GPS units

Thanks for letting me know, I was about to place the order with a USB cable when I saw the post, just ordered it without the cable.

Got my GPS yesterday, now comes the fun part of actually capturing GPS co-ordinates into it (I can always find a way of procrastinating when exams are coming up, my GPS already knows where Sleeping Beauty Cave, Popple Peak, Upper Injisuthi Cave and Marble Bathes Caves are).

I have been trying to find either Cape Datum (as are the EKZN maps) or WGS84 co-ordinates for tracks and due to my lack of a cable, the GPX files I see on this site and on www.berg.co.za aren't much use, too bad I can't read binary...

I have found en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakensberg_hiking with WGS84 co-ordinates, does anyone know where I can find additional points, other than using a ruler and EKZN maps which I imagine will cause me to walk through some rock faces!

Nothing wrong with procrastination - that's when I get most of my 'real' learning done.

As for tracks, you can open gpx files in google earth and then check out the coordinates of various waypoints along the track.

Thanks!

I have a serial to USB adapter (keyspan). I was forced to buy the serial cable but modern computers have no serial port. I connect with USB.

I have also become quite proficient at data "exchange" between gpx, kml and txt files. gpx is garmin's proprietary format which you use to upload and download from garmin gps, kml is the google earth format so you can see them on GE, and txt is for printing.

I use the following freeware: GPSBabel, EasyGPS, GPS Utility, and a couple of batch files I wrote to drag and drop a file (or folder) onto an icon for processing (one is called "gpx to kml" and the other "kml to gpx").

Let me know if you need them or have questions about data exchange.

With 20,000 data points or more and only 500 limit in the Garmin I have been forced to become expert downloading / uploading sets. Being poor I cannot spend money on software - I use freeware and write the rest.

I am interested in acquiring a gps, and have been looking at the various postings here. Like some others I don't want to spend a fortune on a top of the range gps.

@Ghaznavid, I know you've been out in the berg recently, and if possible would like your feedback on your Garmin eTrex H.(without cable?)

@Intrepid, I like your comments on the eTrex legend C, and have had a look at the eTrex legend HCx which is now becoming unavailable. Various websites indicate that this model is replaced by the eTrex 20 or eTrex 30, depending on which site you look at, although there is quite a price difference between the two. Does anyone know which of the eTrex 20 or 30 is the descendant of the eTrex legend HCx?

Any advice very welcome.

My eTrek-H has been useful from a statistical point of view (eg average speed, distance hiked and current altitude), I haven't needed it for navigation though. It did think I was at 694m for 2km from Garden Castle car park to just before Pillar Cave, then I apparently ascended 1.3km vertically in 2 seconds and it suddenly got to the right altitude...

Thanks Ghaznavid, you seem happy with the eTrex H. I was hoping to learn something about the possible limitations of not having a usb cable.