| Steps to Record, Edit, Label, Save and Submit your custom track:
(click each heading for more info)
Setup your GPS to record a track:
Virtually all Garmin hand held GPS receivers will record your track and
lately most Nuvi automotive GPS receivers will also record tracks. A
Garmin GPS is not required to record tracks, but I have no examples of
other units. The following screenshots will give you examples of how
to setup your Garmin GPS to turn on track record. In the case of track
recording Nuvi's, those that record tracks are always doing so and you are
simply showing or hiding the recorded track.
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Colorado
Others > Setup > Tracks
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eTrex
Main Menu >
Tracks >
Setup |
Nuvi
Tools > Settings > Map > Trip Log
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Record the Track:
This is the fun part, simply turn on your GPS and verify track logging
is turned on and go for that hike or get on your wheels. Experience will
teach you the subtleties of track recording. Suggest you record the exact
name and/or number of the trail at the trailhead using the waypoint
feature of your GPS, you'll need it later. A camera also works.
Upload the track(s) to Mapsource:
You have two ways of getting the tracks into Mapsource from your GPS:
- Direct upload via a USB cable connected to your GPS. In that case
you would use the Receive From Device tool shown at the far left of
the tool bar in the screenshot below.
- Save the GPX track files to your hard drive and then use File >
Open to browse to the relevant folder and GPX file.
In either case, all the imported tracks will show up under the Tracks
tab in the left fly-out. The imported tracks (7) are shown in white and
the selected track is shown in yellow. You can select the appropriate map
to show under the tracks, your later track edits will in no way affect the
map.
Edit the track in Mapsource
Editing consists of Trimming, Filtering and Removing Track Scatter, the
edit order is not particularly important.
- Removing Track Scatter
Track scatter occurs in a number of ways, if you stop, say for lunch,
and leave the GPS on, it will create numerous points around your
position simply because the satellites are always moving. Another
cause is less than optimal satellite reception, say a narrow canyon.
My example will use the latter.
If you look above the text "State Trust Land" in the screenshot above,
something doesn't look right.
Zooming in from 0.5 mi to 500 ft we can see a very unlikely track with
the highest point 400 ft above the stream bed. Track scatter.
To remove the track scatter, click the pink eraser tool, from the five
track edit tools, upper-right, and select as many points that you want to
delete. The blue points will all be deleted, leaving only the thin wire
connecting the first and last point. Don't like the result, click Undo and
start over. Since you created the track, you're the only person who can make
the decision what to delete.
- Filtering
If you double click on the selected track in the table, you'll bring
up the Track Properties spreadsheet. On the lower right click the
Filter radio button to see the Track Filter dialog:
You can filter by Time, Distance, Max Points or Automatic with a slider.
If you don't like the results, click Undo. If you look on the lower left of
the Track Properties spreadsheet > Points, you'll see the starting point
count in your track, when you click OK, the filter will reduce the point
count, instant feedback. Basically, you want the minimum number of points to
accurately describe your track.
- Trimming
Using the above example, both an inbound and outbound track were
created, you only want one. Use the scissors tool, go to the
turn-around point and cut the single track into two tracks. Delete
one, retain the other.
Another use for trimming is when part of your track is already on the
map, delete that portion of your track that already exist on the map. A
small overlap is good.
Tip 1: Let's assume you want to use a portion of both the inbound and
outbound tracks. Simply use the scissors tool to cutout the unwanted
segments,
delete those, then use the "+" tool above to splice together a single new
track.
Tip 2: Let's assume you want to use two track segments from two different
days, when you open one the other closes. Open two instances of Mapsource
and Copy - Paste the second into the first.
Label the track:
Double Click on your edited track to open the Track Properties
spreadsheet. At the top is a large Name field. The naming rules are as
follows: Number Name Type Use, where:
- Number is the USFS, NPS, or BLM trail number, may not have one in
which case blank.
- Name is the USFS, NPS, or BLM trail name, may not have one, in
which case you supply a meaningful short name if theirs no number.
- Type - Trail or Route, is this a manufactured and maintained Trail
or is this a barely visible or cairn marked Route? Trails and routes
will be assigned different line types.
- Use, what is most mechanized conveyance allowed on this trail?
Examples: Foot, Bike, A T V, 4WD, Motorized Single Track, pick
one of those five.
Examples: 118 Happy Lake Trail Foot or 599 Crest Trail A T V or
Grizzly Summit Route Foot or 1544 A T V
Note, no delimiters were used other than a single space, keep it short.
The intent is that the exact name string you use will be used on the map
without any editing.
Save the finished track(s):
Normally your saved file will contained a single edited track, it could
have multiple tracks provided each is properly edited and labeled as
described above. In Mapsource select File > Save As and use the Name from
the label for the file name. Your file must
be saved in GPX format, Mapsource will default to Garmin's proprietary GDB
format, be sure to select GPX. Your finished file will look like this
Name.gpx
Note: In the case, as above, with dozens of loaded tracks, be sure to
delete all but the track you are submitting before saving.
Submit your custom track:
Use this email
FORM to submit your finished track in GPX format.
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