Make route files for your Garmin
The project
I have obtained a shapefile from bikemap site.
I want to convert it into a format suitable for use in a Garmin GPS receiver.
Another approach
http://www.marengo-ltd.com/gps/
Create the routes on GoogleMaps then generate a GPX file for download to the Garmin.
What is a route?
Conversion process
Obtain suitable data
Shapefile containing points or lines
In this case it's lines. Each line feature in the file represents one bike ride route.
Coordinate system
The file is in a projected coordinate system and I need it in latlon WGS84 format.
ogr2ogr -overwrite -t_srs wgs84 -f "ESRI Shapefile" BikeMap.shp SelectRoutes.shp
ogr2ogr is installed from the Ubuntu gdal-bin package. See http://www.gdal.org/ogr2ogr.html
Shapefile to GPX file
This command converts the shapefile into a GPX file. GPX is an interchange format commonly used by free and open source GPS programs.
gpsbabel -i shape -f BikeMap.shp -o gpx -F BikeMap.gpx
Transfer GPX file to Garmin
Three Linux programs that can be used to load GPX files are Viking, josm, and merkaartor. None of these seem to do anything with the file that I created. Thuban can display the shapefiles but does not understand GPX.
QLandKarte can read Garmin IMG files (used to hold map data) but locks up when I point it at my GPX file.
My little low power Atom computer 8track chokes on "Google Earth". The KDE program Marble runs. I wanted to make a KML file to load into Google Earth. It will have to wait until I can get access to Iris, the laptop running Windows that my wife has annexed every evening lately so that she can take a distance learning class.
Windows -- In the past I have used a Windows program called EasyGPS which I believe supports GPX files. Perhaps tomorrow when I have access to Windows...
