gps tracks on google maps

[starshippe]

. . i managed to find how to get our sortie tracks to plot on google earth, and determine the exact position of a wayward tractor that we found while on a photo training sortie. urs truly had not set the camera time like he shoulda.

. . anyway i was asking the i.t. folks at the mill if i could get google earth installed on my office desktop. i was told that google maps would do whatever google earth would. i can't find it. does anyone know if and how it can be done?

. . to get ur sortie tracks to plot on google earth, select tools, gps, and "import from file." obviously u need to have the gps log, preferably in gpx format, saved on ur computer. have only that sortie selected in "my places," and start up the trend. if u can get ur mission pilot to give u a good turn about a point, u can *nail* the position of the target. in this case a fairly exact position was needed in order to determine which property owner to call.

bill

[Spaceman3750]

So export the gpx and follow your own directions to import it into maps... Or am I missing something?

You have to create a new map under My Maps first.

[starshippe]

. . ok, once i created a map, wayward tractor, i saw the import button, and tried to import my data.

. . but, the only acceptable formats are kml, kmz, or georss. of the hundred fifty and some odd formats that gpsbabel will speak, none of those three are among them.

. . any ideas?

thanks,
bill

[EMT-83]

This sounds like a very interesting discussion. Unfortunately, I can't understand what the [heck] you're typing.

[SarDragon]

I'm glad I'm not the only one having that problem.

[sardak]

. . kml = keyhole markup language = native file format of google earth
. . kmz = keyhole markup language (zipped)
. . ok? click heels three times, then ur going to understand this . .

A KMZ file is simply a zipped KML file and can be opened in any unzip program to extract the KML file. A KML file can be edited in any text editor.

In Google Earth, go to File -> Save -> Save Place As -> ur your choice of a KML or KMZ file.

Or, use GPSBabel because it does convert to/from KML. Just look for Google Earth in the list of file formats.

Then in Google Maps go to My Maps and import the KML or KMZ file you created above into your new Google Map.  QED

You can also open a GPX file directly in Google Earth under File -> Open  then use the drop down box for Files of Type and GPX is listed.

Mike

[a2capt]

I'm glad I'm not the only one having that problem.

Motion carried. I just don't get it, whats with the laziness and typing anyhow.

[starshippe]

. . ah, i see the listing in geobabel for google earth (keyhole) markup language. i was too intent on looking for kml. thanks for the info mike.

bill

[starshippe]

. . i'm getting a "400" error message every time i try to upload a kml file. i have converted one file back to gpl (delorme) and replotted it on street map, and it looked fine, so i don't think theres anything wrong with the conversion by gpsbabel.

. . is anyone having any luck uploading and plotting kml files in google maps?

thanks,

bill

[starshippe]

. . the ability to upload kml files to google maps has been broken since about the 9th of sept. its causing quite a few problems with folks who use it commercially. theres a way to get the file in by posting on a web site, but u can't upload from a computer.

. . the google forum link is

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/maps/thread?tid=39ac7182b269a3e7&hl=en


bill

[starshippe]

. . now i'm not sure if i had that same problem, as i was able to resolve my "400 error" problem by setting ie to compatibility view. the map loaded ok but it took some time. apparently the map can only display 200 points at a time, and it takes a minute and a half to upload a new 200 points.

. . this is too slow to be useful for me, but the capability is there.

bill

[SARDOC]

Just for informational purposes...The new GIIEP system is supposed to track your GPS path as well on Google Earth which is supposed to be fed real time to the CP.  When it works the way it's supposed to.