Waypoint Storage--Sorting
Elk
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I posted this on the main forum and got very little response so I thought I would try here too.
Does anyone know of a program or a way to store and sort gps waypoints? I have too many and my Garmin gps won't let me enter anymore without deleting some. I'm hoping that there is a way to save them to a computer and then sort them by states. Then I would have a way to reload the waypoints to the gps just for that state when I have a trip planned there. When I'm done with that trip I would just delete them from my handheld after saving any new ones that I entered. I have Terrain Navigator, Basecamp, and Easy GPS but I don't see a method for doing that. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks Dave
Dave, I've never had that problem but it seems to be a good problem to have! here's what I would try but it would take quite a bit of trouble to get it done and you'd have to keep your ducks in a row to do it right. You'd have to create a "mother file" on Basecamp then create an identical file the second file would be called "Colorado" or what ever state you decided then deelete all unwanted way points. You would have to do the same for each additional state or area you wanted to set up. If you've filled up a Garmin GPS it's going to take a while to delete that many waypoints. Also when you were out you'd probably make more waypoints so when you returned you'd have to delete the old "Colorado" and replace it with the new one so you can stay up to date with the new info that you had. HERE IS MY DISCLAIMER!!!!!!! make sure you can have 2 Basecamp files at the same time before you delete all your waypoints if you think you have 2 files and go fudging arround with the 2nd one and lose the first you are not going to be happy also the last time I tranfered data from one GPS to the computer and back to a new GPS I lost some of my "tracks" I had some trails marked and some water routes that I lost in the transfer. Good luck I'd love to know how this turns out.
All you need is a PC. The waypoints are stored in the GPX folder and sub folders on the GPS by default and on the SD card if you moved some there from within basecamp. Cut n paste, copy or move is all you need to do.
The Garmin only reads what's in and under the 'Garmin" folders on the GPS and SD card, use that to your advantage.
Dave,
I do it all the time on Easy GPS and it works great. I just go into the Easy GPS program on my computer and create a seperate folder for each state I hunt and then within those folders I create a file for each unit.
Before I hunt a specific unit I purge all the old waypoints from my GPS and upload all the waypoints to my GPS for the unit I'm going to hunt. Then when I get back from the hunt I download all the Waypoints back into the unit folder on my PC so it saves all the new waypoints I created.
I have way more waypoints than the memory in my GPS can store.
Make sure you copy your files to a CD or thumb-drive in case your PC crashes. I also print out coordinate lists on paper and bring them with me on a hunting trip in case something happens and I have to manually load coordinates into my GPS or if I lose my GPS I can manually load the coordinates into a new one.
Thanks Mike, I discovered I did create a couple of folders years ago but all I did then was save all of my waypoints that were current to that time. As the years passed by those folders were forgotten. Now that I looked at Easy gps again. I started playing with it more and copied the waypoints that started with westerly number similar to what I was looking for by holding down the control key and then selecting one by one any that were close to that number. That worked fine but was time consuming when you have over a 1,000 waypoints to go through each time you look for a different group of numbers. As I was working on my list for Co. by accident I discovered an easier way. If you click on the title bar where it says latitude longitude it will arrange them in numerical order so then all you have to do is click on the top or bottom one and then scroll to the end of that number group and hold down the shift bar and then click on the last one in that number group and they are then ready to copy and paste. Maybe you already knew that but thought I would pass it on to you or anyone else that reads this. If you click on the longitude it arranges that column of numbers and if you click on latitude it arranges that column.
ahawkeye, What I did is similar to what you posted so thanks to you and Mike for your ideas. I did keep a main folder with todays date that saved every waypoint that was stored on my gps so in case I ever needed them I do have access to all of them. I will also save each smaller file to a flashdrive to take along in case I would need to reinstall while in the field. Dave
I've had experience with BaseCamp and have been pretty happy with the results, I'm not computer savy by any means so I might be happier with it if I were. As said I don't lose waypoints but other data has been lost when I have transfered data from one GPS to another. What is Easy GPS? is it something within BaseCamp or is it another program?
ahawkeye,
EasyGPS is a waypoint management program that you can download for free off the internet. Google it.
Dave,
A good way to work within EasyGPS and move coordinates around is to use the map feature. When you open a file the list with the coordinates will come up on the left side and a window with all of your waypoints will open in a window on the right side, I’ll call that the map. Go to the top of the map and you can click on the different actions “Move Map” “Zoom” “Select” and “Route”.
You can zoom in on waypoints on the map, hit the select button, make a box around the waypoints you want to select and the ones you have selected will turn yellow. Then right click the mouse and you will have options to cut, copy, delete, edit, send to GPS, etc. I use this all the time and I think it’s easier than the way you are going through the waypoint list.
If you have one master file with all of your waypoints they will all appear on the map. For instance if you had waypoints in Wisconsin, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, etc. all of the waypoints would show up as their own little clusters of points separated by hundreds of miles on the map.
If you want to create an individual folder for Colorado you first create that new folder then go into the map your master file and find the cluster of waypoints in Colorado. Then zoom in and move the map to zoom in on the Colorado points. You can then make a box around all of them and select all the Colorado waypoints, right click, choose copy and then go into your Colorado file, right click and paste. Presto, all of your Colorado waypoints are copied into that file. You can do that and create multiple files for each state or each unit within each state. It’s pretty slick…
I hope that makes sense.
Now that I've played with EasyGps some more it makes sense. Glad you guys came up with a solution for me thanks. Always more than one way to accomplish something. Some ways definitely easier than others.