NGS-GPX and POI Loader

[Wintertime]

I was out geocaching with some friends today, and they offered to let me use their Windows computer to run NGS>>GPX (which I couldn't run under WINE on my Mac). So we created a couple of .gpx files and looked at them in MS Word to make sure they had the entire NGS datasheets. So far, so good. But when we tried to run the .gpx files through Garmin POI Loader, we got an error message that the program had encountered "an unexpected error." I came home and tried the .gpx files with my Mac version of POI Loader and got the same (unhelpful) error message.

 

Anyone know what may be going wrong? Kurt sent me a sample benchmark POI file recently--it even had cute little benchmark icons for the survey stations--so I know there's a way to create benchmark POIs, but what am I missing about the process??

 

Patty

[jbuffethed]

I do not have a Mac, but this is what I use to get benchmarks to my Colorado on the PC. I think I had the same issue with POI loader. Hope this helps.

 

Click on the state and select the county: http://www.holoscene...ds_archive.html

 

You will download a ".dat" file.

 

Download NGS->GPX http://ngs.tsqmadnes...GPX-210b317.exe

 

It will convert to a usable gpx file. It gives you all the full description and all. I just drag the new gpx file into my gpx folder. All location adjusted show as a gold treasurebox, location scaled shows as a "?" You get the full description as you would a cache. I use this all the time and works like a champ.

 

Green Box - Regular Cache

Gold Box - Adjusted Benchmark

? - Scaled Benchmark

Little antenna near cursor - towers/radio antennas

 

Edited October 10, 2011 by jbuffethed

[Wintertime]

Hi, Jbuffethed.

 

Yep, putting GPX files on the GPSr as geocaches does work fine. I put a few in there when I first got this new eTrex. However, I want to have benchmarks as POI files on my micro-SD card so that I can choose each county as I need it and not have hundreds or thousands of benchmarks in my geocaching file.

 

Patty

[+EdrickV]

Did you use GSAK and the Nuvi Macro and not just run them through NGS-GPX? (GPX files created by NGS-GPX are by themselves not likely to get the full datasheet when run through POI Loader.) If you want to send a GPX file to me I could take a look at it, or I could send over a set of test files. (Say before and after macro .gpx files so you can see what the difference is.)

 

Edit: Also, don't know if it matters, but one thing I do is select to save the file to my computer rather then send it directly to the GPS. And what versions of POI Loader you using? (I have used 2.6.0.0 which is apparently not the newest now, and doesn't include sox.exe which the macro complained about till I downloaded it separately. The macro still worked without sox.exe since I wasn't using alerts.)

Edited October 10, 2011 by EdrickV

[foxtrot_xray]

If you guys figure out why POI Loader is showing the error, let me know, I can try to correct (read: prevent?) it from my end. I don't own a Garmin, so can't test.

 

--Mike.

[+EdrickV]

As far as I know, you don't actually need a Garmin GPS to download/run POI Loader. (It's a free program.) You just wouldn't be able to use the generated file. If you feel like doing that, the download page for the current version is here:

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=927

 

Edit: Oh, and another little thing, the files I make from my GSAK database don't use the benchmark icon because I changed some of the cache types to types my programs recognize. (NGS-GPX is normally configured, for me, to use Benchmark, Mystery, and Locationless cache icons. (For Adjusted/Scaled/Intersection Station respectively.) BasicGPS doesn't know what Benchmarks/Locationless caches are, so I changed those to Virtual Cache & Letterbox icons. I now use Cachebox, but I don't know if it supports Benchmarks/Locationless caches either.

Edited October 10, 2011 by EdrickV

[Wintertime]

(GPX files created by NGS-GPX are by themselves not likely to get the full datasheet when run through POI Loader.)

Aren't they? I thought NGS-GPX was what folks here were using to generate .gpx files for POIs. The GPX files had the full datasheet information.

 

Also, don't know if it matters, but one thing I do is select to save the file to my computer rather then send it directly to the GPS.

Yeah, we were doing that. Best to test on the computer first!

 

And what versions of POI Loader you using?

Whatever the latest version is; we just downloaded it this afternoon.

 

So what program are people using to convert NGS datasheets to GPX files for POIs, if not NGS-GPX? I know that GSAK can make GPX files, but it isn't set up for handling benchmarks, is it?

 

Patty

[+EdrickV]

For the Nuvi style, first you use NGS-GPX, then you use GSAK and the Nuvi macro. (So you take the .gpx file NGS-GPX made and import that into GSAK, run the Nuvi macro on it to create a new and different style .gpx file.) The NGS-GPX files would be fine in a paperless GPS as Geocaches, but that isn't what you want. You want Nuvi style POI data.

 

That said, unless 2.7 broke something, it still should have worked and created a .gpi file. You would just have not gotten the full datasheet. (Like what you experienced with BMGPX and the Mac POI Loader.)

 

Edit: GSAK does have and use a Benchmark icon, and can handle NGS-GPX generated files. (Probably the same icon that the macro uses and which you saw in that one test file.)

 

Edit2: Figured I'd lay it all out just to clarify.

NGS datasheet in .txt/.dat file -> NGS-GPX = .gpx -> GSAK -> Nuvi Macro = new .gpx files + icons -> POI Loader = .gpi file

Edited October 10, 2011 by EdrickV

[Wintertime]

NGS datasheet in .txt/.dat file -> NGS-GPX = .gpx -> GSAK -> Nuvi Macro = new .gpx files + icons -> POI Loader = .gpi file

 

Anyone else here who has turned NGS datasheets into POIs, is this how you've done it? There's no shorter way?

 

Patty

[+EdrickV]

NGS datasheet in .txt/.dat file -> NGS-GPX = .gpx -> GSAK -> Nuvi Macro = new .gpx files + icons -> POI Loader = .gpi file

 

Anyone else here who has turned NGS datasheets into POIs, is this how you've done it? There's no shorter way?

 

Patty

 

It's really just a three step process:

1. Making the .gpx file with NGS-GPX.

2. Making the Nuvi style Paperless .gpx files & icons with GSAK and the Nuvi macro.

3. Turning the files created in 2 into a .gpi file with POI Loader.

 

Since datasheets don't change that often, you could download the state wide files for states you intend to hunt Benchmarks in, download the county files for counties you're interested in, convert them and add them to GSAK, and then turn them into one (or more) big benchmark files. Once a benchmark is in GSAK, you don't need to re-convert/re-add unless something in the datasheet changes.

[Wintertime]

[unneeded quotage deleted]

 

It's really just a three step process:

I suppose, except that Step 1 is straightforward, whereas Step 2 can go wrong in lots of ways depending on which macro one uses and which settings in the macro one chooses. As I mentioned earlier, one of the suggested macros won't run, and the other one offers a choice of about a dozen Garmin models, none of which are the one I own. (Why does every Garmin have to have a different type of .gpx file, anyway?) I've tried about three different models, but nothing has worked yet. Since I can't get the Windows version of POI Loader to run under WINE, there's also the possibility that the Mac version isn't converting the GSAK files properly. I wish I could just go from NGS>>GPX to POI Loader and have done with it!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

[unneeded quotage deleted]

 

It's really just a three step process:

..... Since I can't get the Windows version of POI Loader to run under WINE, there's also the possibility that the Mac version isn't converting the GSAK files properly. I wish I could just go from NGS>>GPX to POI Loader and have done with it!

 

There are 2 options still available. 1st is to buy a netbook (about $200) and use it for benchmarking and the 2nd is to ask a friend to use their Windows system to run GSAK and the POI Loader on their system and connect your GPSr to it.

 

The netbook has the advantage of loading a mapping program on it and connecting your GPSr to it for a large screen in the field navigation unit.

 

John

[foxtrot_xray]

Can someone refresh my memory - what happens when you copy the GPX file straight from NGS»GPX onto a Garmin?

 

(Granted, I've never owned a Garmin. So when developing NGS»GPX, I copied the GPX files onto my PN-20,-40,-60, and watched them work. Since fields are 'standard', I didn't think that other brands wouldn't accept some of those fields.

[+EdrickV]

Can someone refresh my memory - what happens when you copy the GPX file straight from NGS»GPX onto a Garmin?

 

(Granted, I've never owned a Garmin. So when developing NGS»GPX, I copied the GPX files onto my PN-20,-40,-60, and watched them work. Since fields are 'standard', I didn't think that other brands wouldn't accept some of those fields.

 

The Benchmarks would get mixed up with his Geocaches, which he wants to avoid.

 

Edit: The Nuvi Macro I use is this one:

http://sites.google.com/site/jjreds012/download

Which has had issues trying to run under WINE.

 

Edit 2:And using something like the 1300 should probably work. (Different Nuvi models have different settings because some have different limits on characters and such. The test files I did were made using the 13xx setting.)

Edited October 12, 2011 by EdrickV

[Wintertime]

There are 2 options still available. 1st is to buy a netbook (about $200) and use it for benchmarking and the 2nd is to ask a friend to use their Windows system to run GSAK and the POI Loader on their system and connect your GPSr to it.

Thanks, John, but my friends with a Windows system couldn't get POI Loader to work properly. :-( We got an error message on the GSAK file. Not knowing anything about GSAK, I couldn't tell whether it was a problem with GSAK, the macro, or their version of Windows...

 

I don't actually need to connect my GPSr to a Windows system; I just need the resulting POI files. Since I only need to do this once for maybe 15-20 counties, and I can't be sure that it would work on whatever computer I might buy, I'm not inclined to risk $200 on an experiment. :-(

 

Patty

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

There are 2 options still available. 1st is to buy a netbook (about $200) and use it for benchmarking and the 2nd is to ask a friend to use their Windows system to run GSAK and the POI Loader on their system and connect your GPSr to it.

Thanks, John, but my friends with a Windows system couldn't get POI Loader to work properly. :-( We got an error message on the GSAK file. Not knowing anything about GSAK, I couldn't tell whether it was a problem with GSAK, the macro, or their version of Windows...

 

I don't actually need to connect my GPSr to a Windows system; I just need the resulting POI files. Since I only need to do this once for maybe 15-20 counties, and I can't be sure that it would work on whatever computer I might buy, I'm not inclined to risk $200 on an experiment. :-(

 

Patty

 

Patty, try running GSAK on your friends system. After sorting the marks to get the subset you want try doing an export to the 'Documents' folder or 'Desktop' and then transfer that file to the mini card. If you click on "file" at the top left of the GSAK screen the dropdown offers "export" which will then offer "Garmin POI" file (it is a .GPI file extension). It will then export the subset of marks showing on the screen. We are using GSAK version 7.6.2.45 which is not the newest version, but the options should still be there for the latest version.

 

Don't know if you really need to use the macro, so I would try doing 1 file as described above, and then load it to the GPSr and see how well it works.

 

John

 

PS: if all else fails - sell the Garmin and buy a DeLorme!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Patty,

 

I was telling John that you should get Delorme Topo 9 (with one of the cheap Delormes) & then wondered if that was even compatible with a Mac. This is what I found out.

 

Macintosh®

• » Compatible with Intel-based Macintosh computers running Boot Camp® for Windows XP/Vista/7

 

So, I am now wondering if Boot Camp® is what you should have, instead of WINE?

 

It has always seemed so strange to me, that anyone wants a Mac when they have so many problems running programs that we Windows people take for granted. But, we have other friends that have had only Macs and would never even consider owning anything else. So, I hope that you find something that will be just the ticket for you in your quest.

 

Shirley~

Edited October 13, 2011 by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)

[Wintertime]

John, I was running GSAK on my friends' machine. I didn't know that it had the ability to export directly to Garmin POIs; I'll try that next time I'm there. Or I'll look for that option on the copy of GSAK that I have.

 

Shirley, I've had Macs for nearly 30 years and this is the first time I've even gotten close to needing a Windows program for something, so I'm fine, thanks. Even this time, I only need it for long enough to convert about a dozen counties' worth of data, then I'll be done. Even my friends who own the Windows system were having trouble making it work, so I have no desire to use one again!

 

Patty

[+EdrickV]

From looking at the options on that, it does not appear that exporting via the File|Export option would get Paperless style info, which is what this whole thing is about. I think instead of the full datasheet you would basically get:

Name by Owner (1/1)

 

That's why the Nuvi macro exists. Now, in theory, it might be possible to use GPSBabel to make a POI file, but I don't know for sure, and the real trick is making the properly formatted .gpx files.