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USING A GPS WITH OCAD

April 2010

A) Loading Waypoints & Tracks into OCAD

This function is available in the standard version of OCAD.

Earlier models such as the ETrex can be set to NMEA In/Out and will connect to your computer via a specific COM port. Both OCAD 9 & 10 will automatically connect & you simply select the appropriate button. i.e. Load Waypoints. 

Each waypoint will appear in OCAD as a small undefined cross. No waypoint number will be indicated which is a bit of a nuisance! 

Most modern USB GPS models (e.g. Garmin Colorado, Oregon or Dakota) store waypoints as a gpx file. 

  • Make sure GPS is attached to your computer as a Mass Storage Unit
  • Press load next to the GPX option and load the file with the gpx directly from your GPS unit.

B) Using the  "Moving Map" feature in OCAD

To get this option in OCAD 10 you will need to part with quite a few extra Euros to get the Professional Version. The function works quite well if you are still running Windows XP. If you have a Garmin you will need to download Spanner Software (free from Garmin) to emulate a com port.

 Unfortunately this software (Spanner) will not run on Windows Vista or Windows 7 and OCAD 10 (unlike Google & OziExplorer) does not support a USB connection to receive NMEA data except via a com port.

Do not despair! Get a copy of Franson GPSGate. This software does a brilliant job of simulating COM ports & works 100% with OCAD 10.

If you want a much cheaper solution to this problem you do have a couple of options:

  1. Calibrate a jpg copy of your map & use moving map feature in OziExplorer. See OziExplorer page for details. GPS Track will also do this.
  2. Use the free version of OCAD..OCAD 6 Strangely this has always had a moving map function. Before using this save a special version of your map as some of the features will be lost. Then save as an OCAD 6 file. Then load into OCAD 6 and then go into options to connect GPS. If using Vista or Windows 7 you will still need something like Franson GPSGate to make the connection.

C) Using the Custom Maps function on Garmin USB GPS Units (Colorado, Oregon or Dakota)

Let's face it carrying your computer around while field working is not a particularly attractive option! Apart from the extra weight & difficulty viewing in bright sunlight there is also the risk of serious damage.

  1. Producing a kmz file with OCAD 10: Using custom maps you can have a calibrated version of your map on your GPS as an aid to keeping track with your position while mapping. To use this feature you need to produce a  kmz file of your maps. There is a compelling case for having a copy of at least the standard version of OCAD 10 as this will produce these files from any geo-referenced map you have in OCAD. This is simply loaded into the Custom Maps directory which you will need to make on your GPS. This needs to be a sub-directory of the Garmin directory. (typed exactly > CustomMaps with no space )
  2. Producing a kmz file with OCAD and Google Earth: If you don't have OCAD 10 a geo-referenced kmz file can be produced using Google Earth. Again this would not be as spatially accurate as one produced in OCAD based on a commercial geo-referenced photograph or photogrammetry. Garmin have a section devoted to Custom Maps which explains how to do this.