Other things that you can do after connecting your PalmOS PDA to the Garmin eTrex – Planetarium & GPilotS
You just spent big moola getting your GPS receiver and the necessary cables to connect it to your PDA. You already got bored with navigating around the western coast of the Malaysian Penisular with the GPS-enabled maps on your PDA. Now what else can you do with it?
Here are two more apps that support the Garmin eTrex GPS. You can try these out. If you know anymore, drop me a line and I’ll add it to the article.
Planetarium – Fixing Your Location
There are plenty of stargazers within palmx. All have Planetarium installed on their PDA. I still remember Kan San requesting the coordinates of Batu Berendam so that he can try out the application. If you have a GPS, Planetarium can grab the location straight from your GPS.
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But first you have to install the GPS plugin from http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanets/files/gpsnmea.zip for etrex or http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanets/files/gpsnavman.zip for Navman.
Configure your GPS to transmit the coordinates in NMEA format. Connect it to your PDA in the usual manner. Then from the main page, click on the menu ‘Options’, ‘Set Location’. |
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You’ll see the GPS button at the bottom right side. Click on it. |
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You’ll see this page. In a few seconds, you’ll see the GPS location of where you are inserted at the location. Okay, you’re done! |
GPilotS – Synchronising Your Time
GPilotS is an invaluable freeware for Garmin GPS owners. You can back up the locations and the routes from the firmware of the GPS into your PalmOS PDA. Being Garmin specific, you have to configure your GPS to transmit the coordinates in Garmin format. Connect it to your PDA in the usual manner. Open up the application (and then back up the locations and routes from your GPS! It doesn’t hurt to play safe.).
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As we all know, beside atomic clocks, GPS receivers are another source of accurate time. Everytime it receives signals from at least 4 satellites, it synchronises its time with the time maintained by these satellites. To synchronise from the receiver to the PDA is an easy matter with the right connection and application.
After running the application, click on the menu ‘GPS’, ‘Sync time’. |
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You’ll get the following screen. Just click ‘OK’ and you’re done! |