PDA

View Full Version : Check it out--GPS to Google Maps in just a few clicks!


paddlenbike
10-22-2007, 09:30 PM
Remember my "Month-long trip to British Columbia" (http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=2446.0) thread?
Go to http://maps.google.com
Enter the url http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/2007_BC/Tracks.kmz into the Google search bar and hit "search maps."

Whoila! Select "hybrid" map and zoom in to see detail.

So this isn't exactly earth shattering tech here but it's fun and relatively ease to do. Go run your favorite trail and have your GPS collect a track (also called a breadcrumb). Your track will be in a GPX format if you're using a Garmin unit. I use a Pocket PC GPS, but it easily converted the data to GPX format. Now, use either an online converter like www.gpsvisualizer.com or load your GPX file into Google Earth to create a Google Earth KMZ file. Save that file somewhere on the internet, open Google Maps and enter the URL for the KMZ file and anyone can view your trip without specialized software.

To go a little further, my software compares the date/hour/minute/second that I took a photograph to the nearest second that a GPS point was collected and it geotags my photos so I know where each one was taken. When the alzheimers kicks in, at least I will know where my photos were taken! :tongueout:
MiniSimp
10-23-2007, 06:25 AM
Pretty cool!
Erich_870
10-23-2007, 09:08 AM
To go a little further, my software compares the date/hour/minute/second that I took a photograph to the nearest second that a GPS point was collected and it geotags my photos so I know where each one was taken. When the alzheimers kicks in, at least I will know where my photos were taken! :tongueout:


Too funny!

It looks like there were a couple times where you did a circle or turned around. Are those accurate?

Thanks for sharing such a cool feature!

Erich
Good Times
10-23-2007, 12:42 PM
I heart google :) I see out future events including this cool feature!
Seanz0rz
10-23-2007, 01:59 PM
wonder if i can get my carpc to capture in gpx...

off to the mp3car forums!
paddlenbike
10-24-2007, 09:06 AM
It looks like there were a couple times where you did a circle or turned around. Are those accurate?

Thanks for sharing such a cool feature!

Erich


Yes, the turn-arounds are accurate. There were a few times that we rounded an island only to find heavy swells that were sure to make everyone sick, so we turned around and took the inside passage. One day we left the Johnstone Straits and the winds and swells were so bad we went back to the safe anchorage where we started earlier that day. On the last day we had 10 foot seas in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, so we had to zigzag to stay perpendicular to the waves. On that same day we circled just outside of Lake Washington for an hour or two responding to a Coast Guard mayday call. A sailboat had lost steerage and was drifting into shallow waters where they were about to go aground. We assisted until the point where we were in 12-14 of water, way too shallow for a 45-foot boat; so we got out there just as the Coast Guard showed up.

Sean--gps tracks use pretty much a universal format. You should be able to find utilities online that will convert to pretty much any format you want.
Erich_870
10-24-2007, 09:17 AM
Yes, the turn-arounds are accurate. There were a few times that we rounded an island only to find heavy swells that were sure to make everyone sick, so we turned around and took the inside passage. One day we left the Johnstone Straits and the winds and swells were so bad we went back to the safe anchorage where we started earlier that day. On the last day we had 10 foot seas in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, so we had to zigzag to stay perpendicular to the waves. On that same day we circled just outside of Lake Washington for an hour or two responding to a Coast Guard mayday call. A sailboat had lost steerage and was drifting into shallow waters where they were about to go aground. We assisted until the point where we were in 12-14 of water, way too shallow for a 45-foot boat; so we got out there just as the Coast Guard showed up.

Sean--gps tracks use pretty much a universal format. You should be able to find utilities online that will convert to pretty much any format you want.


That's awesome! Thanks for the explanation. I've never sailed before, but it looked like you went one way and then said "oops, I don't like it here" and turned around :P

Erich
paddlenbike
10-24-2007, 10:44 AM
That's awesome! Thanks for the explanation. I've never sailed before, but it looked like you went one way and then said "oops, I don't like it here" and turned around :P

Erich


That's exactly what was happening. The locals call the Straights of Juan de Fuca the "Straights of Juan de Puca" for good reason. :lol: