Gpsbabel user manual

This tool is very useful in combination with the vector-editing capabilities of QGIS. It allows you to load a map, create waypoints and routes, and then upload them and use them on your GPS device. There are lots of different types of GPS devices. You do this by using the GPS device editor, which you start by clicking the [Edit devices] button in the download or the upload tab. To define a new device, you simply click the [New device] button, enter a name, enter download and upload commands for your device, and click the [Update device] button.

The name will be listed in the device menus in the upload and download windows — it can be any string. The download command is the command that is used to download data from the device to a GPX file. These are command-line options that tell GPSBabel which feature type to download. The upload command is the command that is used to upload data to the device.

Once you have created a new device type, it will appear in the device lists for the download and upload tools. QGIS comes out of the box with a pre-defined profile to download from Garmin devices.

Connect the unit. Unfortunately there seems to be a bug and usually QGIS freezes several times before the operation work fine. Activate the GPS Tools checkbox. When this plugin is loaded two buttons with a small handheld GPS device will show up in the toolbar:. See Section Sample Data for more information about the sample data.

The GPS Tools dialog window. Use the [Browse Each feature type will be loaded in a separate layer when you click [OK]. GPS units allow to store data in different coordinate systems. Version 1. Here you select the file that you want to import and the file type , which feature type you want to import from it, where you want to store the converted GPX file and what the name of the new layer should be.

Note that not all GPS data formats will support all three feature types, so for many formats you will only be able to choose between one or two types. Here, we select the type of GPS device, the port that it is connected to or usb if your GPS supports this , the feature type that you want to download, the GPX file where the data should be stored, and the name of the new layer.

If none of the available types work with your GPS device you can create a new type see section Defining new device types. We get a constant stream of requests to support new hardware, adding support for new OSes, and such. It costs a lot of time and money to buy GPS receivers, programs, and computers for development. You can help fund the next generation hey, someone funded what's there now If you have a way you'd like to see the money spent i.

We appreciate all the help we can get. Robert Lipe , Chief Babel-Head. Getting Help Helping us. People Partners. What is GPSBabel?