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1 Garmin GPS Receiver Utility
2 Using the Garmin Utility Program
- 2.1 Notes
3 Map.From.Net
4 avdata.from.net
- 4.1 Aviation Data
5 Requirements for Running Map.From.Net Mapper
6 Map.From.Net User's Guide - Running the Program

Garmin GPS Receiver Utility

http://web.archive.org/web/20030812081752/http://map.from.net/pub/garmin.ipk Latest Garmin Utility Package

This is a .ipk file for installing the Garmin utility programs on a Zaurus SL-5500 PDA. It provides functions to read tracks from the Garmin GPS receiver into a file on the Zaurus, and to transfer waypoint lists between the devices. It is Java-based and runs under Jeode on the SL-5500.

This package operates as a command-line utility program. It requires the use of a shell. You might need to install konsole or an equivalent program before using this. Usage notes and additonal info are below (Using the Garmin Utility Program).

Garmin is a trademark of the Garmin Corporation, which has no business relationship with this site. Direct inquiries to info@map.from.net

This software is no longer undergoing development.

Using the Garmin Utility Program

The included script rungchat is used from a shell to start the program. All options are given from the command line:

rungchat action [ arg ] [ action [ arg ] ]... 

where:

action [ arg ] is one of:

-t trackfile  Download active tracklog from Garmin GPSR to trackfile
-ws wptfile   Download all waypoints from Garmin GPSR to wptfile
+ws wptfile   Upload waypoints in wptfile to GPSR from wptfile
-p            Power off the GPSR

Example:

rungchat -ws today.wpt -t triptograndma.trk -p

Notes

The Garmin GPS receiver interface parameter must be set to "Garmin" before running this program.

The waypoint file format is compatible for use with the Map.From.Net program. Aircraft pilots may obtain waypoint and aviation data at avdata.from.net.

The track file format is useful for archival only at present. Utilities to import and display tracks on the Map.From.Net display, and to analyze tracks will be made available at a later date.

Map.From.Net

Free Packages Latest Zaurus Package is here http://web.archive.org/web/20030604082528/http://map.from.net/pub/mapfnet.ipk

This is a .ipk file for installing the Map.From.Net program on a Zaurus SL-5500 PDA. It is bundled with a map of a single county: the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. You may send a request for any single county in the United States for use with this evaluation package to info@map.from.net.

Upcoming releases of this packages will provide seamless accessability to the entire United States map.

avdata.from.net

Aviation Data

This web site provides access to an aviation database via SQL (we use mySQL) which is based on data obtained from the publicly available files maintained by the FAA.

No representation is made regarding its accuracy or suitability for flight planning. This interface is provided for the convenience of the public for any purpose.

If you are a pilot, it remains your responsibility to verify all data with authoritative sources prior to using it for flight planning.

If you agree that the maintainer of this site bears no liability or responsibility for the safety of your flights, then you may access the database here.

Waypoints along a Route There is also a facility which uses the database to selectively extract waypoints along a route, and present them in a format suitable for loading into your GPS receiver. That facility is here. Airman Data This database also contains three tables (airman, tickets, ratings) which comprise the publicly available FAA data on licensing. This information is not guaranteed to be current or complete. Some licensees have chosen to be excluded from the publicly-available data set. Some background information on the files from which this was obtained are here.

Requirements for Running Map.From.Net Mapper

The Map.From.Net mapper program is a Java program. As such, it requires a Java Virtual Machine with adequate memory, file and display capacity to display the maps in use. Additionally, to support the NMEA (GPS) function, it must have access to a serial port which reads NMEA GPGLL reports from an appropriate device at 4800 baud. Future versions of the program will support more varied NMEA and proprietary position reporting formats and modes.

For the initial release, this configuration is verified to work properly:

Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 palmtop computer running Insignia JVM with Qtopia
128MB SD or CF memory expansion
Garmin etrex GPS receiver with serial cable
SL-5500 serial cable
null-modem and gender-mender DB-9 connectors

The program has also been tested with the Sun Java SDK 1.3.1 environment under Red Hat Linux 7.1.

Map.From.Net User's Guide - Running the Program

NOTE: This is out-of-date, and the appearance has changed slightly

Main Display

At left is a sample of the main display screen. The program is started by invoking the GeoPlot class with the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) - or "evm" in the case of the Sharp Zaurus. The program will initially display a map of the last chosen location, at the last chosen scale.

Annotated copies of this sample are shown in the following sections.

Main Display Legend

Image:Http://web.archive.org/web/20030604165711/map.from.net/pub/mainann.png

Key

Crosshairs

The crosshairs indicate the last currently report position reported by the NMEA (GPS) feed. If no position has been reported, the crosshairs do not appear.

Scale

The scale indicates the physical distance depicted by the content of the map across the width of display. Currently, units are displayed in statute miles.

Configuration

This button, labeled "Opt" for Options, enables the configuration parameters display. See the section titled Configuration for more detail.

Quick Pan

This button toggles Quick Pan mode on and off. When Quick Pan mode is enabled, clicked on the map area causes the map center to be set to the chosen point at the current zoom level. When Quick Pan is disabled, clicking on map surface causes the Zoom/Pan display to appear, from which you may choose various zoom level changes, or you may Mark a new waypoint, or compute distances.

When Quick Pan mode is enabled, this is indicated by the letters "QP" being displayed in upper case. Otherwise, they are displayed in lower case, as shown in the example.

Quantities

The three quantity button/display boxes are used to display information related to current movement and/or current position in relation to selected waypoints. Clicking on any box causes the display value to be cycled through each of eight possible values: Current Heading - azimuth degrees displayed in black on white background. Also depicted by black "lollipop" on Bearings indicator at right. Current Speed - miles per hour displayed in black on pale green background. Bearing to Waypoint - azimuth degree indicating bearing to selected waypoint based on current position. Up to three waypoints may be selected for simultaneous reference. Bearings are displayed as red, green or blue on white background. Each bearing is also depicted at right in the Bearings indicator with a correspondingly colored "lollipop". Distance to Waypoint - statute miles, displayed in the assigned waypoint color, on a pale "earth" background, as used in the map.

Bearings

This provides a graphical depiction of current heading, and up to three bearing indicators that show compass direction to waypoints chosen. All references are true north (not magnetic).

Clicking on the Bearings display causes the Waypoints Panel to be displayed.

Slave

NMEA (GPS) slave indicator. Displays "S" on a green background when the map is set to move (track) according to position reports. In effect, when slaved, the map will always display current position if known. When disable (fixed), the is shows "F" on a white backgorund.

Cache

Cache - the cache manager task status. This shows the current state of the internal map data retrieval program. When green, it is idle. When red, it is retrieving data required immediately for map drawing. When yellow, it is retrieving data that may be required in the future, according to prediction. When black, a malfunction has occurred and it has failed. It will be restarted automatically. This indicator will be removed in a later product release.

Comm

The NMEA communication task activity indicator. This shows the low order numeric digit of the most recent position report time. It is used to determine whether the link to the NMEA source is active. This indicator will be removed in a later product release.

Bias Up

This increases the feature display level by one degree. The feature level is automatically determined by the display scale and size. This option allows a certain degree of override, according to user preference. Selecting a feature level which is too detailed for the current zoom could hinder performance of the map drawing engine.

Bias Down

This decreases the feature level bias by one degree.

Bias Neutral

This resets the feature level bias to the default value.

Waypoints

These are user-defined waypoints, obtained from the waypoint file. This file is a simple ASCII file which can be manually edited, or generated programmatically. A utility is available from From.Net Services which enables you to up/download such a file to/from Garmin etrex GPS receivers.

Configuration Panels

When you click the "Opt" button of the main map display, the Configuration Panels are displayed. There are currently two configuration panels:

Display Configuration Panel

As illustrated above, you may choose either of the two configuration panels by clicking on the appropriate button: Display Config or File/Communication Config. The Display Configuration panel is shown above, containg these options:

Scroll Mode

There are two choices: jump or smooth. While in slave mode (with the map tracking the GPS reports), with jump mode, the map will remain stationary most of the time, and only be repositioned when the current location changes substantially. The crosshairs will move to indicate current location. In smooth mode, the map will move constantly, such that the crosshairs (and current location) remain at the center of the display (subject to performance limitations). In very detailed areas at high speed, it may be preferable to use jump mode to improve performance. You might prefer jump mode for stability of map reference in some circumstances.

Waypoint Mode

The purple waypoints can be displayed with or without associated labels. Without labels, they appear only as points.

File/Communication Config panel looks like this:

You may set the paths for various sources/destinations of program data here. Currently, two specifications are available:

Waypoint Source

Indicates the source of waypoint data. This must be a valid URL. If it is of type "file:", then the waypoints may be saved back if updated.

GPS Serial Port

A serial port path, such a /dev/ttyS0 is supplied here to indicate the source of NMEA position reports.

Zoom/Pan Panel

When Quick Pan mode is disable, and you click on a map, the Zoom/Pan Panel is displayed:

This panel appears when you click on the map with Quick Pan disabled. The location represented by your click is indicated in terms of latitude and longitude as shown at Click Point. Once this panel is displayed, subsequent map clicks update the Click Point position and compute and display the distance between clicks below it. The buttons available are:

Relative Zoom

This causes the map to be repositioned to the chosen click point and a revised zoom level. The numbers indicate relative magnification. 1.0 indicates no change (just pan), number greater than 1.0 indicate zoom in; less than one, zoom out.

Using this function switch the display from slaved to fixed mode. Click on the slave mode indicator to resume tracking GPS if desired.

Cancel

Removes the panel without any action.

Add Waypoint

Adds a waypoint to the current list at the selected point. The waypoint is not saved permanently unless you save the list with the Save File function described in Waypoints

Waypoints Panel

Image:Http://web.archive.org/web/20030719014526/map.from.net/pub/wptann.png The waypoints panel provides a display of waypoints, and allows you to select them for bearing calculation or map retrieval.

This panel enables you to use waypoints for reference.

Selection

The waypoint to be affected by the chosen operation is selected here.

Reposition

Clicking "Map" causes the map to be repositioned to the selected waypoint, and "unslaved".

Save File

The current waypoint list is saved to the file specified by the corresponding configuration parameter (see Waypoint Source), if allowed.

Assign

The "Bearing" buttons cause the selected waypoint to be assigned to the bearing slot of the corresponding color. Then information pertaining to the relative location of the waypoint will be tracked, as described in Quantities and Bearings

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