working with tracklogs

[+ras_oscar]

Just when ya think ya know everything....

 

OK here's the deal:

 

I'm saving tracklogs of trails to my Garmin Etrex Vista HCX memory card. I've configured the unit to save "most ' data "automatic" to the data card, which has plenty of memory.

 

1. I go out into the field, stand on a trail and let the unit settle down, then turn track logs on.

 

2. I walk along the trails, recording them on tracklogs.

 

3. When I get to a point where I need to "go off trail" I turn tracklogs off, set a cairn and go do my smiley thing. Then I return to the cairn, I turn tracklogs back on and continue as before.

 

4. Repeat step 3 multiple times throughout the day.

 

Life is good

 

5. When I return to the Geocave I have a single tracklog with a record of the trails I traveled that day on my mem card with the name related to the date they were recorded. I change the GPX file name to something useful (IE park_geo_wonder01.gpx) The logs show up on the GPSr.

 

Life is still good.

 

6. Repeat steps 1 thru 5 another day at a different park and rename to a different name (IE Park Geo_futile_01.gpx) Tracks from both parks still show on the GPSr.

 

Life is getting better all the time. GPSr shows "saved" tracklogs=0, which is what I expect since all are on the mem card..... or Are they?

 

7. Just by happenstance I turn the GPSr on with the mem card removed. Shows the little "you are here" triangle on a big empty yellow screen, since the maps are also on the mem card.

 

Now things get weird, because, there, in the middle of the big yellow blob is MY TRACKLOGS in order to erase them I need to delete. no option to deleted selected logs, just all or nothing. Now the saved logs on the card don't show up EVEN WHEN THE CARD IS REINSERTED.

 

Is the expected behavior , or am I missing a setup option somewhere in the bowels of the GPSr? What I had hoped for was the ability to selectively erase tracklogs (as I get the updated maps with the trails included in OSM) not globally delete them all.

 

Before you brand me an ijot, please re-read the sentence between item 6 and 7 above.

Edited February 27, 2010 by ras_oscar

[eaparks]

1. The tracks saved to the memory card can only be viewed and/or edited on your PC; they can not be viewed on your GPS unless you transfer them back to your GPS with Mapsource.

 

2. You can delete 1 "saved" track at a time (this does not apply to tracks on your memory card due to item 1 above): Go to your "Main Menu" then "Tracks" and enter a saved track and you will have a choice to delete that track.

 

"saved" tracklogs=0... sounds like you are not saving individual tracks and all tracks are being combined in your "Active" track log. So yes, if this is the case you won't see any individual tracks to delete and deleting the "Active" track log would delete all of your tracks, because they are in effect all in 1 file.

Edited February 27, 2010 by eaparks

[+ras_oscar]

soooooo to gain the functionality I am looking for I need to select the day's logs and save them to a file at the end of each day. That would move the points from the active file to the named file. True? I thoiught the saved logs had a limit on the number of points.

[eaparks]

What I had hoped for was the ability to selectively erase tracklogs (as I get the updated maps with the trails included in OSM) not globally delete them all.

 

Here is some good informative information pertaining to tracks on the 60CSx, the Vista HCx has the same screen menus and does the same functions as the 60CSx, just different buttons to push to accomplish the same results. http://www.gpsfaqs.org/faqs/garmin/xseries...csx/tracks.html

 

soooooo to gain the functionality I am looking for I need to select the day's logs and save them to a file at the end of each day. That would move the points from the active file to the named file. True?

Yes, but the track will still be in and part of the active track log, so if you want to remove the saved track from the Active Track Log you will need to clear the Active Track Log and start saving a new Active Track Log. I believe what most users do, at least me, is once a trail is hiked is to save that trail and name it in the GPS and then clear the Active Track Log and do the next trail (again save track/rename) and again clear the Active Track Log and repeat for all trails. If you are going to exceed the 20 limit track capacity then don't clear the last Active Track Log and always save all tracks to the memory card, also. When you clear the Active Track Log it will not delete the tracks you have saved and renamed as your new saved tracks.

 

That would move the points from the active file to the named file. True? I thoiught the saved logs had a limit on the number of points.

No, it does not move them as your refer to but it resaves the track. It is more like a copy & paste instead of a cut & paste. You can take this one step further in the saving track feature if you want to, by actually specifying a starting point and ending point of the track to save. The saved track logs do have a maximum number of 10,000 points that can be saved, this is split across the 20 track maximum capacity = 500 points per track. Unless you are doing a whole lot of turning in your hikes / tracks the filtered 500 track point limit usually does not cause a problem.

 

If the 500 filtered saved track points do not have the detail of the hike that you are wanting, then keep in mind that the tracks saved to the memory card are not filtered and you can split, join, and edit them on your PC or whatever else you want to do to them without any loss of detail or filtering. Mapsource is actually very good at track manipulation.

Edited February 28, 2010 by eaparks

[+ras_oscar]

had no idea that there was an "active tracklog" going on inside the GPSr. The reading link to the 60csx was very informative. In swummary, the only tracks that show on the GPSr are:

 

1. the active tracklog, cumulative, wraps and "deletes" oldest points

2. the saved tracklogs, compressed to 500 points or less and subject to a 20 log limit

3. Combined tracklogs created in mapsource by combining data from the .gpx files and rewritten to the saved tracklog fields on tne GPSr.

 

Guess I've gotta rethink my field work. Thanks.

[+ras_oscar]

OK Cleared out the active tracklog, copied the gpx files to the PC, fired up mapsource, opened the tracklogs, and sent to device. Saved under the appropriate name and checked off show on map. Unfortunately the GPSr to stitches the discontinuous segments together and ends up inserting long spurreous lines that only serve to clutter up the display. I suspect the unit uses the timestampsd to do this. The tracklogs are highly discontinuous because I only turn the feature on when I'm recording trails that don't appear on OSM. Do I need to retrace the points into a continuous tracklog in Mapsource and send that to the GPSr or is there a way to tell mapsource/GPSr to just map the points as recorded? If I need to retrace what do I do about the timestamps?

[+coggins]

First off, quit turning you track logging on and off, just let it record the raw data to the datacard. You then take that raw data, back it up and edit a copy on your computer. In the field you can save from the active to saved tracks if you want, and that doesn't effect the raw data sent to the datacard. Any time you want, you can clear out the active in the field, this gives you 20 slots to save tracks on an outing, with the complete raw data saved to edit later.

[+ras_oscar]

kay.. If I leave track log on for the entire trip how do distinguish between travel on a trail and bushwacking off trail in the tracklog when tree cover is too dense to see the trail on the overheads? I can only define one color for all tracks and i cant export symbols with the tracklog

[+coggins]

If I leave track log on for the entire trip how do distinguish between travel on a trail and bushwacking off trail in the tracklog when tree cover is too dense to see the trail on the overheads?

Mark waypoints, label them accordingly. You can even use custom waypoint icons to distinguish different uses in the field.

I can only define one color for all tracks and i cant export symbols with the tracklog

If you save a segment from the active track while recording to the datacard, you can define the color displayed of that segment. You can also transfer the marked waypoints, saved tracks and raw track into an editing program and then edit the raw track using the waypoints or saved tracks to guide you where to edit the raw data track.

[+ras_oscar]

Thanks. More food for thought. Need to rethink my field work process.