- GPS units download data and live tracking
- Download of points/tracks from GPS units
- QGIS live tracking
Addenda 24/06/2014
Other useful infos have been published here
http://www.zuidt.nl/blog/html/2014/06/12/use_your_gps_dongle_with_qgis.html
GPS units download data and live tracking¶
This page was started to allow share notes about how to download data from GPS units (possibly directly in QGIS) as well as set up the QGIS "live tracking" tool.
Download of points/tracks and USB GPS units with SD or micro SD cards¶
Many recent GPS units do have a SD or micro SD card where the data is saved directly (it may be optional) as GPX files. In this cases there is no need to use the
vector -> GPS -> GPS tools -> download from GPS
tool. The GPS unit (or just the SD card) can be attached to the computer as disk and then the necessary GPX files opened in QGIS as normal vector files.
Pairing bluetooth devices (like dataloggers) with the Operating system¶
On MS Windows¶
Using the Windows BT device manager the device is searched and added. It will ask for the PIN, usually 0000. On recent Windows releases there should be no need to install previously any drivers. After this process the datalogger is available trough a COM port, check the device properties to know the exact one.
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
On Linux Mint the standard BT device manager didn't allowed me to easily pair the BT datalogger, so I used another software called Blueman Device Manager : it scans for new BT devices, then it allows the pairing and then allows to connect the BT device to a system port, that is usually
/dev/rfcomm0
Download of points/tracks from GPS units¶
Note about downloading points/tracks directly in QGIS
As documented in the manual QGIS uses GPSBabel to download points/tracks directly in the project. QGIS comes out of the box with a pre-defined profile to download from Garmin devices. Unfortunately there is a bug
http://hub.qgis.org/issues/6318
that does not allow create other profiles, so downloading directly in QGIS using the
vector -> GPS -> GPS tools -> download from GPS
tool is at the moment limited to Garmin USB units.
Download of points/tracks from a Garmin GPSMAP 60cs¶
On MS Windows¶
- install the Garmin USB drivers ?http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=591
- connect the unit
- in vector > gps > gps tools > download from gps use the "type=garmin serial" and "port=usb:"
- fill the fields "layer name" and "output file". Sometimes it seems to have problems saving in a certain folder, using something like "c:\temp" usually works
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
it is first needed an issue about the permissions of the device, as described here
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/USB_Garmin_on_GNU/Linux
for me what worked was to create a file
/etc/udev/rules.d/51-garmin.rules
containing this rule
ATTRS{idVendor}=="091e", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0003", MODE="666"
after that is necessary to be sure that the "garmin_gps" kernel module is not loaded
rmmod garmin_gps
and then you can use the
vector > gps > gps tools > download from gps
tool. Unfortunately there seems to be a bug
http://hub.qgis.org/issues/7182
and usually QGIS freezes 1/2/... times before the operation work fine.
Download of points/tracks from a BTGP-38KM datalogger (only Bluetooth)¶
On MS Windows¶
The already referred bug does not allow to download the data from within QGIS, so it is needed to use GPSBabel from the command line or using its interface. The working command was
gpsbabel -t -i skytraq,baud=9600,initbaud=9600 -f COM9 -o gpx -F C:/Users/giovanni/Desktop/aaa.gpx
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
The same applies for Linux, for example from the GPSBabel GUI
On Linux it maybe somehow common to get a message like
skytraq: Too many read errors on serial port
it is just a matter to turn off and on the datalogger and try again.
Download of points/tracks from a BlueMax GPS-4044 datalogger (both BT and USB)¶
On MS Windows¶
Note: it needs to install its drivers before using it on Windows 7. See in the manufacturer site for the proper download.
Downloading with GPSBabel, both with USB and BT returns always an error like
gpsbabel -t -i mtk -f COM12 -o gpx -F C:/temp/testebtandre.gpx
mtk_logger: Can't create temporary file data.bin
Error running gpsbabel: Process exited unsucessfully with code 1
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
USB
After having connected the cable use the
dmesg
command to understand what port is being used, in my case was
/dev/ttyACM3
then as usual use GPSBabel from the CLI or GUI
gpsbabel -t -i mtk -f /dev/ttyACM3 -o gpx -F /home/gio/Desktop/bluemax.gpx
Bluetooth
Use Blueman Device Manager to pair the device and make it available through a system port, then
gpsbabel -t -i mtk -f /dev/rfcomm0 -o gpx -F /home/gio/Desktop/bluemax_bt.gpx
QGIS live tracking¶
Garmin GPSMAP 60cs¶
On MS Windows¶
After many tries I realized that the easiest way to make it work is to use a middleware (freeware, not open) called GPSGate
http://update.gpsgate.com/install/GpsGateClient.exe
Launch the program, make it scan for GPS devices (works for both USB and BT ones) and then in QGIS just click connect in the live tracking tool using the autodetect mode.
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
As for Windows the easiest way is to use a server in the middle, in this case GPSD, so
sudo apt-get install gpsd
then load the "garmin_gps" kernel module
sudo modprobe garmin_gps
and then connect the unit. Then check with
dmesg
the actual device being used bu the unit, in my case was
/dev/ttyUSB0
Now you can launch gpsd
gpsd /dev/ttyUSB0
and finally connect with the QGIS live tracking tool
BTGP-38KM datalogger (only Bluetooth)¶
On MS Windows¶
Using GPSGate is effortless
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
Using GPSD is effortless
BlueMax GPS-4044 datalogger (both BT and USB)¶
On MS Windows¶
USB and BT
The live tracking works for both USB and BT modes, by using GPSGate or even without it, just use the autodetect mode, or point the tool the right port.
On Ubuntu/Mint GNU/Linux¶
USB
The live tracking works both with GPSD
gpsd /dev/ttyACM3
or without it, by connecting the QGIS live tracking tool directly to the
/dev/ttyACM3
port.
BT
The live tracking works both with GPSD
gpsd /dev/rfcomm0
or without it, by connecting the QGIS live tracking tool directly to the
/dev/rfcomm0
port.
