PC Software for Garmin GPS

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

Check out: topofusion.comtopofusion.comOpen ↗

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

--

Try expertgps.com it doesn't do everything you are looking
for but the software will quarry existing GIS databases and
do some pretty cool plotting. Arial views, topo views and
streetmaps. I bought a garmin forerunner which has software
that does most of the things you are looking for but
sattelite reception in some of the areas I ride was
inconsistant. I returned it. Does the Geko have a built in
altimeter???

The ideal cycing gadget would be a GPS built into a Poalr
720i, may be through in a compass to back up the GPS in poor
reception areas.

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

--

Try expertgps.com it doesn't do everything you are looking
for but the software will quarry existing GIS databases and
do some pretty cool plotting. Arial views, topo views and
streetmaps. I bought a garmin forerunner which has software
that does most of the things you are looking for but
sattelite reception in some of the areas I ride was
inconsistant. I returned it. Does the Geko have a built in
altimeter???

The ideal cycing gadget would be a GPS built into a Poalr
720i, may be through in a compass to back up the GPS in poor
reception areas.

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

Try expertgps.com it doesn't do everything you are
looking for but

the software will quarry existing GIS databases and do some
pretty cool plotting. Arial views, topo views and
streetmaps. I bought a garmin forerunner which has software
that does most of the things you are looking for but
sattelite reception in some of the areas I ride was
inconsistant. I returned it. Does the Geko have a built in
altimeter???

The ideal cycing gadget would be a GPS built into a Poalr
720i, may be through in a compass to back up the GPS in poor
reception areas.

Quoted message said:

--

"DirtRoadie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote
in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled,
perhaps with the ability to add names of villages or
points of interest to such a graph. A statistical
analysis of distance, average speed, total height
climbed, average gradient etc etc printed out would also
be very interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such
software?? Many thanks John Fontana

Check out: topofusion.comtopofusion.comOpen ↗

I Use GARtrip.

Marty

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

Look at www.endlesspursuit.com

It does everything you've listed, but unfortunately is only
available online and is kind of expensive.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by John
jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

Look at www.endlesspursuit.com

It does everything you've listed, but unfortunately is only
available online and is kind of expensive.

How about Delorme Topo 4 or the new Topo 5? I've got Topo 4 and use my Magellan Meridian to plot the track of the ride and elevation profile information.

kgatwork said:

John said:

jwillyfontana <[email hidden]> wrote
in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko
301 portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with
it's bar bracket. It comes with PC interface. I
would love to be able to graphically view the data
from the GPS on my PC, producing an elevation
profile of a route cycled, perhaps with the ability
to add names of villages or points of interest to
such a graph. A statistical analysis of distance,
average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software??
Many thanks John Fontana

Look at www.endlesspursuit.com It does everything
you've listed, but unfortunately is only available
online and is kind of expensive.

How about Delorme Topo 4 or the new Topo 5? I've got Topo
4 and use my Magellan Meridian to plot the track of the
ride and elevation profile information.

Do the recent versions allow you to plot the elevation
profile using the altitude data from the GPS? I have version
2 and it uses the DEM topo data to generate the profile just
using the horizontal position data from the GPS tracklog.
Unfortunately the DEM data is not very accurate.

On 16 Jun 2004 11:35:32 -0700, [email hidden] (pbook) wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

are looking for but sattelite reception in some of the
areas I ride was inconsistant. I returned it. Does the Geko
have a built in

Sorry, but that statement makes no sense to me. The GPS
constellation is not geo-synchronous specifically to not
create places of permanent poor/no reception. They move
quickly enough that it doesn't take long for poor reception
to improve .

In my more than 10 years of using GPS units, I have had 2
with antenna problems. Might that have been the case?
Michael J. Klein [email hidden] Dasi Jen, Taoyuan
Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Please replace mousepotato with
asiancastings
---------------------------------------------
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden] jackson@sonet-
tw.net.tw [email hidden] www.goto-info.com
[email hidden] [email hidden] [email hidden]

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:12:27 -0700, Peter <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Do the recent versions allow you to plot the elevation
profile using the altitude data from the GPS? I have
version 2 and it uses the DEM topo data to generate the
profile just using the horizontal position data from the
GPS tracklog. Unfortunately the DEM data is not very
accurate.

Neither is GPS alititude. If knowing the altitude is
important, use an alitmeter. If its just for fun then it
probably doesn't matter which you use. Michael J. Klein
[email hidden] Dasi Jen, Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden] jackson@sonet-
tw.net.tw [email hidden] www.goto-info.com
[email hidden] [email hidden] [email hidden]

Michael J. Klein said:

Peter said:

Do the recent versions allow you to plot the elevation
profile using the altitude data from the GPS? I have
version 2 and it uses the DEM topo data to generate the
profile just using the horizontal position data

Quoted message said:

from the GPS tracklog. Unfortunately the DEM data is not
very accurate.

Neither is GPS alititude. If knowing the altitude is
important, use an alitmeter.

No measurement is perfect, but I've found GPS-derived
altitudes to be far better than the DeLorme DEM data. The
DEM-derived profiles tend to show considerable up and down
variation on roads that actually have a very even grade. The
overall shape of the profile is pretty good but the
cumulative climb is greatly exagerated. Here's a sample
elevation plot using only GPS data from two bike rides over
the same course on different days to check for consistency:
home.comcast.netImage33.gifOpen ↗ A barometric
altimeter (I presume this is what you mean by 'alitmeter' -
a GPS is also a form of altimeter) by itself is subject to
considerable variation due to changing atmospheric
conditions and is generally less trustworthy than careful
GPS measurements unless frequent recalibration is feasible.
Much better is using the two together with the pressure
sensor providing short-term stability and the GPS correcting
for longer-term atmospheric changes.

Michael J. Klein said:

Neither is GPS alititude. If knowing the altitude is
important, use an alitmeter. If its just for fun then it
probably doesn't matter which you use. Michael J. Klein
[email hidden] Dasi Jen, Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan,
ROC Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden] jackson@sonet-
tw.net.tw [email hidden] www.goto-info.com
[email hidden] [email hidden] [email hidden]

OK, I gotta ask: why do you list all these ridiculous e-mail
addys at the end of /every/ post you make? It's a waste of
bandwidth and space, AFAICS.

Bill "got my vote for worst sig file of the month" S.

Michael J. Klein <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 16 Jun 2004 11:35:32 -0700, [email hidden]
(pbook) wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

are looking for but sattelite reception in some of the
areas I ride was inconsistant. I returned it. Does the
Geko have a built in

Sorry, but that statement makes no sense to me. The GPS
constellation is not geo-synchronous specifically to not
create places of permanent poor/no reception. They move
quickly enough that it doesn't take long for poor
reception to improve .

In my more than 10 years of using GPS units, I have had 2
with antenna problems. Might that have been the case?
Michael J. Klein [email hidden] Dasi Jen, Taoyuan
Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Please replace mousepotato with
asiancastings
---------------------------------------------
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden] jackson@sonet-
tw.net.tw [email hidden] www.goto-info.com
[email hidden] [email hidden] [email hidden]

The software for the Forerunner would indicate huge spikes
in elevation (using GPS not pressure sensor) when there was
no sattlite reception. Also, when the GPS looses reception
(tracking log) for any segnificant time the software would
reset as a new trip so rather than one 80 mile ride I had 40
2 mile rides. This is not so much a problem with GPS as with
the design of the software.

Peter <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Michael J. Klein said:

Peter said:

Do the recent versions allow you to plot the elevation
profile using the altitude data from the GPS? I have
version 2 and it uses the DEM topo data to generate the
profile just using the horizontal position data

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

from the GPS tracklog. Unfortunately the DEM data is not
very accurate.

Neither is GPS alititude. If knowing the altitude is
important, use an alitmeter.

No measurement is perfect, but I've found GPS-derived
altitudes to be far better than the DeLorme DEM data. The
DEM-derived profiles tend to show considerable up and down
variation on roads that actually have a very even grade.
The overall shape of the profile is pretty good but the
cumulative climb is greatly exagerated. Here's a sample
elevation plot using only GPS data from two bike rides
over the same course on different days to check for
consistency: home.comcast.netImage33.gifOpen ↗
A barometric altimeter (I presume this is what you mean by
'alitmeter' - a GPS is also a form of altimeter) by itself
is subject to considerable variation due to changing
atmospheric conditions and is generally less trustworthy
than careful GPS measurements unless frequent
recalibration is feasible. Much better is using the two
together with the pressure sensor providing short-term
stability and the GPS correcting for longer-term
atmospheric changes.

That's pretty cool. Does the software look at speed and time
information from a ride? If so heartrate info is all you
lack. Do you ride with the GPS on bars or in your pocket?

pbook said:

Peter <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Michael J. Klein said:

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:12:27 -0700, Peter
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>Do the recent versions allow you to plot the elevation
>profile using the altitude data from the GPS? I have
>version 2 and it uses the DEM topo data to generate the
>profile just using the horizontal position data

Quoted message said:

>from the GPS tracklog. Unfortunately the DEM data is not
>very accurate.

Neither is GPS alititude. If knowing the altitude is
important, use an alitmeter.

No measurement is perfect, but I've found GPS-derived
altitudes to be far better than the DeLorme DEM data. The
DEM-derived profiles tend to show considerable up and down
variation on roads that actually have a very even grade.
The overall shape of the profile is pretty good but the
cumulative climb is greatly exagerated. Here's a sample
elevation plot using only GPS data from two bike rides
over the same course on different days to check for
consistency: home.comcast.netImage33.gifOpen ↗

...

Quoted message said:

That's pretty cool. Does the software look at speed and
time information from a ride? If so heartrate info is all
you lack.

Yes, the plot shown was done using GARTrip (www.gartrip.de)
and it also plots speed vs. time or distance and can overlay
the course on a scanned map of the area.

Quoted message said:

Do you ride with the GPS on bars or in your pocket?

I keep the GPS on the handlebar stem so I can consult the
map and other data as needed. It also serves as a
replacement for a bike computer since it displays trip/total
odometer and current/avg/max speed.

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 07:42:24 -0700, Peter <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Michael J. Klein wrote:

<snipped stuff>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Neither is GPS alititude. If knowing the altitude is
important, use an alitmeter.

Quoted message said:

No measurement is perfect, but I've found GPS-derived
altitudes to be far better than the DeLorme DEM data. The
DEM-derived profiles tend to show considerable up and down
variation on roads that actually have a very even grade.
The overall shape of the profile is pretty good but the
cumulative climb is greatly exagerated.

No doubt taken from USGS topo maps from the 70's or earler.

Quoted message said:

Here's a sample elevation plot using only GPS data from two
bike rides over the same course on different days to check
for consistency:
home.comcast.netImage33.gifOpen ↗

Nice image!

Quoted message said:

A barometric altimeter (I presume this is what you mean by
'alitmeter' - a GPS is also a form of altimeter) by itself
is subject to considerable

I just meant a device which is specifically designed to
resolve an altitude, not one which does it as a
secondary function.

Quoted message said:

variation due to changing atmospheric conditions and is
generally less trustworthy than careful GPS measurements
unless frequent recalibration is feasible. Much better is
using the two together with the pressure sensor providing
short-term stability and the GPS correcting for longer-term
atmospheric changes.

I've only played with an eTrek, so I haven't checked out the
accuracy of both methods combined. Its gotta be better than
having just one of either.

If I understand the application, isn't grade and distance
the real data which is important to cyclists? Don't you
wanna know the incline and how far, and not necessarily the
specific altitude? If so, why not just use a slope meter?

Michael J. Klein [email hidden] Dasi Jen, Taoyuan
Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Please replace mousepotato with
asiancastings
---------------------------------------------
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden]
[email hidden] [email hidden] jackson@sonet-
tw.net.tw [email hidden] www.goto-info.com
[email hidden] [email hidden] [email hidden]

"Peter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Michael J. Klein wrote:

.

Quoted message said:

No measurement is perfect, but I've found GPS-derived
altitudes to be far better than the DeLorme DEM data. The
DEM-derived profiles tend to show considerable up and down
variation on roads that actually have a very even grade.
The overall shape of the profile is pretty good but the
cumulative climb is greatly exagerated. Here's a sample
elevation plot using only GPS data from two bike rides
over the same course on different days to check for
consistency: home.comcast.netImage33.gifOpen ↗
A barometric altimeter (I presume this is what you mean by
'alitmeter' - a GPS is also a form of altimeter) by itself
is subject to considerable variation due to changing
atmospheric conditions and is generally less trustworthy
than careful GPS measurements unless frequent
recalibration is feasible. Much better is using the two
together with the pressure sensor providing short-term
stability and the GPS correcting for longer-term
atmospheric changes.

Your experience speaks *very* poorly for the quality of the
DeLorme data. I've always been under the impression that GPS
altitude data was very inaccurate (~ +/- 75ft) as the
fundamental geometry in altitude determination from the
satellites is less favorable vs. positional accuracy. I know
with my somewhat ancient GPS (Garmin GPS II plus), the
altitude drifts significantly while standing still.

jwillyfontana said:

I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301
portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar
bracket. It comes with PC interface. I would love to be
able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC,
producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps
with the ability to add names of villages or points of
interest to such a graph. A statistical analysis of
distance, average speed, total height climbed, average
gradient etc etc printed out would also be very
interesting. Anyone any knowledge of such software?? Many
thanks John Fontana

--

I use GPSman, which is free under the Gnu license. It
contains no GIS data, but can load/unload waypoints, routes
and tracks from/to the GPS (in my case, a basic Garmin
Etrex). It can plot tracks, including elevation profiles. It
is not a very high end product, but everything can be saved
as ascii files and post-processed using e.g. Excel.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by jwillyfontana
I am delighted with a recently purchased Garmin Geko 301 portable GPS unit that I attach to my bike with it's bar bracket. It comes with PC interface.
I would love to be able to graphically view the data from the GPS on my PC, producing an elevation profile of a route cycled, perhaps with the ability to add names of villages or points of interest to such a graph.
A statistical analysis of distance, average speed, total height climbed, average gradient etc etc printed out would also be very interesting.
Anyone any knowledge of such software??
Many thanks
John Fontana

Thanks for the replies. Settled on Gartrip which seems to come close to what I want, and at £24 doesn't break the bank