waypoint loading from an SD card

 

I often have to respond to places and go to many locations within the area to conduct damage assessments. Which GPS would be the best (easiest) to use to
A) Compile a waypoint set on a PC using CSV editor, text editor, or Excel
B) Place that file on an SD card, and
C) Load those locations to the GPS to find them.
I do not need to use these points for more than a week or two. I can get all of the points using business files and Google earth etc. I also need to distribute these points to several other responders. Adding software to my company PC is a big problem so I would like to skip the connect the GPS to the pc route.

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Richard Lutz KD4SEV

not in the manner you describe

Lutzrich wrote:

I often have to respond to places and go to many locations within the area to conduct damage assessments. Which GPS would be the best (easiest) to use to
A) Compile a waypoint set on a PC using CSV editor, text editor, or Excel
B) Place that file on an SD card, and
C) Load those locations to the GPS to find them.
I do not need to use these points for more than a week or two. I can get all of the points using business files and Google earth etc. I also need to distribute these points to several other responders. Adding software to my company PC is a big problem so I would like to skip the connect the GPS to the pc route.

I don't think you can accomplish what you want without connecting the GPS to the PC and without additional software.

You will need some program that will take the desired locations from your file and convert them to a format required by the GPS. You will also need a unit the accepts multipoint routing.

I don't know much about the Tom-Tom units, but for Garmin you do have several choices. Your choice of software will also play a part. if you want to build a CSV, then you will need POILoader from Garmin. If you want to build routes, then Garmin's Base Camp or something like Microsoft's Streets and Trips or MapPoint. Delorme also has their products available but again I plead ignorance to the latest versions as I found the one version I did purchase less than satisfactory.

As for the MS products, I know you can map out a route and then have the program reorder the desired points into the most efficient route which may also be in some of Garmin's high end products.

The MS products will transfer directly to the GPS but the file created is an HTML GPX which is not as easily edited as CSV. Base Camp will also directly load to the GPS but it does lack features such as route optimization. I haven't played with Base Camp enough to know if it will output a GPX file which could be transferred to multiple units as you say you need, but I do know S&T will. The S&T route can be loaded into the \GPX folder on the unit where it can be "imported" into a route.

Still another option is to use Turbo CCC's Extra-POI_Editor and have it output a GPI file which is loaded to the unit. But again, the target unit would have to accept routes.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

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1. Waypoints cannot be read by the unit from SD card. Waypoints must be loaded to the device memory.

2. The GPS unit cannot read CSV files directly. If you want/need to use CSV files, then you need to load the data with POI Loader and the data will be Custom POIs not Waypoints.

3. If you want to load the data to the unit from the SD card, then you need to create them as GPX files. The unit will read GPX files into the Waypoints. Note that is you do this, you likely will not be able to delete them from the Waypoints by deleting the GPX file. You likely will need to delete them from the device menus.