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Export to Google Earth Add‐in
User Manual
AD002
Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual © Forsk 2014
Table of Contents
1 Export to Google Earth Add‐in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
2 Installing the Add‐in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
3 Activating and Deactivating the Add‐in in Atoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
4 Using the Add‐in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
5 Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
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AD002 Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual
1 Export to Google Earth Add‐in
The Export to Google Earth add‐in can export items such as sites, transmitters, microwave links, their properties, and
coverage prediction plots from Atoll single‐RAT and multi‐RAT documents to Google Earth.
The Export to Google Earth add‐in is developed by Forsk using the standard Atoll API. It is available on demand and can be
used with Atoll version 2.5.2 and later.
The setup program of the Export to Google Earth add‐in is supplied in both:
• a 32‐bit version for Atoll 32‐bit: "ExportToGoogleEarth_<version>.exe", and
• a 64‐bit version for Atoll 64‐bit: "ExportToGoogleEarth_x64_<version>.exe"
Before installing the 64‐bit version of this add‐in, make sure that Atoll 64‐bit is installed
correctly. For more information, see the Atoll Administrator Manual.
2 Installing the Add‐in
The setup of Atoll 3.1.0 and later includes the Export to Google Earth add‐in, which can
be installed at the same time as Atoll. You can, if you wish, install the add‐in separately
from Atoll using the add‐in’s own setup program.
Installing the Add‐in
To install the add‐in:
1. Run the add‐in’s setup program. The setup wizard opens with the Welcome page.
2. Click Next. The Select Destination Location page appears.
3. Select an installation folder for the add‐in (it is not necessary to install the add‐in in the Atoll installation directory).
4. Click Next. The Ready to Install page appears.
5. Click Install to start the installation. The Installing page appears showing the installation’s progress.
A confirmation box appears if the add‐in’s initialisation file is found in the installation
directory, asking if you want the setup program to overwrite it. This occurs if the add‐in
had been installed in the same directory at a previous time.
Once the installation is complete, the Completing the Setup Wizard page appears with the View Release Notes.txt
check box selected by default.
6. Click Finish to exit the setup.
Uninstalling the Add‐in
To uninstall the add‐in:
1. Exit Atoll.
2. Run the add‐in’s uninstall program located in the add‐in’s installation folder, or uninstall the add‐in through the
Windows Control Panel. In both cases, a confirmation box appears.
3. Click Yes to confirm. An information dialog appears informing you that the add‐in was successfully removed.
All components are removed except the add‐in initialisation file which can be retrieved
during a future installation in the same directory.
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Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual © Forsk 2014
3 Activating and Deactivating the Add‐in in Atoll
Once installed, the add‐in is available in the list of add‐ins installed with Atoll.
To activate the add‐in in Atoll:
1. Select Tools > Add‐ins and Macros from the menu bar. The Add‐ins and Macros dialog box appears.
2. Select the Export to Google Earth check box.
3. Click Close. The Export to Google Earth add‐in command is available in the Addins toolbar.
Figure 1: Add‐ins and Macros dialog box in Atoll
You can verify the installation details of the add‐in by clicking the Details button in the Add‐ins and Macros dialog box.
You can deactivate the add‐in in the Add‐ins and Macros dialog box. For example, if you clear the Export to Google Earth
check box in this dialog box, the Export to Google Earth add‐in command will no longer be available in the Addins toolbar.
It is possible to automatically make add‐ins available or not in Atoll through dedicated
options in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.
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AD002 Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual
4 Using the Add‐in
Once the add‐in is installed, the Export to Google Earth add‐in command is available in Atoll. You have to install Google
Earth before using the Export to Google Earth add‐in in Atoll.
The Terrain layer should be active in Google Earth. Otherwise, the height information
exported by the Export to Google Earth add‐in will not be correctly interpreted by
Google Earth.
To run the Export to Google Earth add‐in:
1. Click the Export to Google Earth button in the Addins toolbar. The Export to Google Earth dialog box appears.
Figure 2: Export to Google Earth Add‐in dialog box for a 3GPP document
2. Select the items to export to Google Earth:
• Sites: Select this check box to export the site locations and heights to Google Earth.
You can export other site properties to Google Earth as well. For more information, see step 3.
You can choose to export the site altitudes as Absolute values or Relative to the Ground.
You can also select/clear the Display Label check box to show/hide site labels in Google Earth.
• Transmitters: Select this check box to export the transmitter heights, azimuths, antenna beamwidths, mechanical
tilts, and activity statuses to Google Earth.
You can export other transmitter properties to Google Earth as well. For more information, see step 3.
In Multi‐RAT documents, you can select the transmitters of each technology and their properties separately.
When you export site altitudes as relative to the ground, the transmitters’ altitudes are
also exported as relative to the ground and therefore depend on the map’s topology.
• Microwave Links: Select this check box to export the microwave link heights and activity statuses to Google Earth.
You can export other microwave link properties to Google Earth as well. For more information, see step 3.
• Generate Fresnel Ellipsoid: Select this check box if you want the add‐in to generate and export Fresnel ellipsoids
to Google Earth for the exported microwave links.
• Other Links: Select this check box to export other transmission links (FO and/or LL) to Google Earth.
You can export other FO/LL link properties to Google Earth as well. For more information, see step 3.
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Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual © Forsk 2014
• Coverage Plots: Select the coverage prediction plots to export to Google Earth. The list contains all the plots
available in the Predictions folder for the current Atoll document.
By default, coverage plots are exported in raster format. You can also export them in vector format. To do that,
right‐click on the coverage plot you want and select Vector Format in the context menu. You can go back to raster
format by selecting Raster Format.
3. To specify the properties you want to export to Google Earth:
a. Click the Browse button next to the the relevant Properties field. The Selection of fields dialog box appears.
Figure 3: Selection of Fields to Export to Google Earth
b. Under Available fields, select a field you want to export and click to move it to the Selected fields list.
To remove a field from the Selected fields list, select the field and click .
KMZ files are compressed archives that include the KML file containing site, transmitter,
and microwave link data, as well as the coverage prediction plots exported in PNG
format. You can open KMZ files and access their contents in most compression/zip
utilities.
5. Click OK. The selected items are exported to Google Earth.
The Export to Google Earth add‐in automatically runs Google Earth if installed and sets the focus on the location of the
exported items. The selected properties are also exported to Google Earth and can be displayed in tip text inside Google Earth
by clicking the desired item in the Places window, or by pressing and holding the Ctrl key and clicking the desired item on the
map.
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AD002 Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual
The following figures show examples of the export using the add‐in.
Figure 4: Sites, Transmitters, and a Signal Level Coverage Prediction Plot
Figure 5: Cell and Transmitter Sizes in Google Earth
Figure 5 shows the different cell and transmitter sizes displayed in Google Earth. From largest to smallest:
• GSM transmitters (top left site)
• UMTS cells (top right site)
• LTE cells (bottom site)
• Small cell (top cell in bottom site)
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Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual © Forsk 2014
Figure 6: Transmitter Properties
Figure 7: Microwave Link with Fresnel Ellipsoid
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AD002 Export to Google Earth Add‐in ‐ User Manual
5 Advanced Configuration
Some options may be configured through the GoogleEarth.ini file. This file must be located in the Export to Google Earth add‐
in installation folder. The following options are available in the [Options] section:
• Verbose = 0 (default) or 1
Verbose mode.
• OpenDocument = 0 or 1 (default)
Automatically launch Google Earth after exporting data.
• DefaultStorage = "C:\TEMP\My_Atoll.kmz" (example)
Default name and storage location for the file created by the add‐in.
If DefaultStorage is not specified, the files created by the add‐in will be stored in this default KMZ file and location:
"%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Forsk\Atoll\Atoll.kmz".
• PylonHeight = 50
Default pylon height in case of PYLON_HEIGHT is not defined in the Sites table when using microwave.
• PylonVisibility = 2 (default)
Display no towers (0), simple towers (1), or detailed towers (2).
• TransmitterSize = 50 (default)
Radius (in metres) of the polygon that represents transmitters in Google Earth.
• CellPower = 30 (default). Cell power threshold under which a cell is regarded as a "small cell".
• EllipsoidNumber = 4 (default)
Number of Fresnel ellipsoids to be drawn for microwave links in Google Earth.
• DetailLevel = 0 (default)
Level of detail. You can use "DetailLevel" to specify a minimum level of detail (in square pixels). When your coverage
plot is projected onto the screen, it must occupy an area of the screen that is greater than "DetailLevel" in order to be
visible. If the projected size of the coverage plot is below this limit, then the coverage plot will not be visible.
• MaximumWidth = 4096 (default)
MaximumHeight = 4096 (default)
Width and height (numbers of pixels) of max. texture size supported by Google Earth (see About box in Google Earth).
• UseAccuracy = 0 (default) or 1
More accurate export of coverage plots (coverage prediction overlays in Google Earth might have some overlap).
• TileWidth = 1024 (default)
TileHeight = 1024 (default)
Width and height (numbers of pixels) of the tile used for the accurate coverage plot export.
• TileNumber = 1024 (default)
Maximum number of tiles that can be generated, in direct proportion to the size of the covered area and the size of
the tiles (TileWidth, TileHeight).
• OverlapLayers = 0 (default)
Indicates whether or not the polygons corresponding to different signal levels will be superimposed.
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