gpstrans - Online in the Cloud

PROGRAM:

NAME

gpstrans - communicate with Garmin GPS receiver

SYNOPOSIS

gpstrans [ options ] [ file ]

DESCRIPTION

gpstrans allows the user with a Garmin GPS receiver to upload and download waypoints,
routes, almanacs (satellite orbital elements) and trackroutes. If file is not supplied,
data will be read from stdin (-ux switch) or written to stdout (-dx switch).

OPTIONS

-pport set serial I/O device

-s set datum, format, offset, and device interactively, and save them in
$HOME/.gpstrans.

-i identify connected GPS

-o turn off GPS device

-t get time from GPS

-ts get time from GPS and set system time on host

-dx download data indicated by x: r=route, t=track, w=waypoint, a=almanac

-m With -dt, downloads track data in the format which can be displayed by Mayko
mXmap(1). With -dr or -ur, downloads or uploads route data in a format compatible
with Mayko mXmap.

-ux upload data indicated by x: r=route, t=track, w=waypoint, a=almanac

-v print program version.

--verbose
Increase verbosity.

--debug
Add debug printouts.

--help Print help text.

CONNECTION

For a DB-25 connector, you may need to connect pin 4, 5 and 6, 8, 20 together. This sets
handshake signals so that your workstation can use the serial port to communicate with the
GPS.

1 ### #####
o o o # # # o # o o o o o
o o o o o o # o o o o o

Connect the Garmin cable as follows:

2 3 7
o o o o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o o o

Pin 2 goes to DATA IN (White)
Pin 3 goes to DATA OUT (Brown)
Pin 7 goes to GROUND (Black)

If it doesn't work in this way, try exchanging pins 2 and 3 at the connector.

The circular connector on a Garmin GPS II receiver can be wired to a DB-9 connector as
follows:

_____ _____,-----,
3 / \ 4 | | |
| o o | | | |_____
| < <- groove -> |=====| |----,|
| o o | | | | ||
2 \ _____ / 1 |_____| | ||
`-----' ||
||
views are looking ||
into connector ||
at each end of cable ||
||
||
5 3 2 ________ ||
o o o o o | \___________||
o o o o |_________,------------'

DB-9 pin 2 goes to circular connector pin 2
DB-9 pin 3 goes to circular connector pin 4
DB-9 pin 5 goes to circular connector pin 3
other pins are not connected

(Note: the pin numbers for the circular connector are
arbitrary, and may not match the `official' numbers.)

If your plug is more recent than the one above (ex: etrex) then you need DB-9 or DB-25 to
be connected to your Garmin GPS like this:

_____,-----,
POWER(+) | | |
groove --> |=====| |_____
DATA IN | | |----,|
DATA OUT | | | ||
GROUND(-) |_____| | ||
`-----' ||
||
||
||
||
||
||
________ ||
| \___________||
|_________,------------'

DB-25 :

2 3 7
o o o o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o o o

Pin 2 goes to DATA IN (White) Pin 3 goes to DATA OUT (Brown) Pin 7 goes to
GROUND (Black)

DB-9:

5 3 2
o o o o o
o o o o

pin 2 goes to DATA IN (White)
pin 3 goes to DATA OUT (Brown)
pin 5 goes to GROUND (Black)
other pins are not connected

For testing, you might try setting the GPS to NMEA-Output and using a terminal emulator
program like Kermit. The GPS will send a data record every 2 seconds. As long as you don't
see any data on your computer, gpstrans won't work.

After finishing the test, be sure to set your GPS receiver to GRMN/GRMN.

ENVIRONMENT

GPSDEV Serial I/O device (overrides contents of $HOME/.gpstrans, and is overridden by -p
switch).

Use gpstrans online using onworks.net services