Marie C. asks:
I'm having trouble viewing GIS shape files that I had imported into ExpertGPS. I clicked send to GPS and the transfer was said to be made successfully. But, now I can't figure out how this will be viewed on the etrex. Also, I have many way points for all different projects. This is getting a bit confusing when the locations are overlapping. Is there a way, once I'm able to view them, to put the way points in a named file on ExpertGPS>

I'm often asked by Garmin GPS users, "what happened to the waypoints I just sent to my GPS?" The answer is, it's on your GPS, but Garmin's default user interface settings make it difficult to find. The short answer is that your Garmin displays the nearest 15 waypoints on the Find Waypoints screen, and that's why it appears your data isn't in that list. Here's an article I wrote explaining how to get your points to show up on your Garmin GPS.

To keep your GPS from getting cluttered with data from several projects, I always recommend using ExpertGPS Pro to back up your GPS data after each project. Once your data is backed up on your computer, you can then clear the GPS memory using the Reset command on the GPS, usually found on the Trip Odometer page (check your manual). This means you're starting every project with an empty GPS, maximizing the space you have to display GIS data and collect new waypoints and tracks in the field.

Of course, if there are common waypoints you refer to on every job, you can keep these in a seperate file in ExpertGPS, and send them to your GPS after you clear the waypoints and tracklogs from the GPS memory.

Chad W. asks:
Our city is in the process of looking for map software that will enable us to go out and mark all fire hydrants, water valves, man holes etc. and then load these points to a gps for future use. Will this software accomodate us with these features?

Yes, ExpertGPS will allow you to do this easily. Since your GPS doesn't have symbols for manholes and water valves, you can choose different symbols on your GPS to represent each of these items (Garmin GPS receivers have a Drinking Water symbol, which could represent a valve, for example). ExpertGPS allows you to assign data types to waypoints based on the symbol used on the GPS, so that every Drinking Water waypoint would be given the type "Water Valve" when you receive the data from your GPS. You can customize the way Water Valves are displayed on the maps in ExpertGPS using the Edit Waypoint Type dialog.

Also can the map display street layout instead of the satellite views?

ExpertGPS can't currently display your data over street maps, but you can scan your own paper maps or bring in GIS data to represent the streets. The ExpertGPS help file has complete details about preparing and geo-referencing your maps for use within the program.

Jim S. asks:
I am with a company that does land planning and golf course design. I have a Garmin rino530hcx and a HP tablet laptop. I can place our plans, jpeg and CAD, in google earth but am stuck with trying to export the plan, with real world coordinates, back to the Garmin.

What you're trying to do is to replace the basemap on your GPS with your own GIS and CAD data. Garmin doesn't provide an official way to do this, and therefore, ExpertGPS doesn't support it.

There have been programmers in Eastern Europe who have reverse engineered the Garmin basemap (.img) format, and provide software to let you create your own maps. cGPSmapper is one example.

Creating your own Garmin basemap is a fairly complicated process, and you'll probably want to use a tool like ExpertGPS Pro in addition to cGPSmapper to prepare your CAD and GIS data prior to converting it.

I haven't used this software before - please let me know what you find if you choose to go this route. Read this discussion about creating custom .IMG basemaps for your Garmin GPS on the ExpertGPS users forum.

Jim continues:
I think the ultimate goal would be to use the Garmin unit as the antennae and do the GPS work, site recon and way points, on screen in the field.

That's probably an easier path, and you can do all of this using ExpertGPS Pro and your GPS receiver. ExpertGPS can import (and export) all of your CAD and KML files, and you can use the JPEG files with the scanned maps feature.

You can use the Scanned Maps feature in ExpertGPS to display digital charts, USGS DRGs, or your own scanned paper maps.

The ExpertGPS help file has complete details about preparing and geo-referencing your maps for use within the program.

The Tracking feature in ExpertGPS uses your GPS receiver as an antenna, and turns your laptop into a moving-map GPS display. This would allow you to view your current location over all of your engineering drawings. Having a big color screen and full keyboard, plus the ease of data entry in ExpertGPS, should improve your workflow.

JC asks:
I want to download ArcMap shapefiles to a Garmin Oregon 400t, simple polygons w/IDs, lines, and points. Ideally, one or two attribute columns like vegetation type or survey number would be included. I'd then take the Oregon out and re-trace the shapefile perimeters and look for changes in the vegetation. Maybe "draw" a few more polygons using tracks and waypoints, then save and download the change data into your software, and export it as shapefiles, depending on the type of feature it is. So, import from ArcMap (or generic shapefile), download to Garmin as a layer, make waypoint "edits" then transfer back to ArcMap as shapefile. Will your software do these things?

Yes, you can do all this using ExpertGPS Pro. There are a few "gotchas". The Oregon can hold 10,000 trackpoints, and 20 saved tracklogs. That means you'll be limited to 20 polygons from the shapefile, unless you use ExpertGPS to join some of them together. You can map one of the attribute columns to the track name, and a second to the description/notes field on the track.

Once you get the data the way you want it on the GPS receiver, ExpertGPS Pro will allow you to import updates from your field survey and add the modified polygons back to your master database in ArcMap.

Daniel W. asks:
I am heading to the middle of nowhere in Utah, and would love to have a way to save some topo maps for offline use. There is no Internet and no mobile phone reception where I'm going, so the normal ExpertGPS "online map" features won't help much.
Otherwise, no complaints. Love your product.

ExpertGPS only needs an Internet connection the first time you view a new area. Every time you view a map in ExpertGPS, it is downloaded from the Internet map server, and stored in a folder on your hard drive. If you disconnect your computer from the Internet and head out into the field, you won't be able to retrieve maps for any new areas, but you'll definitely be able to see topo maps and aerial photos for areas you've already viewed in ExpertGPS.

ExpertGPS has a special tool, designed specifically for downloading maps for an entire area, so you can queue up all of the maps you'll need when you're out in the wild. The Retrieve Maps tool lets you drag a rectangle over the area in Utah you'll be visiting, and you can specify what map scales (1:24K, 1:100K) and map types (topo maps, B/W aerial photos, USGS urban color imagery) you want to pre-load to your hard drive.

I've written a tutorial on copying the entire map folder from your desktop computer to your laptop, which you can follow to copy maps from your main computer to your laptop for your Utah trip. It also discusses turning off the Automatic Map Retrieval in ExpertGPS when your laptop doesn't have an Internet connection.

Have a great trip!

Related Topics ExpertGPS Help File: the Map Retrieval tool How to copy ExpertGPS maps to your laptop computer

Many ExpertGPS users own more than one computer, and your ExpertGPS license allows you to install and use ExpertGPS on multiple computers. The Tracking feature in ExpertGPS allows you to use your laptop, along with a GPS receiver or GPS "mouse" antenna, to create a moving map display in your vehicle. In this tutorial, I'll show you how you can copy your entire map folder from your desktop computer to your laptop, so you can use all of your topo maps and aerial photos when you're out in the field.

ExpertGPS stores the topo maps and aerial photos that it automatically downloads from the Internet on your hard drive, in a folder called TopoGrafix Image Files. Newer versions of ExpertGPS store this folder in what Windows calls your Local AppData Folder, which is (unfortunately) a hidden folder by default. You can get to this folder by clicking Show Program Data Folder on the Help menu in ExpertGPS.

If you are a long-time ExpertGPS user, your map folder may be located at C: or C:Program FilesExpertGPS. To find out, click Preferences on the Edit menu, and click the Map Folder tab.

Using Windows File Explorer, or the Show Program Data Folder command, locate the TopoGrafix Image Files folder on your desktop computer.

Copying your Map Folder to your Laptop

Copy the TopoGrafix Image Files folder to your laptop computer, making note of the location where you've copied it to. For this example, let's assume you've copied all of the maps to C:TopoGrafix Image Files.

Now run ExpertGPS on your laptop, click Edit, Preferences, Map Folder, and enter the directory where the map folder itself is located. (That's the containing directory - in this case, C:)

ExpertGPS on your laptop will now go to C: and look for the TopoGrafix Image Files folder to be there. It will use the maps in that folder.

There's one last step. Since your laptop won't have Internet access when you're driving around or out in the field, you can speed up ExpertGPS by telling it not to bother trying to retrieve maps from the Internet that it doesn't yet have on your hard drive. On the Map menu, remove the checkmark in front of Enable Internet Map Retrieval. ExpertGPS will display maps for any locations where maps already exist in your map folder, but for new areas, it will just display a plain white background. When you get back home, you can re-enable Internet Map Retrieval.

Related Topics ExpertGPS Help File: the Map Folder ExpertGPS Help File: the Enable Internet Map Retrieval command

An ExpertGPS user asks:
I have an older GPS that uses a serial cable, but my new laptop only has USB ports. How can I connect my GPS to my computer?

How do I Use a USB to Serial Adapter with ExpertGPS?

If you have an older GPS receiver with a serial cable interface, and a newer Windows desktop or laptop computer that only has USB ports, you will need to use a USB to Serial Adapter to connect your GPS to ExpertGPS. A USB to Serial Adapter is a small piece of hardware, usually just an inline cable, with a USB plug on one end, and a 9-pin serial plug on the other. The USB to Serial Adapter that I use, the U209-000-R from TrippLite, is shown below. Many companies sell identical products - I have a feeling they all come from the same overseas source and differ only in the model name sticker and the name on the little CD driver that comes with the package.

The first thing you need to do is to install the driver software that comes with the USB to Serial Adapter. If you don't have the driver, you can go to the manufacturer's Web site to download and install it. Without the driver software, the cable won't do anything. Here's a picture of a successful driver install on Windows Vista. Very Important: Notice that the driver has assigned COM4 to the USB to Serial Adapter!!!

Once the driver is installed successfully, you can plug the USB to Serial Adapter into your USB port, and Windows should display a pop-up message saying that a new Plug and Play device was found and recognized. If this doesn't happen, you need to address this problem before proceeding. Contact tech support at the USB to Serial Adapter's manufacturer (not me) for assistance.

Now connect your GPS receiver to the adapter and turn on the GPS. Don't launch ExpertGPS until the GPS is connected to the adapter, and the adapter is connected to your computer.

Waypoint, route, and track transfer

If you have a Garmin, Magellan, Lowrance, or Eagle GPS and want to transfer waypoints, routes, or tracks, run ExpertGPS, and click Preferences on the Edit menu. Click My GPS Receivers, click Add, and select your GPS from the list. When asked for the COM port, select the same COM number that Windows assigned to your USB to Serial Adapter when you installed the driver.

Real-time tracking on a laptop

To track your location in real-time while outdoors with a laptop, run ExpertGPS, and click Preferences on the Edit menu. Click Tracking, and select NMEA as the Protocol. When asked for the COM port, select the same COM number that Windows assigned to your USB to Serial Adapter when you installed the driver.

Click Enable Tracking on the Tracking menu, and ExpertGPS will begin listening to the NMEA data being sent from your GPS receiver, and updating your position on the map every second or two.