DV tracks

[Hammer]

I posted a ride report on my trip thru Death Valley. Here are the tracks to go with it. They are in Magellan eXplorist format, so Garmin users may not find them much use.
You may be able to extract info from them, however. Here's how:
The files are suffixed .log
They are, however, normal ASCii text files. If you change the suffix to .txt, it will open in any text editor. Now you can read the text. To make it something perhaps more useful as a track, try importing the .txt into Excel as a .csv (comma separated value format) Now you have an Excel spreadsheet with the track info spread thruout.
I'm not a Garmin user, but if the Garmin software will import a .csv, it may well turn the whole thing into a track that can be interpreted by Garmin software.
Whew! What a chore!
I hope you'll let me know if by chance you CAN make this transition on your Garmin software. It would be nice to know these tracks can be exchanged somehow.
If there is a Magellan user out there that needs these in .trk format, I have them converted and can e-mail them to you that way. They are fairtly small. The tracks are divided into each day's travel.

OR! As it turns out, the moderator has seen fit to only accept .gpx files. So, PM me and I'll send you the format you need.

[R-dubb]

Originally Posted by Hammer

OR! As it turns out, the moderator has seen fit to only accept .gpx files. So, PM me and I'll send you the format you need.

Thanks for posting. I'll send you a PM with my email. Please send the Magellan file and I'll convert it for you and attach it to you post. FYI, GPSbabel will convert back and forth from GPX to just about anything. I'll post some instructions when I get around to it. You may want to download a copy and fool around, It's freeware.

We settled on GPX since its open source and most universal. Once you learn to handle these files its shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks again for trying!

-dubb

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by R-dubb

Thanks for posting. I'll send you a PM with my email. Please send the Magellan file and I'll convert it for you and attach it to you post. FYI, GPSbabel will convert back and forth from GPX to just about anything. I'll post some instructions when I get around to it. You may want to download a copy and fool around, It's freeware.

We settled on GPX since its open source and most universal. Once you learn to handle these files its shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks again for trying!

-dubb

I hoped there was a way to convert these without a lot of steps. Thanks, R-dubb.
I'll go get GPSbabel and putz with it some.

[R-dubb]

Originally Posted by Hammer

I hoped there was a way to convert these without a lot of steps. Thanks, R-dubb.
I'll go get GPSbabel and putz with it some.

Piece a cake! File attached to your first post.

I used GPSbabel, the gui interface. Set input file type to Magellan SD (Explorist). Then since your file had a .log extension, set the open file parameter to *.* and found Day One. Set the output to GPX XML. Hit Process and bingo. I repeated that operation for the other three days. Then I used EasyGPS to merge all four days into one GPX file by opening all four and copying into one and doing a little renaming along that way. Took five minutes and it works with Mapsource or anything that will read GPX.

BTW, Nice trip. thanks for posting.

-dubb

Ps. Oh yeah, the important part. You can do the same in reverse to enjoy any of the GPX files in Magellan!

[Hammer]

GPS babel converted the files. Then I got Google Earth and looked at the .gpx files. The look is different than my Magellan software, but the track is all there, and laid over the terrain in relief! Sweet!
Thanks again, R-dubb!

[huggybear]

Hammer
I have a couple Magellan gps's a Meridan Marine with Topo USA and just bought a Explorist XL with the 3D Topo USA
I have been reading this site and thanks to R-Dubb post about putting the gpx files from this site on to Google Earth that works great

My question now is How do I load any of these files to the Magellan's
Do I load it to Mapsend on the computer
Or load it from Google to GPS
Or other

As You can tell I am green at this
hanks
Paul

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by huggybear

Hammer
I have a couple Magellan gps's a Meridan Marine with Topo USA and just bought a Explorist XL with the 3D Topo USA
I have been reading this site and thanks to R-Dubb post about putting the gpx files from this site on to Google Earth that works great

My question now is How do I load any of these files to the Magellan's
Do I load it to Mapsend on the computer
Or load it from Google to GPS
Or other

As You can tell I am green at this
hanks
Paul

Paul,
Take the .gpx file you got- from here, or elsewhere- and go into GPSbabel. I usethe GUI format of GPSbabel, it's easier for me.
Choose the output format you want- there are 2 choices that will possibly apply to you- one is Mapsend, so you can view/edit/manipulate the file in Mapsend format. The other is SD for eXplorist. This will be a file you can put on your SD card on a Magellan GPSr. Once GPSbabel converts the file, use as you see fit.
I am pretty stoked that we now can exchange files with the Garmin users. I have been the ugly buck-toothed one at the dance for too long.
BTW, have you watched tracks in Mapsend? You can play them back. You don't want real time- you'd be staring at the screen a long time- but in time accelerated mode- you can "ride" or "re-ride" the tracks. It's cool, and it helps me relive some good trails of the past!

[huggybear]

Hammer
Thanks for the info , I will try to put it to use, at the present time a couple days ago I tried to load the Mapsend topo [3D] into My computer and also the wifes computer but could not get it to load in either so I am waiting for Magellan to send Me a new CD set ,I won't be able to play with the new XL for a while,One thing I noticed about the new Xl compared to the Meridan Marine that I have is the basemap only shows about half the roads for My area that the Meridan shows,I thought that was strange?,of course all these hand helds do not show much without loading something from Mapsend,I read about the Road Mate 800 and that seems like a nice unit, but You never no till it is in Your hand
Paul

[Hammer]

Paul,
The basemaps in many of my past Magellans have been .... well, Base-ic
I have had 4 different moodels so far, and it seems to me the basemap is only there to prevent the GPS from seeming useless to a new user 'til they find out they need software to go with their GPSr.
Topo 3D is finicky. You may have a bad CD, but I think the more likely possibility is that you have a conflict somewhere. I like the Magellans, but their big shortcoming is software. I've learned to work with/around it, but it hasn't changed much in the 5 years I've putz'd with them.

I had a Roadmate 700 briefly. It is/was auto only. There was no way to power it apart form the 12v supply. There was no way to add maps, nor to d/l tracks & things I wanted. I haven't looked at the 800. I have everything I want in the handheld units. A big screen isn't reason enough to get me back in the store. Keep playin' with the stuff! It will become more instinctive in time!