One drawback of Google Maps is that it doesn’t give you position data for a particular spot, like latitude/longitude or UTM coordinates, unless you jump through some hoops. But I’ve found a site that makes determining point coordinates easy, and even allows you to export those coordinates into a file.
Archive for January, 2007
In the first two parts of this series, I covered real-time GPS tracking in Google Earth using completely free solutions. These next two are free to download and use, but are donationware – if you wind up using them on a regular basis, the authors would appreciate a small donation to show your appreciation.
Continue reading ‘Real-Time GPS Tracking With Google Earth – DonationWare’
Rich of GPS TrackLog points out that the demo version of OziExplorer has the ability to open shapefiles, and export the data to a GPS. I’d avoided looking at OziExplorer because I thought it was shareware, and you’re obligated to pay $85 for registration to use it. But Rich is right – the demo version does let you import shapefiles, and send them to a GPS. And it does a bunch more as well:
Continue reading ‘GPS/GIS/Google Earth Import/Export With OziExplorer’
10/24/09: I’ve purchased two more Zagg products since the one below, and installation has become even more problematic. When installed, it still protects well, but be prepared for a lot of frustration when putting it on (and keep in mind that if it doesn’t install correctly, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee).
I take my GPS out into the field regularly, where it runs the risk of getting scratched. On the body of the unit that’s not a big deal, but scratching the display screen is. A few scratches can be distracting, while a lot of scratches can compromise the display clarity. That’s why I’ve put a new screen protector on my GPS unit’s display screen, a brand that works better than others I’ve seen and tried.
You can buy cut-to-fit screen protectors, but I’ve never been happy with them. It’s difficult to cut them to exactly the right size and shape, and they tend to peel up and off at the corners before too long. On some displays, there are problems with a polarizing effect that diminishes the brightness and contrast of the LCD display. So I looked for a better solution, and I think I found it. Zagg creates invisibleSHIELD screen protectors from the same material used to protect helicopter blades. It’s extremely tough and scratch-resistant, won’t come off unless you deliberately peel it off, and doesn’t interfere with the screen display the way cut-to-fit does. And Zagg makes protectors pre-cut to fit many standard GPS models from a wide variety of manufacturers (Acer, Brunton, Garmin, Lowrance, Magellan, Navman, Trimble, TomTom, Typhoon); they’ll even make a custom size for you at extra cost. The protector is removable if you need to send your unit in for repair, and ShieldZone will send you a replacement in that eventuality for only the shipping cost.
It’s not perfect. Application can be a little tricky, involving spraying the screen and your fingers with fluid, sliding the protector into position, and then squeegeeing out the application liquid; Zagg includes complete directions, and has an application video on the website as well. If you screw up the application process, you have only a limited time to re-do it before the adhesive sets up. The protector’s surface has a slightly “pebbly” texture that can show up under high-glare lighting conditions, but the unprotected screen would be unviewable under these lighting conditions, so that’s not a big issue.
Overall, I’m very happy with mine. It’s solid protection, not too expensive ($9.95 shipped for my model, $14.95 for the most expensive one), and it looks like it will do its job for a long time. Zagg also makes pre-cut protectors for many popular phones, MP3 players, PDAs and the like.
Here are three more completely free ways to do real-time GPS tracking with the free version of Google Earth.
Continue reading ‘Real-Time GPS Tracking For Google Earth – Free Options II’
Note: The free version of Google Earth now supports a basic version of live GPS tracking, but all this info is still relevant.
Here’s the first post in a series on real-time GPS tracking with the free version of Google Earth, starting with the completely free options, next donationware, then finally a couple of paid (but cheap) pieces of shareware.
Continue reading ‘Real-Time GPS Tracking For Google Earth – Free Options I’
Note: The free version of Google Earth now supports GPS, but all this info is still relevant.
Before I post about the options for doing real-time GPS tracking in Google Earth Free, there are potential complications to talk about: getting your GPS to communicate both with your computer, and with Google Earth. While Google Earth supports both NMEA and the Garmin USB PVT interface, most of the free and cheap options I’ll be talking about require an NMEA serial connection. Depending on what kind of GPS you have, and what kind of computer ports you have, that may be straightforward, but may not.
Continue reading ‘Real-Time GPS Tracking In Google Earth Free – Setup’
The new Garmin handheld GPS units with the “x” designation now offer removable microSD cards for map storage. Among the models with this capability are:
|
GPSmap 60Cx |
GPSmap 60CSx | GPSmap 76Cx | GPSmap 76CSx |
| eTrex Venture Cs | eTrex Vista Cx | eTrex Legend Cx | eTrex Vista HCx |
| eTrex Legend HCx | Astro Dog Tracking | Rino 520 HCx | Rino 530 HCx |
The first four are very similar in their electronics and capabilities; I own the first on the list (the 60Cx), and it’s fantastic! The SirfStarIII chipset allows fast position acquisition with incredible sensitivity – I can get fixes in heavy tree cover and mountainous terrain that gave my old Garmin eMap fits. The HCx models also use the SirfStar III chipset. While not geodetic-quality, if you use any of the SirfStarIII units with some care it’s possible to achieve 1-2 meter real-time positional accuracy repeatably. And the microSD (aka TransFlash) memory cards allow for lots of room for Garmin’s uploadable maps, like the Garmin USA Topo or City Navigator series. I’ve seen 1 GB microSD cards for less than 15 dollars, and Garmin says that their units will support 2 GB cards (but not SanDisk Ultra II cards). Added 6/22/2009: Recent hardware upgrades to some Garmin units may have increased this to 4 GB, but there are apparently issues with some cards. But there are two drawbacks to these large-capacity microSD cards:
