An example of tracking

Hello all, I thought I would share my experience from this weekend and how you can get the most out of tracking and BackCountry navigator. If I am out of line, or sharing privileged knowledge, please admins. take this post down. But, I am excited.

I had a wonderful lazy Kayak paddle up on the Contoocook river (I rented from Contoocook River Canoe and Kayak), and wanted to get BackCountry navigator's impeccable tracks from my phone to my computer. So, I built on a tip that was an answer to a previous question I had about exporting from the program.

A warning this does require a bit of computing, but all apps are cross platform (Win/OsX/Linux), and they are freeware or donationware (Norton says they are clean). Most of this could even be done on your phone if you are so inclined.

I started by copying the .bcn file from the /bcn/data/ folder on my phone.

Then, I opened the file in SQLite Database Browser . I prefer graphical programs than command line. I opened the browser, and opened the file.

Next, I clicked on Browser, and selected the TrackPoints table. all the data I needed was there. You can see the lat/long coordinates. There is a bug with the time, I will post in a separate thread. Other than that It seemed perfect.

I then went to File->Export->As CSV to get them into Google Earth.

Next, I needed to find a way to get that data into Google Earth.

I found a website (Gps visualizer) that converts csv to kml/kmz files (GPSBabel did not process the csv correctly for some reason, but that's okay).

All I needed to do here was browse to the csv file, choose my options (you can leave them default, but choose kml if you want a gpx file later), and hit the Create KML button.

When I downloaded the file, it opened automattically in google earth.

WIth this so successful, I wondered about a gpx file. So, I found the application GPSBabel. All you have to do here, is set the input and output options and filenames/ folders.

Input=Google Keyhole Markup Language

Output= GPX XML.

Well, there you have it. It is not in one inclusive step. However, it is quite accurate. And, well worth it. If you look at the pictures, both the gpx, and the kml, map right to the river. It starts off the river because I booted up the software in the van before we put in.

Thanks all for the wonderful program.

Sincerely,
Leko