GPSDash Manual
(based on version 1.51) (deutsche Version des Handbuchs)
Introduction
This manual should help you to be able to use the software to it's full extend. If you spot an error of any kind, please contact the author at <manual@gpsdash.com>.
Table of Contents
- Quick Guides
- Reference
- Troubleshooting
Quick Guides
Installation
Before you can install GPSDash on your PocketPC, you have to download it to your PC or Mac. Currently there are several sources for the installation archives, but I strongly recommend to use <http://files.gpsdash.com>.
Every release of GPSDash is offered in two flavours:
- Self-extracting Executable Installer (PC only)
- Zip compressed CAB-Archive (PC and Mac)
Self-extracting Executable Installer
To install GPSDash with this method just download the EXE file to your PC, start it and follow the instructions. If your PocketPC is connected to your PC and ActiveSync is installed, the installation should finish without the need for additional action.
Zip compressed CAB-Archive
If you have a Macintosh or just prefer CAB-Archives, download the ZIP, decompress it with your favourite tool (e.g. WinZIP) and copy the contained CAB-Archive directly to your PocketPC. This can be done with ActiveSync or the Windows File-Explorer. On the PocketPC finish the installation by opening the Archive with the PocketPC File Explorer or another file-manager of your choice.
After the installation has finished, you will find the start icon of GPSDash in the "Programs" folder of your "Start Menu". But before you can connect to your GPS receiver, you have to configure it. Read more about this in the "Configure..." section of the reference.
Reading the Gauges
The GPSDash Dashboard currently features six analog gauges:
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- Mileometer
- Speedo
- Satometer
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Because the display of the PocketPC is rather small, it is one of the topmost priorities of every developer to keep things concise and simple. Trying to achieve this goal resulted in the actual design of the gauges but made reading them correctly a little bit tricky at first. Although the Altimeter, the Mileometer and the Speedo show only one pointer explicitly, they in fact represent two pointer gauges. To keep things clearly arranged, the second pointer is realized by highlighting the corresponding value in the round-labeling of the gauge.
e.g. To represent an altitude of 524m the pointer of the gauge points to 24 and the 50 in the round-labeling is highlighted in red. So to read the altitude you have to calculate 50 times 10 plus 24. For altitudes above 1000, the scale factor rendered below the center of the gauge comes into play.
While this seems to be complicated at first, this solution offers the significant better precision of a two-pointer gauge and avoids overcrowding the gauge-face with a second pointer. With a little practice you be able to read the gauges without a problem ;). For more specific information on every single gauge please contact the "Dashboard" section in the reference.
Importing Maps
To import your favourite map into GPSDash, initially three steps have to be taken:
- Copy your favourite map in raster format (PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP) to your PocketPC.
- In the GPSDash Mapview load the map by choosing the "Add New Map..." Command from the Context Menu (tap&hold)
- Define at least two reference points.
After you have defined your Reference Points, you may enable the map relative position tracking by selecting the "Track Position" command from the context menu.
Defining Reference-Points
Reference-Points are necessary to map the geographical coordinates - provided by your gps receiver - to karthesian or UTM coordinates which describe a position on a raster-map. To define a Reference-Point for your already loaded map do the following:
- Make sure you are connected to your GPS receiver (good reception is important).
- Move the Position Marker to your current position on the map by tapping with your stylus.
- Select the "References..." command from the context menu (tap&hold).
- Enter a name for your Reference Point (optional), tap the "Add" button and save it with "ok".
While the method just described is easy and accurate, you have to physically move to each of your Reference Points. To avoid this you may also manually provide the geographical coordinates for your Reference-Points. Just make sure to provide the coordinates in the correct notation. The coordinate notation used by GPSDash is selectable in the menu under "Tools ? Coordinates". For more detailed information, please read the Map-View section in the reference.
Additional Hints
- The maximum size for a single map is about 2000x2000 pixels.
- To get optimal results with the map relative position tracking, the map' scale should be in between 1:10.000 and 1:100.000.
- Accuracy of Reference-Points is crucial for the position tracking feature.
- If you want to store your maps on an external storage-card, have a look at the "File Selector" section in the reference.
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Reference
This reference covers almost all aspects of GPSDash in well-structured form.
Menu & Toolbar
Menu "GPS"
This menu contains all the commands related to your GPS-Receiver.
The available commands/switches are:
"GPS » Configure..."
Before you can successfully connect to your GPS-Receiver, you have to specify the correct connection parameters. As GPSDash "talks" to the receiver over a serial interface (COM-Port), the essential/mandatory parameters are:
Mandatory Options
- Serial Port - the name of the Interface
- Baud Rate - the communication speed
- Protocol - the data protocol
Unfortunately the values for this parameters differ for each receiver and GPSDash is not able to automatically detect them. If you do not know the values for your receiver, you should have a look at the Success-Report-List which is a collection of successfully tested configuration-sets.
Note: At the moment, GPSDash supports only the NMEA communication protocol. So you don't really have a choice for now.
Advanced Options
If you know the chipset of your receiver, make sure to select the corresponding entry from the listbox. If you don't know this technical detail about your receiver, leave the setting at "unspecified" or try to consult the manual/technical specification of your receiver manufacturer.
"GPS » Plain Connect"
After configuration, you can try to connect to your receiver by selecting the "Plain Connect" command. If you get an error message or nothing seems to move, please check your configuration and all physical connections. Also make sure that no other application is blocking the serial port.
"GPS » Auto Connect"
With this switch you can control whether GPSDash should connect to your receiver on program start automatically or not. Be sure to have a working configuration before activating this switch.
"GPS » Disconnect"
Use this command to disconnect from your receiver. Disconnecting also frees the serial port so other applications may have access.
"GPS » Hot Connect"
If you have not used your receiver for a long time or you step out of a plane on a different continent, most receivers need an nearly inacceptable amount of time to get the first fix. This feature allows you to shorten this "Cold-Start" time. To make this work, you have to manually specify your position in the Map-View before selecting the "Hot Connect" command. To specify this initial position, select a calibrated map of your choice and move the marker to your current position.
"GPS » Program CS"
This command is only available if you have specified that your receiver is based on the SIRF chipset and should only be selected if some of the dashboard gauges do not work. The "Programm CS" (CS=ChipSet) programs/configures your receiver to output all the data records needed by GPSDash. In detail - you do not have to understand this - the receiver is set to output GGA , RMC, GSA records once per second and GSV records every 5 seconds.
Note: Whereas this feature does no harm to your receiver, it may cause incompatibility with other GPS applications (very unlikely).
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Menu "Log"
If you want to store the data of a trip for later analysis or documentation, you can do this by creating a log-file. The "Log" submenu provides the tools to create and replay log-files. Log-files contain raw data as delivered from your receiver.
The available commands/switches are:
"Log » Create New..."
To start recording a log-file, select the "Create New..." command and specify where to store the data.
"Log » Stop Logging"
Select this command to stop the recording of GPS data.
"Log » Replay..."
This feature allows you to replay a previously created log-file.
"Log » Stop Replay"
Select this command to stop the replay of a log-file.
"Log » Replay Speed"
The "Replay Speed" submenu allows you to control the speed when replaying a log-file. You can choose between 100% (real time), 200% (default) and 400%.
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Menu "Nav"
The "Nav" menu contains the tools to manage the data needed to support you in questions of navigation.
The available commands/switches are:
"Nav » Edit Waypoints..."
This command opens a dialog to manage your waypoint data. The controls in the dialog allows you add new, update and remove waypoints. If you are connected and the receiver provides a valid fix, the position fields are initialized with the current position. If you re in the Map-View and have selected a calibrated map, the position fields are initialzed with the position as indicated by the marker. Beside the global position you can specifiy a radius to describe the covered area. The radius is measured in seconds whereas one second is about 30 meters or 100 feet. You may also specify a description for the waypoint.
"Nav » Select Waypoint..."
To be supported when navigating to a previously defined waypoint, you have to select it as your current target. The "Select Waypoint..." command opens a dialog which allows you to do this and is also usefull to browse through your waypoints.
Note: The "Nav" menu also shows the items "Define Route..." and "Select Route..." but they are inacessible. The reason for this is that the implementation of this features is not finished yet. I hope to activate this functionality in one of the next releases.
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Menu "Tools"
The available commands/switches are:
"Tools » On Fix Sound"
Activate this switch to get an audible signal whenever your receiver manages to get it's first valid fix or when it looses connection to the satellites.
"Tools » Sync SysClock"
This command allows you to sync the system-time of your PocketPC with the reference time provided by the GPS system. It is only enabled if GPSDash is connected and the receiver delivers a valid fix.
"Tools » Auto Sync"
If this switch is enabled, GPSDash syncs your system-time whenever your receiver goes online.
"Tools » Reset Gauges"
Select this command to reset all the gauges in the Dashboard.
"Tools » File-Selector"
This option container allows you to choose your preferred file-selector. The file-selector is in action whenever you have to select a file (e.g. select a map or a log-file). You can choose between the "standard" and the "advanced" file-selector. The advantage of the "advanced" file-selector is ability to access files on your external storage card. The drawbacks are a slower access and a overall worse usability.
"Tools » Units"
As even in the 21st century the world is still divided in different zones with different measures, GPSDash supports the metric (m, km, km/h), the imperial (feet, miles, mph) and for the sailors the nautic system (nautic miles, knots). It's u to you to choose.
Note: Selecting "nautic" does not influence the measure for altitude.
"Tools » Coordinates"
GPSDash supports two coordinate systems which are WGS84 (GPS standard) and UTM. Additionaly, WGS84 is further supported in three different notations as they are DDMMSS.SS, DDMM.MMMM and DD.DDDDDD (D = Degree, M = Minute, S = Second).
"Tools » Quit GPSDash"
Choose this command to close GPSDash and remove it from memory.
Note: Taping the X in the upper right corner of a PocketPC application does not remove it from memory.
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Brush-Tool
By tapping on the brush icon in the toolbar you can switch between the two available color schemes of GPSDash. While the standard scheme is good for most conditions, the alternate scheme is very good for low light conditions or at night.
Zooming-Tool 
The functionality of the Zooming-Tool is context dependent. If the Dashboard is active, taping the zoom-in button switches the Dashboard to Exclusive-Mode (only one big view of the current main gauge). If the Dashboard is in Exclusive-Mode you may switch back to Normal-Mode by taping the zoom-out button. In Map-View you may use the Buttons to zoom the map freely.
About-Dialog
Beside showing some general information about GPSDash, the About-Dialog also show's the program version and the GPSDash Registration-ID. You will need this Registration-ID if you want to register GPSDash. More information on how to register GPSDash can be found at <http://gpsdash.com>.
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GPSDash-Views
To visualize the data from your receiver, GPSDash offers four different views:
- Dashboard - shows basic and aggregated data over several gauges
- Map-View - shows your position and other navigational information on a map
- List-View - shows basic GPS data in list form.
- Data-View - shows raw data (NMEA) as it is sent by your receiver
Dashboard
The GPSDash Dashboard features six cool auto-scaling analog gauges:
- Altimeter - shows the altitude above sea-level
- Clock - shows UTC or local time
- Compass - shows heading and bearing
- Mileometer - works as trip and overall total mileage counter
- Speedo - it's up to you to find this out :)
- Satometer - visuallizes the signal reception situation
The Dashboard has two display modes called standard- and exclusive-mode. In standard-mode the Dashboard shows all the six gauges, whereby the main-gauge has the quadruple size of the other five gauges. You can assign any of the small gauges as main-gauge by simple taping on it. By taping on the main-gauge, you switch the Dashboard to exclusive-mode where the main-gauge is enlarged to cover the whole Dashboard window. To leave exclusive-mode, tap in the Dashboard area again or use the Zooming-Tool in the toolbar.
Every gauge has it's own context-menu where you can choose from different measures and specific commands. The last item of every gauges context menu always shows the digital value or state of each gauge. This is also to place to look if you are unsure which measure is in use.
Altimeter
The Altimeter may be used in metric or imperial mode and offers the option to apply a manual correction value to the altitude as reported by the receiver. This is sometimes necessary as the GPS projection model is based on an idealized model which differs more or less from reality. The extent of this error depends on your current position but is nearly constant for small areas. However, some of the better or more expensive receivers automatically provide such a correction value. This is detected and used by GPSDash since version 1.4 (Geoid Separation).
Clock
The clock shows the very precise GPS reference time which is UTC (Universal Time Coordinated). You may also configure the clock to show you local time. For this to work correctly, you have to specify the correct timezone in the clock settings of your PocketPC (Start » Settings » System » Clock).
Compass
This electronic compass imitates the a normal compass but there is one important difference: The compass data is only valid if your receiver is moving. It is not possible to derive a heading from GPS data if the receiver is stationary. If a waypoint is selected, the compass also features an obtrusive bearing marker to help you finding your target. Find out more about waypoints in the Nav menu section of this reference.
Mileometer
The Mileometer works as the one in your car an features a overall total and a trip counter. The gauge always shows the value of the trip counter. To see the overall total, you have to open the context menu of this gauge. The context menu also offers the commands to reset those counters. Replaying a log-file does not affect the overall total counter.
Speedo
Beside the possibilty to switch between metric, imperial and nautic mode, technically there is not much to say about the speedo. One Tip: This gauge is great to check the speedo of your car. The speedos of some car models show significant deviation.
Satometer
This gauges visualizes the reception situation of your receiver . It shows the number and the relative position of the satellites in view. The satellites used to acquire the fix are outlined in black. The color of the circular satellite indicators emcode the reception or signal quality. If the Satometer is the main gauge and the Signal To Noise Ration option is activated, the digital value for the signal quality is shown for each satellite. If Pseudo Random Noise ID is selected, this identifier is shown for each of the birds in view.
For more information on how to read the gauges correctly, please consult the "Reading the Gauges" Quick Guide.
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Map-View
Allmost all comands related to the Map-View are accessible over the Map-View context menu. Open the context menu by doing a "tap&hold" anywhere in the Map-View window. The available commands/switches are:
Add New Map
Mostly because of copyright reasons, the only map that comes with GPSDash is the worldmap. While this map is usefull to get an overview and do some experimentation, it is much too gross to be usefull in most situations. However, GPSDash features the possibility to import your own maps without too much hassle. The first step to import a new map into GPSDash is to select the "Add New Map" command. This command opens the File-Selector which allows you to choose a map from the file-system of your PocketPC. After selection, the new map is loaded and displayed in the Map-View. To be able to use the new map for tracking your position, you have to define two Reference-Points.
References...
This command opens a dialog which allows you to manage Reference-Points for the currently loaded map. Reference-Points connect geographical positions with the corresponding points in the map and are necessary for map-calibration. If you have just added a new map, you have to define two Reference-Points to calibrate it. You can define more than two Reference-Points, but in the current implementation, only the first and the last Reference-Point of the list are used. For a step by step instructions please read the "Importing Maps" Quick Guide.
Track Position
If GPSDash is connected to your receiver and you want to see your current position on a map, just activate this switch and the Map-View position marker will work as indicator. If your position is not covered by your current map, GPSDash will try to switch to the map with the highest scale which does. As a fallback, this may also be the worldmap.
Select Map...
This command allows you to manually select a map from the list of imported maps. If the track "Track Position" switch is activated you are connected, it makes only sense to select a map that covers your current position or GPSDash will automatically switch back to a map that covers. In general it is not advisable to use this command if the "Auto Select Map" switch is activated. The only exceptions are uncalibrated maps.
Auto Select Map
While the "Track Position" switch causes GPSDash to automatically change the current map only if the current position is not covered anymore, the "Auto Select Map" switch checks for changing to a "better" map on every fix that is coming in from your receiver. In this context, "better" means a map with higher scale (1:10000 > 1:50000). So if you have an overview map that covers a large area and you enter an sub-area for which a map with higher scale is available, GPSDash will automatically switch to this map if the "Auto Select Map" switch is enabled.
Show
The "Show" submenu controls allows you to control the display of some additional pieces of information in the Map-View:
- Show » Coordinates - Controls the rendering of the coordinates of the position marker in the upper-left corner of the Map-View. If this is enabled on an uncalibrated map, the coordinate of the pixel in the map is displayed instead.
- Show » Bearing - If a waypoint is selected and this switch is activated, the absolute bearing, the relative bearing to your current heading and the distance to the waypoint are displayed in the upper-left corner of the Map-View.
- Show » Track - If this switch is enabled, a trace of your track is rendered as an map overlay.
- Show » Waypoints - This switch control's wheter waypoint markers are rendered or not. Beside a small flag, also the covering area of a waypoint is shown.
- Show » Mapname - If enabled, the user definable name of a map is shown in the lower-right corner of the Map-View.
Marker Color
With the switches in this submenu you can control the color and the appearance of the Map-View position marker.
- Marker Color » {Red | Green | Blue} - By selecting a combination of red, green and blue switches you you are able to select one out of eight possible colors.
- Marker Color » Reception -
This feature allows you to color code the GPS reception information into your track.
If your receiver uses all the satellites that are in it's current view, the track is colored solid green. The color changes from green to yellow to red the less satellites are in current use. This feature is also available for loading a track from a previously stored log-file it's usefull to visualize the performance of your receiver.
- Marker Color » Outline - As the standard position marker is rather small and sometimes hard to see, this switch outlines the marker with a dark ring in which the map content is shown in negative color.
Load Track
If you have a Log-File from a previous trip, you may use this feature to visualize the way you have taken. Make sure to select a map that covers the area of the trip before you make use of this.
Goto Waypoint
If a waypoint is currently selected, you can use this command to move the position marker to the position of the waypoint. This only works properly if the "Track Position" switch is deactivated. Otherwise the marker will jump back to your current position as soon as the next fix arrives from the receiver.
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List-View
The List-View presents the GPS data as a list. While most of the presented information is straight forward, the data shown in the Dilution section of the view needs some explanation. The Dilution Of Position (DOP) characterizes the quality of signal reception wherby the smaller the values, the better the reception. The first column contains the dilution values of the last sample, and the second column the average of the last 60 values.
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Data-View
This view of GPSDash enables you to take a look at the raw GPS data as delivered by your receiver. This facility is mainly for debugging and to provide interested users a look at the data. The view contains a window in which a history of the last n GPS records is shown. You can control the n by selecting one of the predefined values from the "History Size" listbox. The checkboxes work as filter and control which type of GPS records are to be shown.
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Troubleshooting
- I do not know the configuration values for my PPC / Receiver combination. What should I do?
- Have a look at the Success-Report-List. Maybe another user has already provided the correct parameters to this list.
- Try to consult the manual of your GPS receiver.
- I think I know the correct port and speed, but trying to connect always yield's "Failed to open COM Port."
- The access to a COM-port is mutual exclusive which means, that only one program may have access to the receiver at once.
- If you are using TomTom, please try the following:
- On the PocketPC, uninstall the TomTom ~GPS application (that and only that one)
- Don't do it via the PC, do it on the PDA directly
- The uninstall routine will ask for a soft reset. After that, everything (including TomTom) will work
- Most probably another program or driver is blocking the port.
- I am able to connect, but none or only a few gauges seem to work. What should I do?
- If your receiver is based on a SIRF chipset, try the "Program CS" function.
- If that does not help or is not applicable, you have to manually configure your receiver to NMEA protocoll and to output GGA, RMC, GSA and GSV records. Most receiver manufacturers provide a tool to do this.
- Trying to add your favourite map yield's the error "Failed to load mapfile."
- Make sure the map you are trying to import is in GIF, PNG, JPEG or BMP format.
- The map size must not exceed 2000x2000 pixels.
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