggett at jump.net]

Please forgive me if this has already been addressed. I've read through several months of the archives, and the search feature of the mail archives has not fully answered my questions.


My goal is to track objects across the United States on detailed maps.

I understand that Xastir cannot read in Tiger2002 raw line data files (unlike WinAPRS), and that it is suggested to download ESRI shapefiles from http://www.esri.com/data/download/census2000_tigerline/index.html

I would like to install the full Tiger2002 maps into my Xastir install, but downloading the converted shapefiles from ESRI one county at a time would drive me into insanity.

I have downloaded the entire Tiger2002 raw line data files from the US Census Bureau, and am about to attempt converting the entire data set into ESRI shapefiles using TGR2SHP available from www.gistools.com for $75.

Has anyone verified that shapefiles generated from Tiger2002 line files by TGR2SHP will work in Xastir? 

Has anyone attempted to convert the entire Tiger2002 database into a Shapefile database for the APRS community? 

How will Xastir handle several gigabytes of shapefile map images? Am I asking to much?

73,
Tim
Austin, Texas