Converting Gpx To .ov2 On A Mac

[+SDMIATA]

I'm trying to get into Geocaching using the tools I already have at my disposal. The computer is a PowerMac G4 and the GPS is PalmOne Zire 72 with TomTom Navigator 5 Bluetooth GPS.

 

I have already installed CacheMate and CacheNav on my Palm. I am able to use MacCMConvert to convert GPX files for CacheMate/CacheNav. It works great. What I'm NOT able to do, is add waypoints to Navigator 5 from my Mac. Without having them in Navigator, I can't get to the general area of the Caches.

 

I see that GSAK apparently converts GPX to .ov2. But, unfortunately, GSAK is Windows only. I next turned to MacGPSBabel but it does not appear to output .ov2 files.

 

Somebody surely must have figured this out already? A way to convert GPX to TomTom's .ov2 on a Mac.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Mark

[+Cornix]

The latest GPSBabel version should support ov2 format:

 

2005-04-28: Ron Parker adds TomTom .ov2 (POI) file support

 

However, I don't know if this version is available for the Mac.

 

Cornix

[+SDMIATA]

Cornix,

 

Thank you for the reply. Well, I don't know what is going on then. I do see in the revision history at the GPSBabel site that .ov2 support was added. And my Mac version is the same version as the latest PC version. But I don't see any mention of "TomTom" or "Navigator" or ".ov2" in the input or output file type on the Mac OS X front end.

 

Does the Mac version front end have to be rewritten each time there is a new version of GPSBabel? If so, perhaps they used the old Mac front end and the .ov2 support is in there but not accessible because the Mac front end hasn't been rewritten to support it?

 

Frustrating! (But not enough so to make me leave a Mac.)

 

I'll ask about it on the GPSBabel mailing list. THANK YOU again!

 

Mark

[+Marky]

Does the Mac version front end have to be rewritten each time there is a new version of GPSBabel? If so, perhaps they used the old Mac front end and the .ov2 support is in there but not accessible because the Mac front end hasn't been rewritten to support it?

 

Frustrating! (But not enough so to make me leave a Mac.)

 

I'll ask about it on the GPSBabel mailing list. THANK YOU again!

 

Mark

If you access gpsbabel from the command line, you can get it to work. The Mac frontend is a completely seperate application.

 

--Marky

[robertlipe]

I think this discussion is unfolding now on the GPSBabel list, but Marky alludes to the solution. Build from source. If you really want the GUI, replace the GPSBabel executable used by the GUI with the one you just built; the new formats will magically appear.

 

(Yes, the GUIs ask GPSBabel for a list of menu options and use that to populate their menu trees. This is how I get away not having to rev the Windows and Mac GUI every time we add a new format.)

[+SDMIATA]

Yep, that was me on the GPSBabel E-mail list. Thank you again Robert for replying there.

 

To clarify for any other newbie reading this and asking the same question... While .ov2 file support was added on 4/28/05, the 1.2.5 version of MacGPSBabel was built in March. The 1.2.6 beta version of GPSBabel should have the .ov2 support but, unfortunately, there's not a Mac graphical front end for it yet.

 

As I explained to Robert on the E-mail list, I'm not a programmer and wouldn't know the first thing about compiling my own version nor do I use the command line. So, I'll have to wait patiently for a new MacGPSBabel and hope it arrives before too long. Once it is here, I should be able to do Geocaching from a single device... a Palm Zire 72 acting as both the GPS and as my paperless Cache tracking.

 

Again, my thanks to all that have replied!

 

Mark

[+Marky]

So, I'll have to wait patiently for a new MacGPSBabel and hope it arrives before too long. Once it is here, I should be able to do Geocaching from a single device... a Palm Zire 72 acting as both the GPS and as my paperless Cache tracking.

This is fun to do, and I've spent a few days caching using just my Zire 72 but it's not a very good solution for caching while hiking. The battery life is just not good enough. It is hard to convince the batteries to last more than about 3 hours while running CacheNav. It is fun just using one device for everything though. You can even log your finds via the Palm if you have a bluetooth phone with internet connectivity.

 

--Marky