Is there software that will download all the info in the trip computer into my PC? You know, all the max spped, ave spped, stop time, total time, blagh, blagh, blagh into the PC in one shot.
I'm nearly certain the best you can do is use ximage (or similar) and download a screenshot of the trip computer page...
You might try this source: Digital Grove http://www.digitalgrove.net/Toolbox_GPS.htm#dnr I think these applications would do what you want without getting into the GIS/professional mapping world. This is another approach: www.motionbased.com/index.jsp
It seems like such an easy program. Does anybody know if max speed, etc. is downloadable from the eTREX. If yes, I could just write the SW myself.
I've been using various Garmin products for a long time and have never seen this as an option. You may be able to pull avg. speed from the track log, but that's about it. BTW, it's "Y'all", not "Ya'll". http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/yall.html
Well, since you are from Texas *and* I like your avatar I will change it. Oh, and also you are correct; it should be "Y'all". Now excuse me while I open up a Lone Star....
I can't recall the source, and can't swear that it is true, but I belive I read that the speed and altitude data is stored in memory with the tracklog, but if you save the track that information is lost. If you download the tracklog before saving it on the GPS, the right software should pick up those values. Does anyone know about this?
Not all units are the same, but as far as Garmin goes: Every unit I've used simply keeps lat/lon and a timestamp in the active track for every "point" it records. Most newer units, but perhaps not all, and certainly many older ones didn't, keep altitude as well. While none keep speed per se, it is easy to compute from any two points with the above information (speed = delta distance / delta time). When the active track is saved internally in the unit, it dumps the timestamp. Units that record altitude save it also though. Since the timestamp is dumped, you no longer can compute speed. All of the track data that is in the unit, whether "saved" internally or active can be downloaded to the PC. The trip computer data is completely different information than the track data. E.g. the trip computer max speed is computed "on the fly" over the fastest one second interval (position updates are taken every one second unless in power saver mode). While you could store track data every second and get the same results, it would quickly gobble the track memory and so most folks go by settings that don't record every second. So if you review the track data for the max speed, it will be a speed that's been averaged over more time than one second and will always be lower than the trip computer max speed. There are other similar discrepancies between the track data and the trip computer. I don't think it's possible (but I don't know this with absolute certainty) that it is possible to download the actual trip computer data. As I mentioned, about the closest method I know to get it is a screenshot capture, not quite the same thing. I hope that's clear, at least sort of...
It is very clear. That is the way I had understood the Garmin to work from the research I have done. It just seems odd that there is not a register that holds the, for example, 'moving time' variable that is displayed. Can you point me the a eTrex print screen utility?