[OSM-newbies] Interfacing with Garmin eTrex

[Andy Robinson (blackadder)]

Anne Wilson wrote:
>Sent: 20 February 2008 12:18 PM
>To: newbies at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: [OSM-newbies] Interfacing with Garmin eTrex
>
>This is my first effort, using a borrowed eTrex.  I have my first track on
>the
>gps, and have bought a RS232 to USB interface as my laptop doesn't have a
>serial port.  My OS is Linux.
>
>I have set the interface to NMEA OUT - I think someone told me this was
>best,
>but I can't find where I read it.  Now what?  How do I get the info from
>the
>Garmin onto my laptop?  Do I need a specific software package for the
>download?  If I install GPSbabel does that do the job?
>
>Sorry for so many questions, but getting started is always the hard bit :-)
>


Anne,

Welcome to the addictive world of OSM mapping :-)

You need to use the Garmin format from the eTrex not the NMEA format. oh,
and don't save you tracks on the eTrex either, it's the active log that you
need because this contains the timestamps and all the data you need instead
of a sampled reduced set.

To get the data off use GPSBabel software. There are a number of GUI front
ends for it so its quite easy to use.

Hope this helps but feel free to ask more. You will find plenty of help on
the wiki too.

Cheers

Andy