As a wrap-up to the “Google Earth Plus features for free” series, I’ll briefly comment on the three paid (albeit cheap) options for doing real-time GPS tracking with the free version of Google Earth.
Franson GPSGate Google Earth plug-in
I mentioned GPSGate in an earlier post – it converts a Garmin USB connection to an NMEA equivalent, and also splits a single NMEA connection into multiple serial connections, so that more than one program can receive data from your GPS at the same time. If you buy the Express edition of GPSGate (only two connections) for $9.95, or the Standard edition (unlimited connections) for $29.95, you can also download and install a free plug-in that lets you do real-time GPS tracking with Google Earth. Haven’t tried it, so can’t really comment on it, but from the screenshots and description it looks pretty good.
EarthTracker will run for a few minutes, then timeout; you then have to re-start it. Registration for $10 stops the timeouts. The feature set looks pretty decent: supports NMEA and Garmin USB, fleet tracking then Supports Garmin USB connection, fleet tracking, comes with a data converter. But I was unable to get it to work correctly; with an NMEA connection, Google Earth opens and displays a position marker briefly before shutting down spontaneously; I suspect that one of the Google Earth API revisions broke it. And the Garmin USB connection didn’t work at all. But give it a shot – it might work for you. Comes with a PDF manual.
GETrax has a 30-day free trial period, then requires $9.95 registration. Comes with a wide-variety of features, including APRS support, sending data to Google Maps, file conversion, etc., and worked fine on my system. Comes with a decent help file as well. Don’t know that I’d choose it over EarthBridge, but at least worth checking out in 30-day demo mode. DestinSharks has a review of this program, along with reviews of GooPs, EarthBridge, and Google Earth Plus.
USGS Topo Maps, Aerial Imagery, And Scanned Maps On Your Garmin GPS!
Choose The Right Option For Your Garmin Handheld Model
 
Actual screenshots from a Garmin Oregon! |
G-Raster For The Garmin Colorado/Oregon/Dakota/62/78 Series“… great (tool) for creating custom maps ...” GPS Tracklog Blog “… easy as 1, 2, 3.” gpsinformation.net “Works great!” GPSFix "Holy crap; this looks amazing.” GPSFileDepot Click here for more info on G-Raster |
 
Actual screenshots from a Garmin 60Cx! |
Moagu For The 60C(S)x, 76C(S)x, And Some eTrex Models"... Moagu rocks! This really is revolutionary!" GPS Tracklog Blog Click here for more info on Moagu |
Related posts:
- Real-Time GPS Tracking In Google Earth Free – Setup
- Real-Time GPS Tracking For Google Earth – Free Options I
- Converting A Garmin USB GPS Connection To Multiple Serial NMEA Connections
- New App For Real-Time GPS Tracking In Google Earth
- Real-Time GPS Tracking For Google Earth – Free Options II
- Update On GooPs – Real-Time GPS Tracking In Google Earth
- Splitting A Single NMEA Serial GPS Connection Into Multiple Virtual NMEA Ports
- GPS Support Added To Free Version Of Google Earth
- Open Source Web-Based GPS Fleet Tracking Software
- Change In Google Earth License Terms Allows Business Use?
- Recap Of Google Earth Plus For Free Series
- Real-Time GPS Tracking With Google Earth – DonationWare
- Java-Based GPS Route Format Converter
- Google Earth Plus – Do You Really Need It?
- A PC GPS Application That Lets You Use Garmin Vector Maps For Live Navigation (OSM, Google And Bing Maps, Too)
Dear Sirs,
I would like to have the paid version of google earth. But it must show me a very clear pictures of Angola, because I need to track cars circulating inside of Angola. Can you offer me a good solution?
Thanks and regards,
Cesar da Cruz
The paid version of Google Earth has the same imagery as the free version, it only downloads it faster and prints it with higher resolution. So if the current resolution for Angola is unsatisfactory, the paid version will show no improvement. And the imagery is not real-time, but can be months or even years old, with updates occurring months/years apart, making it impractical to track cars.
Hello,
I need a version of Google Earth that could provide me with more imagery than the free version can, I need to see an area that is not visible in the regular one, besides that the images would have to be updated quite often, so then I could observ the development of a farm in that area.
Do you know of any program like Google Earth or one of its versions that could fit to my needs?
No – all versions of Google Earth have the same imagery. You would need to purchase such imagery directly from a company like Digital Globe.