I have been converting some old gps files to use with my new Garmin. However, I am having problems with this one:-
$PMGNTRK,4605.979,N,00713.315,E,01529,M,071548.24,A,,110808*74
$PMGNTRK,4605.986,N,00713.319,E,01524,M,072827.26,A,,110808*70
$PMGNTRK,4605.982,N,00713.333,E,01524,M,073222.28,A,,110808*7C
$PMGNTRK,4605.996,N,00713.347,E,01532,M,073239.26,A,,110808*79
$PMGNTRK,4605.989,N,00713.376,E,01533,M,073255.28,A,,110808*70
$PMGNTRK,4605.936,N,00713.390,E,01520,M,073307.28,A,,110808*78
It would have been recorded on an Magellan Explorist 500 in 2008 and has a .log file ending. All my other Magellan files are in Mapsend .trk format and they convert no problem. I am using GPSbabel for the conversion.
Anyone recognise the format?
The web says Magellan Data Transmission Protocol but it looks fairly straightforward. What are you trying to convert it to?
NMEA 0183 format. Definition:
<p class="s24"><span class="s23"><span class="bumpedFont15">PMGNTRK</span></span></p>
<p class="s22">This message is to be used to transmit Track information (basically a list of previous position fixes) which is often displayed on the plotter or map screen of the unit. The first field in this message is the Latitude, followed by N or S. The next field is the Longitude followed by E or W. The next field is the altitude followed by “F” for feet or “M” for meters. The next field is the UTC time of the fix. The next field consists of a status letter of “A” to indicated that the data is valid, or “V” to indicate that the data is not valid. The last character field is the name of the track, for those units that support named tracks. The last field contains the UTC date of the fix. Note that this field is (and its preceding comma) is only produced by the unit when the command PMGNCMD,TRACK,2 is given. It is not present when a simple command of PMGNCMD,TRACK is issued.</p>
<p class="s22">NOTE: The Latitude and Longitude Fields are shown as having two decimal places. As many additional decimal places may be added as long as the total length of the message does not exceed 82 bytes.</p>
<p class="s12"><span class="s26">$PMGNTRK,llll.ll,a,yyyyy.yy,a,xxxxx,a,hhmmss.ss,A,c----c,ddmmyy*hh<CR><LF></span></p>
Ok, it appears to be Magellan Explorist XL format. But that is not one of the options in GPSbabel. I am trying to convert it into a gpx file.
Stick it into excel and save it as a csv file
as Jambo says but you might have to fiddle with it first 🙁
I would:
1. Import into into Excel as CSV, that will give you lots of columns
2. Delete the first column with PMGNTRK and all the columns after the one with E. That should leave you with just N and E columns
3. now the trick is to convert the 'funny' longitude and decimal to something more sensible. If you wanted it in decimal degrees then if the real logitude is in cell A1 then stick this formula somewhere like F1
=QUOTIENT(A1,100) + (A1-100*QUOTIENT(A1,100))/60
That will convert it to decimal. Copy that into H1 and you should have latitude in decimal as well
4. Copy all of the numbers and paste into another workbook
5. Save that as csv and that should then convert using GPSBabel
....or just buy a Garmin 🙂
Try the option in GPSBabel for "Magellan SD Files (as for Explorist)".
Just tried it, works fine with that example, and outputs a track to GPX.
Thanks CraigW that works, I thought I had tried that already but it must have been one of the other options.
Leffeboy, I do have a Garmin, I'm trying to use these old files with it. But thanks for the Excel suggestions.