Page Contents |
The GPSBabel software is available at http://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html. There are versions available for Windows, Mac OS-X, as well as Linux. For Linux, one can usually gpsbabel as part of the Linux distribution.
The full list of compatible GPS receivers other file formats is available at http://www.gpsbabel.org/capabilities.html.
In general the brand-new-latest-and-greatest may not be supported, but look to older models. For example the recently discontinued Magellan eXplorist are supported, but not the new Triton models.
The connection to GPS receiver will either be USB or only on older units a serial interface (COM1, COM2... for Windows, /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1... for Linux).
With the USB connection, the Magellan, and also Garmin, units also have file transfer modes where the receivers memory appears as a flash drive.
The commands here are done from the command line, (in windows you will need to open the CMD window). The first example assumes a Garmin receiver, connected via a USB cable and using communication directly with the receiver.
| gpsbabel -t -i garmin -f usb: -o kml,labels=0,points=0,lines=1 -F test_out.kml | |
| -t | Process track data but not way-points |
| -i garmin | Input format is the native Garmin format |
| -f usb: | Input device is the USB connection |
| -o kml,labels=0,... | The ouput format is kml with lines but no labels or points |
| -F test_out.kml | Write the output data to the data file test_out.kml |
In the second example, the Garmin file transfer is enabled, and the data files appear as a USB drive.
| gpsbabel -t -i gpx -f 20070806.gpx -o kml,labels=0,points=0,lines=1 -F test_out.kml | |
| -t | Process track data but not way-points |
| -i gpx | Input format is a gpx file format |
| -f 20070806.gpx | Input device is the input file |
| -o kml,labels=0,... | The ouput format is kml with lines but no labels or points |
| -F test_out.kml | Write the output data to the data file test_out.kml |