Ben C. needs help converting offshore and deep-sea fishing spots from an Excel spreadsheet into GPS coordinates he can convert to a .USR data file for his Lowrance GPS. Here's how to import and download Excel data to your GPS using ExpertGPS:

Ben contacted me because ExpertGPS wouldn't accept the latitudes and longitudes in his Excel spreadsheet. They are in a non-standard format, with two decimal points. Looking carefully, you can tell that these are actually degrees and minutes of lat/long, with a decimal point used between the degrees and minutes, rather than a space, or a degrees symbol. ExpertGPS can extract coordinates out of just about any format, but I had to modify ExpertGPS to accept this data. Download version 3.09 (or later) of ExpertGPS mapping software to convert this data.

Before copying and pasting the coordinate data from Excel into ExpertGPs, I followed these instructions for adding a new coordinate format to ExpertGPS, and selected degrees and minutes (hddd mm.mmmmm) and the WGS84 datum.

Importing the Excel fishing waypoints

I copied the three columns of data from Excel, starting on the second line since the first line contained a title that spanned all three columns. ExpertGPS wants to see actual data (or a header row) on the first line of the pasted data. I selected degrees and minutes, WGS84 datum.

On the second page of the ExpertGPS Import Text Wizard, I matched up the columns of data from Excel with the columns in ExpertGPS. Click Next, then Finish, and ExpertGPS displays a map of your GPS fishing spots, as shown below.

Sending Fishing Waypoints to your Lowrance GPS

To transfer your fishing spots to your GPS receiver, click Send to GPS on the GPS menu. If you haven't yet told ExpertGPS which GPS receiver you're using, click Preferences on the Edit menu, and add your Lowrance GPS, as shown here. Because this GPS uses a MMC/SD data card, you'll be prompted to save a .USR file to your GPS memory card containing all of your fishing hotspots and waypoints.

Learn More about Fishing and Boating with ExpertGPS

To learn more about using ExpertGPS to map out fishing spots or to upload and download data from your Lowrance or Garmin chartplotter or GPS, read the Fishing and Boating tutorials on this site, or Ask the GPS Expert if you need help transferring waypoints, tracks, or routes to and from your boat's GPS.

James asks:
How do I convert KML (from Google Earth) to SHP (in ArcMap)?

ExpertGPS Pro can import Google Earth KML and KMZ files, and then export them in shapefile format (.shp) so you can view your data in ArcMap or other GIS software. I've written a step-by-step tutorial on converting KML data to SHP using ExpertGPS Pro.

Steve K. asks:
I'm using your trial software to see if it's right for me. I'm an architect and I need the ability to export to AutoCAD. As an experiment, I drew the metes and bounds of a particular parcel over the aerial photo map that loads automatically in the trial version. I did this by establishing waypoints and projecting each one to the next in series. Then I connected them all as a route, and then converted the route to a shape. Finally, I exported the shapes to .dxf, but when I open the file in AutoCAD, the shape is completely distorted. I'm not sure what's causing this or how to remedy it.

The DXF drawings you export from ExpertGPS Pro use the coordinate format and datum you've selected within the program. Most likely, what's happening is that you've got the coordinate format in ExpertGPS set to latitude and longitude, and so you're seeing distortion when your CAD software tries to display lat/lon data as X,Y eastings and northings. There's an easy fix, which you only have to do once: select a new coordinate format in ExpertGPS prior to exporting. You can set ExpertGPS to display coordinates in US State Plane coordinates, UTM, or pretty much any national grid coordinate system.

Ray K. asks:
I have downloaded property shape files from the Montana Cadastral mapping web site and want to place them on top of the Garmin TOPO 2008 MapSource map that in in my GPS to outline the property on the TOPO map, can you help me do this?

ExpertGPS Pro will import your property boundaries from the MT cadastral Web site, and allow you to send selected parcels to your Garmin as a GPS tracklog, which will appear over your TOPO 2008 MapSource basemap. You can then use your GPS receiver to locate the property boundaries.

In ExpertGPS Pro, click Import on the File menu, and then select the parcels.shp shapefile that you downloaded from Montana's Cadastral Web site. Shapefiles from this Web site are in Montana FIPS 2500 state plane coordinates, NAD83 datum. If you haven't yet added this coordinate format to ExpertGPS Pro, follow these directions to add a new GPS coordinate format in ExpertGPS.

Once you've imported the MT cadastral shapefile into ExpertGPS Pro, you can select the property boundaries you'd like to send to your GPS (as I've done above with the parcel highlighted in yellow). On the GPS menu, click Send Selected to GPS, and ExpertGPS will re-project the MT state plane coordinates for your property outline into GPS coordinates that your Garmin (or Magellan, Lowrance, or Eagle) GPS can understand, and send it to your GPS.

Your Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx will display the tracklog representing the cadastral property boundary over the TOPO 2008 basemap. You should now be able to use your handheld GPS receiver to locate your property boundaries and corner stakes.

Andrew H. asks:
I have track files acquired as CSV data via some custom software interfacing with a marine chart plotter that I would like to easily convert to gpx format. The important thing is I want to capture position and time, plus depth if possible, in the conversion, as I am using time code to link position to photos. The track is logged at 2 second intervals continuously, in a single file. The example below is a mock up of my file typical csv format

If your data is already tab or comma delimited, go ahead and paste it into the Track List in ExpertGPS. If it is in a fixed column width format, bring it into Excel or another spreadsheet program that can convert it from fixed with columns into individual cells of data. You can then paste it into ExpertGPS.

The Import Text Wizard dialog will convert your CSV data to GPS trackpoints. Since your data has latitude and longitude in two columns, configure the dialog as shown above, and click Next.

On the second page of the Import Text Wizard, you need to match up the columns of data from your CSV file with ExpertGPS data columns. ExpertGPS automatically matched up Depth for you, since it has the same name in your CSV file as it does in ExpertGPS. You'll need to do the other ones in this way: Click on a column in the top pane like Latitude. Now click on the matching column in the bottom pane (GpsLat), and click the Apply button. Repeat for the remaining columns you want to match.

If you're going to be importing more than one of these files, you can save all of these settings as a template to use the next time you import a CSV file from your chartplotter. Simply select the template name, as shown below, the next time you use the Import Text Wizard.

Once you've imported your CSV chartplotter data, simply click Save on the File menu to save it in GPX format. ExpertGPS uses GPX as its native file format, and also allows you to export your converted data to Google Earth KML, ESRI SHP, AutoCAD DXF, and several other popular formats.

More CSV Conversions

While this tutorial covers the basic technique for converting CSV data, each CSV conversion is a bit different. Read more tutorials on converting CSV data using ExpertGPS, and if you still need help with a data conversion, please don't hesitate to Ask the GPS Expert.

Wayne S. asks:
Could you please explain to me how to import waypoints from ExpertGPS into an auto cad drawing by simply pasting to coordinates if possible?

The first step in exporting your GPS waypoints to AutoCAD is to set the coordinate format and datum in ExpertGPS Pro to match the coordinate system you're using in your CAD software. Follow the directions in this tutorial on how to add a new coordinate format to ExpertGPS. ExpertGPS supports lat/lon, UTM, US State Plane, and most national grid coordinate systems. You only need to do this step once.

The next step is to receive the waypoints from your GPS. Connect your GPS (ExpertGPS supports hundreds of models from Garmin, Magellan, Lowrance, and others) via USB or serial cable, and click Receive from GPS on the GPS menu.

If you only want to export waypoints to DXF, click once in the Waypoint List on the left side of the screen. Otherwise, click on the map, and all of your waypoints and tracks will be exported. On the File menu, click Export. At the bottom of the Export dialog, change the file type to AutoCAD .DXF, and click Export.

Your waypoints will be reprojected to Northings and Eastings to match your CAD drawing's coordinate system.

Sending AutoCAD layers back to your GPS

ExpertGPS Pro can send points or lines from your CAD drawings to your GPS, so you can check their accuracy in the field. Export your data from AutoCAD in DXF format, and click Import on the File menu in ExpertGPS. Select the DXF file, and click Import.

You'll be prompted to confirm the projection and datum used in AutoCAD. If you've already set ExpertGPS to use the same coordinate format, just click OK, and your data will be converted and displayed on the map in ExpertGPS. Select the data you want to send to your GPS, and click Send Selected to GPS on the GPS menu.

Sometimes you're given a set of X,Y or Easting,Northing data in an unknown coordinate format. Here are some tricks to make it easier to determine the correct coordinate format using ExpertGPS.

It's usually a simple task to tell the various lat/lon formats apart, but when given unknown gridded X,Y data, it can be difficult to tell if it is in UTM, US State Plane, or a national grid format, since all three use Eastings and Northings. I help ExpertGPS users convert data every day, and I often get emailed X,Y data without knowing the proper coordinate format. If this ever happens to you, try the following:

Where is this data from?

My first question, when an ExpertGPS doesn't know the exact origin of the data, and therefore the coordinate format used, is "what town does this data cover?" For this tutorial, let's try to figure out the correct format for these coordinates: 145537, 4291885, which should be located somewhere around Alpine, TX.

Since the data is in the United States, and these clearly aren't latitude/longitude coordinates, and US National Grid coordinates would be formatted differently, we know we're dealing with UTM or US State Plane coordinates.

Picking the right US State Plane Coordinate System

ExpertGPS.com has a reference list of every US State Plane coordinate system. Clicking on the link for Texas SPCS lists several possibilities: TX South, TX South Central, TX Central, TX North Central, Texas North, as well as the Texas Statewide Mapping System and Texas Centric Mapping System Lambert.

You could try converting your data using each of these State Plane systems, and see which one gives the correct results. Luckily, ExpertGPS.com also lists the counties each of these coordinate systems cover. A quick Google search for "Alpine TX county" reveals that Alpine is in Brewster County. The Texas SPCS page on ExpertGPS.com shows Brewster County is covered by Texas South Central SPCS (as well as the Statewide and Lambert systems).

Comparing your X,Y coordinates to the formats in ExpertGPS

To make it really easy to find the correct coordinate format, I've built a special feature into the Add Coordinate Formats dialog that instantly shows the coordinates for the location you're viewing on the map in each format listed in the Add Coordinate Formats dialog. To take advantage of this, you'll need to load some data for the general area where your mystery data is located. I used the Go to Address command, and had ExpertGPS create a waypoint at the city center of Alpine, TX. With the map centered on Alpine, I clicked Preferences on the Edit menu, and clicked on the My Coordinate Formats tab. I clicked Add, and the Add Coordinate Format dialog appeared.

As you scroll through the list of coordinate formats listed for Texas, you'll see the results of Alpine's location (lat/lon N30.36061, W103.67280) projected into eastings and northings in each Texas State Plane coordinate format. Scroll through the list until you find a sample that is close to the X,Y data you're importing. In this case, TX South Central (Meters), NAD83 gives these coordinates for Alpine: 151671N, 4288824E, which is very similar to (and only a few kilometers away from) our unknown coordinates: 145537N, 4291885E).

Once you've found the correct coordinate format and datum to use, click OK to add this format to ExpertGPS.

Jordan Z. asks:
The description says that Excel data can be uploaded to a GPS. Does that go the other way too? I'm mostly interested in buying a GPS and being able to export waypoints to my computer for use in Excel.

Yes, ExpertGPS allows you to transfer data both ways between your GPS receiver and Excel. You can download waypoints and trackpoints from your Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance GPS receiver, copy them from ExpertGPS, and paste them directly into Excel. And, you can go the other way, taking data from any Excel spreadsheet or CSV file, and uploading it to your GPS receiver with ExpertGPS.

I've covered the topic of Converting GPS data to and from CSV and Microsoft Excel several times, and shown how to use ExpertGPS to convert and map nearly any sort of delimited or tabular data using ExpertGPS.

Robert G. asks:
I have a client who is interested in providing their trail network for users to download to their handheld GPS receivers. After searching extensively, I have not been able to find a solution to what I thought would be a simple process: How to convert existing GIS data into a format that can be downloaded onto any GPS receiver, without having to convert the data each time. Ideally, the file would be converted once (or at least once per receiver manufacturer), and provided for download via their web site.

GPX, the GPS Exchange Format, has become the de-facto standard for delivering GPS and GIS data to consumer-grade GPS receivers. GPX files can be used by hundreds of GPS receivers and mapping programs, including ExpertGPS, Google Earth, MapSource, MapSend, and MapCreate. Ten years ago, there simply wasn't a common file format, so you had to distribute different files for each brand of GPS receiver (and usually, several different formats for the GPS receivers within a single brand). GPX has changed all of that.

I happen to be one of the founding fathers of the GPX file format - I helped write the initial GPX 1.0 file format, and have written and maintained the GPX documentation since day 1. ExpertGPS, as you might expect, uses GPX as its native file format, and is widely used as a GPX authoring tool and GPX file converter.

Converting GIS shapefile data to GPX

Once you configure ExpertGPS to use the same coordinate format and datum as ArcMap, you just click Import on the File menu, and select your shapefile data. ExpertGPS Pro will convert your .shp polylines and points into GPS tracks and waypoints. Click Save to save the trail network in GPX format. Your data is ready to be distributed - anyone who downloads the GPX file from your Web site can send it to their GPS using their favorite mapping software. (If they don't have software, EasyGPS is GPS freeware that works with any GPS.

Drew asks:
Will your software convert from Garmin Mapsource GDB to ESRI SHP? I have a file with multiple routes in one GDB file and I need to convert them all at one time to a shapefile line dataset. This is not a ESRI geodatabase (GDB).

Yes, ExpertGPS Pro can easily combine your Garmin MapSource GDB databases, and convert them to a single ESRI shapefile. Import the GDB files into ExpertGPS Pro by clicking Import on the File menu, and selecting the GDB files. Now select the coordinate format and datum used in ArcView. Now click Export on the File menu, and change the file type to ESRI Shapefile (.shp). ExpertGPS Pro will convert your GDB data to a shapefile in the coordinate format and datum you selected. ExpertGPS Pro can reproject your Garmin data to UTM, US State Plane Coordinates, lat/lon, or pretty much any geographic projection used in the world today.