Help Converting NGS dat file

[ThugDragon]

"8) County Downloads

 

Once you are hooked on this hobby, you will want to do a "Pocket Query" like for caching. We're sorry but that is not available from GC.com at this time. There is an alternative that we use and it involves using a couple of other helpful programs and going to the NGS site to retrieve their latest county archive.

 

If you click here, NGS - it will take you to the NGS site. Just select the state, click Get County Archives, select the county and choose the file format (zipped if you are on dial-up internet) then click Download. Save this file to your hard drive.

 

You will need to download BMGPX to convert the downloaded file into a GPX format for use with other programs. You can get BMGPX here. BMGPX

 

Once you have installed BMGPX on your computer all you need to do is drag and drop the county file (unzipped) onto the BMGPX "icon" and it will spit out a gpx file ready to use.

 

We just drag and drop the newly created file onto GSAK and it will open the database and show the available benchmarks in the selected county. You can then manipulate that info as needed. You can get GSAK here GSAK . It is free for several weeks then you will get a nag screen after the trial period. The cost is only about $25 US.

 

There are a couple of threads that explain how to use some of the features for benchmark hunting. Sorting with GSAK Thread

AN early thread when GSAK was just getting set up for benchmarks."

 

 

I downloaded BMGPX and GSAK. No Problems.

I downloaded an unzipped ia196.dat file (story county, ia) from NGS database. No Problems.

Dropped .dat file on bmgpx and got a gsak file. No Problems.

Dropped ia169 gsak file on gsak icon and gsak opened up. Problem!

 

i got a bunch of caches from western austrailia from 2002-2004 on my screen?! where did i go wrong?

 

Thanks for any help!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

It sounds like you loaded the sample file for GSAK. Clyde lives in Western Australia.

 

John

[ThugDragon]

Here are the screens I am seeing:

 

 

I tried a few different counties and they did the same thing

 

Thanks again for any help!

Edited September 20, 2007 by ThugDragon

[+TheBeanTeam]

I wonder if the new data sheets that were mentioned in another thread may be causing a problem?

 

Try the new NGS->GPX program from foxtrot xray.

 

Here is the forum thread related to this program. This new program is a relative new item here and the pinned thread has not been updated to indicate its availability but this should work for you.

Edited September 20, 2007 by TheBeanTeam

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Or -- this link might help answer some questions...

 

The GSAK forums are a wealth of info.

 

There is always someone able to tell you what to do to make it work.

 

Shirley~

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Here's 1 link to start off with.

 

Western Australia?

 

John

Edited September 20, 2007 by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)

[+Klemmer]

Have you tried opening GSAK normally, creating a new database, then loading the .gpx file? Dropping a file onto GSAK is not the normal way to do it, at least for me.

[foxtrot_xray]

Have you tried opening GSAK normally, creating a new database, then loading the .gpx file? Dropping a file onto GSAK is not the normal way to do it, at least for me.

I don't think it's a GSAK issue - I really thing the original BMGPX program's dying out on 'misplace' coords.. (Not to toot my own horn!) But I did a lot of testing with GSAK when I was making my GPX files, and usually that message at the end - the GPX contained 0 waypoints - means that there was something wrong with the file itself. (Or that there really were no waypoints in the file.)

 

ThugDragon - can you zip up and post your GPX file that didn't load?

 

Mike.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

I downloaded BMGPX and GSAK. No Problems.

I downloaded an unzipped ia196.dat file (story county, ia) from NGS database. No Problems.

Dropped .dat file on bmgpx and got a gsak file. No Problems.

Dropped ia169 gsak file on gsak icon and gsak opened up. Problem!

 

i got a bunch of caches from western austrailia from 2002-2004 on my screen?! where did i go wrong?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

We have the BMGPX program in its own folder. When we drop an unzipped county file on the icon it creates a gpx file in that folder. All the counties we downloaded (and ran through BMGPX) are in that folder.

 

You can open that file with Notepad and see if there is any data there.

 

We suggest opening GSAK and making sure the "Default" database is empty. While the Default database is showing, just drag and drop the GPX file from the BMGPX folder onto the "Default" database. It should open with no problems.

 

I seriously doubt that the problem is with the BMGPX program considering how many counties we have downloaded and run through it. If you have been saving the BMGPX output file to the GSAK main folder you may be loading the sample file by mistake. This would explain the waypoints being for Western Australia.

 

If you click on the "File" button at the top left of the GSAK screen and select "load gpx/loc", you can look at the address & name of the file to be loaded. If it does not match the file you want you can 'browse' to the correct file from that 'dialog box'. If it says "sample.gpx" then you are loading the sample file.

 

We just did the drag and drop and loaded 52 benchmarks from ia137 (selected at random). Downloaded the county, unzipped it in the BMGPX folder, drop it on the BMGPX icon, opened GSAK, dragged and dropped the output file onto the default database, and see 52 benchmarks listed.

 

Hope this is what you need,

 

John