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COLLECTING & USING GPS DATA TO MAKE MAPS

GSAPP has Garmin hand-held GPS receivers available for your use. Below are instructions for collecting and transfering GPS data to GIS.
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USING THE GPS RECEIVER

1) Turn on the GPS receiver: The power button is the lower button on the right-hand side of the device. You will use this same button to turn off the device when you are done recording your data.

Once the power has been turned on, the receiver will automatically begin to track satellites. Note: this particular GPS device does not work indoors. It must always be outside, with a plain view of the sky.

2) Use the scroll button to select the second of the two menu files on the top of the right-hand corner of the screen. Scroll down to Main Menu and press the scroll button again to select.

The Main Menu screen allows you to choose among different methods of recording your data.

TRACKS METHOD

3) Using the scroll button once again, select the Tracks option. This will allow you to continuously record data as you navigate the city.

4) From the first menu on the top right-hand side of the screen, choose Setup Track Log to enter the parameters for recording your data.

The Log Setup dialog box appears, allowing you to indicate whether you would like the device to record based on time or distance. Once you have specified your preference, you can set the appropriate interval for your measurements. Note: You can also set the device to AUTO. With this function, you can set your interval to record data points more or less often. The device will determine how many points will be needed to record your journey.

Make sure to leave the Wrap When Full box unchecked, else the device will record over your data when the memory is full.

WAYPOINTS METHOD

Waypoints are used to store and remember locations that are of interest to the user. They areoften used to store intermediate turns and intersections that help define a route to a particular destination.

3) Storing your present location is the usual way to record a waypoint. To create a waypoint, simply hit the Mark button on the Main Menu page. You can then press the scroll button again to save the data under a default name. Note: The location you were at the moment you pressed the button is saved in the waypoint information on the form. So, even if you are traveling at 65 miles per hour down the freeway, you can reliably capture a single point when you press the button.

4) To consult the data on your waypoint, select the Find button from the Main Menu and find the default name of your waypoint. You can then call up the spatial information on your point or rename it so that you can remember what location/route marker/feature you wanted to mark.

ROUTES METHOD

A route is a collection of waypoints that are related in a way that permits you to use them to follow a prescribed course. If you already have a set of waypoints entered that you wish to turn into a route then you can simply use the route page and enter them in whatever order you wish.

3) From the Main Menu, select the Routes option.

4) Scroll to the bottom of hte screen and select New to create a route from your existing waypoints.

5) Move to the top field on the screen and hit the scroll key to enter a name into the field.

6) Toggle in the name you would like to assign to the route line and hit the scroll key to enter. Select OK from this same menu when you are done.

7) Using the scroll button, select the dotted line beneath the name of your route. The Find dialogue box will appear, allowing you to select waypoints to add to this route.

8) You will be given the choice to select waypoints by name or by proximity. In most cases, you would like to select the waypoints by name.

9) Using the toggle key, enter the name of the waypoints that you would like to include in your routes.

10) Once you have selected your first waypoint, click OK. That waypoint has now been added to your route.

If you don’t know the names of all the waypoints you can use the fact that your GPS will display the nine closest waypoints to help you find them. As soon as you can determine two waypoints, use the simulation mode to traverse the route and then you can watch the map screet to find the location of waypoints to add to the route. In simulation mode you can select the speed on either the position page or one of the navigation pages and modify it. The unit will automatically run the route at the speed you select. (The speed on the etrex is fixed in demo mode.) If you only have one waypoint name, you cannot activate a route but you can issue a GoTo to that one waypoint and use simulation mode in the same way. Once you reach the desired point, set the speed to zero.

11) To add additional waypoints, proceed in the same fashion until you have selected (by name or by nearest point) all of the waypoints that you would like to add. They are now part of your route and can be uploaded onto the computer under the designated route name.

UPLOADING YOUR DATA

1) Connect the GPS receiver to the serial port of a GSAPP computer. Launch DNR GARMIN.

A prompt will appear asking you wheter you would like to use the default projection (NAD83_UTMZone15). Click NO.

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2) When you download the data from the GPS receiver, make sure to select UNPROJECTED.
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3) From the top menus, download the data from WAYPOINTS, TRACKS, or ROUTES, from the GPS device.
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4) Then File>Save To>ArcMap>Shapefile Layer …
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5) Select ARCVIEW SHAPEFILE UNPROJECTED.
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6) Saving your data: Make sure you save your data as BOTH POINT and LINE data. (When you use Waypoints, you can only download your data as point information. If you select Routes or Tracks, you may use both.) Right-click anywhere on the screen to bring up the DATA FRAME PROPERTIES menu. (Right-click > Properties.) Select the COORDINATE SYSTEM tab in order to assign a coordinate system to your data. Under PREDEFINED, scroll to GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATE SYSTEMS, then WORLD, until you find WGS 1984.

8) Once your coordinate system has been selected, go to the layout view and add your data to the map.

9) Right-click on your data layer in the Table of Contents, scroll to DATA, and click EXPORT DATA. You should now export your dataset using the projection system from the current map. (This is done by checking the “data frame” box in the export prompt window.)

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Note: You can always go to the properties window to select a different coordinate system for your data.

You have now created a new layer with your data projected on your selected coordinate system.