Downloading Benchmarks In Gsak - Where?

[+baloo&bd]

OK, feel free to point me to the thread I know is here somewhere, I can just not find it.

 

There was a location I wne to at one point thaat allowed downloads of counties for benchmarks. I know I had put it in GSAK at one point, but deleted it so long ago I can't remeber how or where I did this.

 

So, my questions are:

 

1. Where do I download the benchmarks for a given county and or state?

 

2. What do I need to do to get it into a form GSAK can read? i.e. turn it into a GPX file.

 

Thanks and be gentle with me, I really did try to search?

[+rogbarn]

So, my questions are:

 

1. Where do I download the benchmarks for a given county and or state?

 

2. What do I need to do to get it into a form GSAK can read? i.e. turn it into a GPX file.

1. NGS DATASHEET PAGE

This is the front page to downloading all kinds of stuff from the NGS in different ways. For counties, click on ARCHIVED DATASHEETS, then YEARLY ARCHIVES, then select your state and click on Get County Archives. From there, select one county at a time and download. If you have a high speed line, don't bother to zip it, it saves time to not bother with the unzipping. The filenames come down in ssnnn.DAT format where ss = state and nnn = county number. To convert county number to county name you need the county file from the Misc. Files section where you select your state.

 

2. Someone just asked about the site this morning in the forum titled Benchmarks And Gpx. WHat you need is BMGPX, it is available here.

[+PFF]

I have not been able to get the county archives, lately. I'm taken to a page that tells me to use my e-mail address as a password. However, I've never seen a window where I could enter a password, and this was not necessary previously. Is anyone else experiencing this?

 

-Paul-

[+PFF]

Let me clarify what I am seeking. I can get the county marks, from the NGS data base. What I was looking for was the list of updates. It was in the archive section. Monthly, I believe. That's what I am not able to access.

[+baloo&bd]

Thanks a bunch roqbarn, that's what I was looking for.

[+Muzikman]

Hmm, nifty tool. I do have one problem / question. I am using GSAK (great little tool too) and when I open the GPX file that BMGPX created it makes all the waypoint names the designation name. I would rather this just keep the PID as the waypoint name. Is there any way of doing this? I am pretty new to GSAK (I have always used EasyGPS).

[+Muzikman]

Never mind, I figured it out. These apps all work great together...now it's time to actually pay for them.

[+embra]

Let me clarify what I am seeking. I can get the county marks, from the NGS data base. What I was looking for was the list of updates. It was in the archive section. Monthly, I believe. That's what I am not able to access.

You were close...clicking on the "archive" button at the NGS datasheets page should next bring up a window that lets you choose between yearly and monthly updates.

 

If you haven't got it, take a look at a handy program to merge the monthly updates into your yearly archive file...dsupdate.

[+2dest]

Umm, I need some help. I can download a county benchmark file (.dat), but then what? I have GMBPX and have read the help text but I just don't get it. I need help with "Command " to convert dat to gpx. M a y b e y o u c o u l d t y p e

s l o w l y . . .

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Umm, I need some help. I can download a county benchmark file (.dat), but then what? I have GMBPX and have read the help text but I just don't get it. I need help with "Command " to convert dat to gpx. M a y b e y o u c o u l d t y p e

s l o w l y . . .

After you download the file as a text file you then drag and drop that text file onto the bmgpx file icon. The white square with the blue top.

 

Hope this helps,

 

John

[+2dest]

Yep, now that I can do! After several attempts, it worked OK. I am really pleased - thanks for the fast response too.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

You are welcome - glad we could help.

 

Just save a few for rest of us.

[+Country dude]

I am lost. I downloaded BMGPX but dont have a clue how to install /run. What are command prompts? I can see the help text but what do i do with the exe.file?

[+Muzikman]

in a command prompt type;

 

bmgpx <*.dat>

 

*.dat being the .dat file you downloaded from the NGS web site.

 

The other thing you can do is save the .dat file to a folder and then double click on it. It will ask you what program you want to use to open it. Choose bmgpx.exe and it will create a .gpx file in the same folder as the .dat file.

 

You can then use an app like GSAK to open the .gpx file.

 

Edit: Sorry, I missed you very first question. A command prompt, also called a DOS Prompt is where you type commands in a line.

 

To get to this prompt in Win95/98/ME click Start -> Run and type in "command" (without the ") and click OK

 

To get to this prompt in Win NT/2000/XP click Start -> Run and type in "cmd" (without the ") and click OK.

 

You will get a prompt similar to: C:\>

 

----

 

The other thing you can do is place the mbgpx.exe in the "Send To" folder under your profile. This would let you download the *.dat file from NGS web site, place it in a folder. Then using my computer or Windows Explorer, browse to the folder the *.dat file is located in, right click on that file and select Send To -> bmgpx.exe. This will also create a .gpx file in the same folder and with the same file name.

 

The send to folder is located under your profile. If you are using windows XP, it will look similar to thsi;

 

C:\documents and settings\jbeam\send to

 

(jbeam - being your profile name)

Edited October 22, 2004 by Muzikman

[+TroutGuy78]

So I downloaded what I thought was the BMGPX program, but it only downloaded a bmgpx.zip.prl file, and I can't unzip it (it was only 12 KB anyway). Where can I get the BMGPX.exe file to convert the .prl files I downloaded from NGS so I can use GSAK?

[+Muzikman]

http://parkrrrr.com/bmgpx.zip

 

That link should take you to the file you want to download. It is a .zip file. if you are running windows XP or ME you should not need any special application to open this file. If you are running another windows based operting system, then WinZip would be a good utility to have. once it is unzipped and the bmgpx.exe is placed in it's own folder you can then us it based on the steps I listed above. If you are still having problems. Drop me a PM (private message) and I'll give you my phone number and I'll try to give ya a hand over the phone.

[+TroutGuy78]

Hey Muzikman, I'm still getting the bmgpx.zip.prl file. It's not downloading as a zip file that lets me unzip the program as bmgpx.exe Any suggestions? Thanks. -TroutGuy78

[+Muzikman]

What operating system are you using?

[+Black Dog Trackers]

TroutGuy78 -

 

12K is correct for the .zip file.

 

Do this:

 

When you click on the link that Muzikman provided and you indicate that you want to save the file to disk, you must type in (by hand) the extension .zip where the bmgpx is showing in the "File name:" box so that it says bmgpx.zip That should take care of windows (or whatever) wanting to put .prl on the end.

[+TroutGuy78]

For some strange reason I'm still getting a .prl file. I'm running Windows XP. Clicking the link provided automatically brings up the download process. I've tried manipulating the name to ONLY be a zip, but no luck. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks for all your help. -TroutGuy78

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

TroutGuy,

 

Try this link for Parker. Click the BMGPX button and save to your choice of folders.

 

I just tried it with the desktop and had no problems what so ever. I saved it to my benchmark database folder and unzipped it there with no problems.

 

John

[+Muzikman]

once the file is downloaded, right click on it and select "rename" then rename the file to bmgpx.zip and then try running it. I looked it up an the PRL extension is a Perl Script file. I have no clue why your browser would be adding that extention. If you are using Internet Explorer I would check your PC for adware.

[+TroutGuy78]

Eureka! The renaming trick worked. I don't know why the downloads were adding .prl to everything. It even did it with the files I downloaded from NGS from the yearly archives. Anyway, everything has worked for me and I've opened the gpx files into GSAK, and there they are. Thanks to everyone who helped me on this one. -TroutGuy78