Waypoints Uploads OpenCPN to Garmin

[fgd3]

I just re-read this thread to be sure I wasn't missing anything. I did notice Tupaia was using 3.2.2 while I use the latest beta version. Pavel fixed a bug just before 3.3.1731 that caused uploaded waypoints to default to very high elevations but I don't think that could have any bearing on your issue. Still, you might try the current beta (3.3.1824) to see if it gives you any better results. I have never tried uploading individual waypoints but have never had any difficulty uploading routes. The Garmin GPS 72 receives routes and the waypoints that make up the routes.

When you switch a Garmin GPS to GRMN mode it will not communicate with devices on an NMEA network (except that OpenCPN now has a setting to use GRMN mode for input), so I have found that I need to set the Garmin GPS to GRMN mode, upload my routes, then set the Garmin GPS back to NMEA mode.

I don't normally have my Garmin GPS connected to my computer. I make that connection only for uploading routes. Then I disconnect it from the computer and connect it to an NMEA port on my SeaTalk network so it will interface with my speed instrument and autopilot. When I'm under way I have a BU-353 connected to the computer if I'm running OpenCPN as a plotter.

I can see where, if you have your GPS connected to your computer while under way it would be a nuisance to have to switch back and forth between GRMN and NMEA modes.

Fabbian

[fgd3]

I experimented a little with my Garmin GPS 72. When I connected it to the computer in NMEA mode I could see data flowing in the NMEA debug window. With "Use GRMN (Host) mode for uploads" unselected I opened the Route Manager, selected a route, and clicked the "Send to GPS" button. The NMEA debug window paused during the upload, the GPS gave no indication that a transfer had occurred, but I found the waypoints from the route had been uploaded. I was hoping the NMEA debug window would show me what was being sent to the GPS but apparently it only shows data incoming from the GPS.

I tried the upload again after selecting "Use GRMN (Host) mode for uploads". OpenCPN gave me an error message to the effect that a Garmin GPS was not connected.

I switched the GPS into GRMN mode, left "Use GRMN (Host) mode for uploads" selected, and repeated the upload. This time both the route and its waypoints were uploaded to the GPS.

OpenCPN would not allow me to select more than one route to send to the GPS.

Fabbian

[bdbcat]

Hello testers..

I am looking into the garmin upload problem today.

Is there anyone online with a Garmin 128 (or any other Garmin, for that matter) that could run some test scenarios for me?

Using 3.3.1824, I need the following:
1. Make 2 routes, call them A and B
2. Route A has exactly 2 points, call them (a) and (b)
3. Route B has exactly 3 points. call them (c), (d), and (e)

Setup your GPS in NMEA/NMEA mode, 4800 baud. Be sure to unselect "Use GRMN (Host) mode for uploads".

4. Upload the routes, one at a time.

5. Check to see if the waypoints got uploaded. The waypoints may or may not be there. Report results. Do not fret if the route itself is not uploaded. I think that Garmin cannot upload routes on NMEA interface. This seems to be a known bug for all garmin compatible apps.

5. Open your logfile, clip the little bit at the bottom that shows the GPS upload sentences, looks like this:

13:55:19 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0412.661,N,10036.091,E,WPT0*22
13:55:37 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0654.712,N,10650.741,E,WPT1*2A
13:56:12 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0539.583,N,10820.391,E,WPT2*2B
13:56:15 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0415.526,N,10654.258,E,WPT3*23
13:56:24 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPRTE,2,1,c,1,WPT0,WPT1*04
13:56:28 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPRTE,2,2,c,1,WPT2,WPT3*07

Here is what I suspect:
I think the G128 cannot handle $ECRTE messages containing more than two waypoints.

On my little Garmin eTrex in NMEA/NMEA mode, all of the above works fine, as expected. Waypoints are uploaded, but route is not. In GRMN/GRMN mode, the route gets uploaded as well.

Thanks
Dave

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

Hello testers..

13:55:19 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0412.661,N,10036.091,E,WPT0*22
13:55:37 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0654.712,N,10650.741,E,WPT1*2A
13:56:12 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0539.583,N,10820.391,E,WPT2*2B
13:56:15 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPWPL,0415.526,N,10654.258,E,WPT3*23
13:56:24 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPRTE,2,1,c,1,WPT0,WPT1*04
13:56:28 EDT: -->GPS Port:Serial:/dev/ttyS0 Sentence: $GPRTE,2,2,c,1,WPT2,WPT3*07

Here is what I suspect:
I think the G128 cannot handle $ECRTE messages containing more than two waypoints.

On my little Garmin eTrex in NMEA/NMEA mode, all of the above works fine, as expected. Waypoints are uploaded, but route is not. In GRMN/GRMN mode, the route gets uploaded as well.

Thanks
Dave

Hi Dave,

I am now using 3.3 1824, all set to NMEA / NMEA

The sentences that you are showing are what I would expect to work given what MaxSea puts out.

You are correct in that Garmin have never been able to accept routes only the waypoints,

I believe there is also a limit of 10 WP's that can be uploaded this way, but this maybe a limit set by MaxSea rather than Garmin, given the fiddly nature of creating the RTE sentences.

Here are the results you requested.

From VSPE output monitor
$ECWPL,0745.323,N,10139.896,E,001*62..
$ECWPL,0832.434,N,10623.654,E,002*63..
$ECRTE,1,1,c,1,001,002*14..

OPC Log file
9:35:57 AM: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2
9:35:58 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0745.323,N,10139.896,E,001*62
9:35:59 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0832.434,N,10623.654,E,002*63
9:35:59 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,1,001,002*14
9:36:00 AM: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2

From VSPE output monitor
$ECWPL,0654.713,N,10650.742,E,WPT1*39..
$ECWPL,0539.583,N,10820.390,E,WPT2*3B..
$ECWPL,0415.526,N,10654.257,E,WPT3*3D..
$ECRTE,1,1,c,1,WPT1,WPT2,WPT3*58..

OPC Log file
9:37:51 AM: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2
9:37:52 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0654.713,N,10650.742,E,WPT1*39
9:37:52 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0539.583,N,10820.390,E,WPT2*3B
9:37:53 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0415.526,N,10654.257,E,WPT3*3D
9:37:53 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,1,WPT1,WPT2,WPT3*58
9:37:54 AM: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2

Nothing gets uploaded to the GPS

Cheers Peter

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Hi there,

I noticed similar problems ~3 weeks ago and already posted in another thread.
I never tried uploading routes, only single waypoints.
I don't use GRMN-GRMN / Host upload, just simply via the selected COM-Port and right mouse menu.
This uploading definitely did work in the last years betas. I used it a lot.
It does not work anymore in 3.3.1606. (I sailed the last 2 weeks with the stable 1606 codebase).

This is what I investigated.

Behaviour is like follows :
If you have a new installation of O and never used the GPS upload, the ini file does not contain a port in
MostRecentGPSUploadConnection=

If the ini string is "empty" like above, you can upload exactly 1 (one) waypoint to the Garmin GPS.
Upon upload of this WP you get the port selection dialogue (see attachment), and the upload works.

After the upload, the selected port is written to the ini (and a global variable).
When you try uploading the next wp, O uses the global variable, and does NOT show the "port selection dialogue".
The same behaviour happens after restart of O : ini file is read, global variable set, and upload fails.
It seems that O assumes an existing, open datastream which in fact does not exist.
This is the relevant part of the logfile :

01:36:44: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2 Actisense NDC
01:36:44: Error, comm port open failure, INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, Datastream skipped.
01:36:45: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Actisense NDC Sentence: $ECWPL,4430.788,N,01419.750,E,Sanseg*7C
01:36:46: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2 Actisense NDC

Although saying "Waypoint(s) uploaded sucessfully" it doesn't arrive at the GPS. In fact in O, (under Win7) the upload always comes back
with "Waypoint(s) uploaded sucessfully", no matter if the logfile shows the lines above, or not.

The logfile message is written in RoutPoint.cpp, second line from the end :

bool RoutePoint::SendToGPS(const wxString & com_name, wxGauge *pProgress)
{
int result = 0;
if( g_pMUX )
result = g_pMUX->SendWaypointToGPS( this, com_name, pProgress );
else { //TR
result=ERR_GARMIN_GENERAL; //TR
}
wxString msg;
if( 0 == result )
msg = _("Waypoint(s) Uploaded successfully.");
else{
if( result == ERR_GARMIN_INITIALIZE )
msg = _("Error on Waypoint Upload. Garmin GPS not connected");
else
msg = _("Error on Waypoint Upload. Please check logfiles...");
}

OCPNMessageBox( NULL, msg, _("OpenCPN Info"), wxOK | wxICON_INFORMATION );

return (result == 0);
}

So it seems that "result" is always set to 0 in line
"result = g_pMUX->SendWaypointToGPS( this, com_name, pProgress );"
Please note : I already added in my code (!) the two lines marked with //TR to avoid this, in case g_pMUX is false ...

Anyway, I was out sailing for 2 weeks w/o Internet access, and I didn't get the debugger running under VC2010.
On the other hand I didn't want to key in all wp's manually to O, so I changed the code in
chcanv.cpp like this (first line 8486) :

case ID_WPT_MENU_SENDTOGPS:
if( m_pFoundRoutePoint ) {
//if( m_active_upload_port.Length() ) //TR
// m_pFoundRoutePoint->SendToGPS( m_active_upload_port, NULL ); //TR
//else { //TR
SendToGpsDlg dlg;
dlg.SetWaypoint( m_pFoundRoutePoint );

dlg.Create( NULL, -1, _( "Send To GPS..." ), _T("") );
dlg.ShowModal();
//} //TR
}
break;

The effect was, that I always get the port selection dialogue now (with pre-selected com port, like in screenshot),
and upload works OK.

This also has the advantage, that I have the option to change the com-port, if my setup should change, w/o fiddling in the ini file and
clearing the MostRecentGPSUploadConnection parameter ...



I hope that helps a bit.

BR,

Thomas
PS : sorry, I don't have my Garmin GPS 152 here for testing.

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Here is the screenshot for the post above...

Thomas

[bdbcat]

Peter, et al...

1. The bug reported by BigTomSpeedy is valid, but not directly related to the problem at hand. In Peter's case, the port is know open, and the data flows. This is proven by the VSPE port monitor output.

We will add Speedy's bug to the list.

2. I am interested in this scenario, as reported by Peter earlier:

2. If you create a planning route with 2 WP's and upload them then the result is this

$GPWPL,0352.732,N,11023.438,E,WPT0*24..
$GPWPL,0806.164,S,10118.516,E,WPT1*32..
$GPRTE,1,1,c,,WPT0,WPT1*36..

Only WPT1 ends up getting to the GPS and it completely ignores WPT0

Well, now, that seems strange, but must be just a quirk of the GPS128.

Peter, could we try this very minimal test:

1. Shut down all non-essential systems.
2. You are on XP. Use terminal or hyperterm, or something like this. Get the GPS sending data into the terminal window at 4800 Baud.
3. Send the above three messages directly to the GPS128, using the terminal emulator file transfer facility.
4. Look and see if the waypoints are uploaded.

On my Garmin eTrex, I find:
a. The two waypoints are uploaded.
b. The NMEA checksum is a "don't care". Apparently, the eTrex GPS does not check the checksum on input.

If this does not work on the GPS128, then we shall have to do some 128-specific workarounds. You may want to try and dummy up some sentences in the terminal emulator, just to see what works, and what does not. If you think that the GPS is ignoring you because of bad checksums, here is a link to an NMEA checksum calculator:
NMEA MTK checksum calculator

Also, any other Garmin GPS users, please feel free to follow along and try this on your systems. We are not interested in GRMN mode uploads, only NMEA mode uploads.

Thanks
Dave

[bdbcat]

Folks...

I'm trying to find an old GPS128 on eBay, etc. to acquire so that we can fix this issue for good. No luck so far. Anyone got an excess GPS128 that they could donate to the zoo, it would be appreciated.

Thanks
Dave

[Tupaia]

I am fairly convinced that this is a Garmin issue related to sentence structure as my attempted uploads to Garmin GPS do not show the Error, comm port - line

9:35:57 AM: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2
9:35:58 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0745.323,N,10139.896,E,001*62
9:35:59 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECWPL,0832.434,N,10623.654,E,002*63
9:35:59 AM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,1,001,002*14
9:36:00 AM: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2

compared to

Originally Posted by tom_BigSpeedy

01:36:44: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2 Actisense NDC
01:36:44: Error, comm port open failure, INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, Datastream skipped.
01:36:45: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM2 Actisense NDC Sentence: $ECWPL,4430.788,N,01419.750,E,Sanseg*7C
01:36:46: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM2 Actisense NDC

I think you may have uncovered another issue however.

Interestingly my ini file says COM1 but I added a second connection COM2 that I have active and the dialog box you mention always appears giving COM1 and COM2 as options.

What happens if you add a new connection in toolbox and reassign the port?

Peter

[Tupaia]

Hi Dave, I have tried uploading using Hyperterm.

It does not appear to work, although I am not sure if I have HypT setup properly. What transfer protocol should I be using. File transfer says error limit exceeded and .txt file send does not seem to work. Are there any special terminating chars required.

I created a .txt file using notepad from the output from Maxsea that worked so the chksums should be correct I have tried EC and GP prefixes also.

With regards a G128 unit where are you located?

Peter

[fgd3]

Dave,

I tried your test with a slight variation. I named the routes RA and RB. I named the waypoints RAA and RAB for the first route and RBC, RBD, and RBE for the second. I tried to upload the routes (one at a time from the Route Manager) to my Garmin GPS 72. To my surprise, the waypoints which were uploaded were RAB, RBD, and RBE. In other words, the beginning waypoint of each route was not uploaded. So it's not a quirk of the GPS 128. Here are the excerpts from the log file:

Route RA:
4:39:47 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.405,N,08238.232,W,RAA*1C
4:39:47 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.483,N,08237.931,W,RAB*16
4:39:48 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,RA,RAA,RAB*36

Route RB:
4:40:53 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.299,N,08238.286,W,RBC*11
4:40:53 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.392,N,08237.909,W,RBD*1F
4:40:54 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.581,N,08237.811,W,RBE*12
4:40:54 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,RB,RBC,RBD,RBE*48

Of course, when I switched to GRMN mode both routes and all five waypoints uploaded perfectly.

Here are the logfile lines:

4:55:34 PM: EnumerateSerialPorts() Found Garmin USB Driver.
4:55:38 PM: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM10
4:55:38 PM: Stopping Secondary Thread
4:55:40 PM: Stopped in 2 sec.
4:55:41 PM: Sent Route to Garmin GPS on port: COM10
Unit identifies as: GPS 72 Software Version 2.50
4:55:42 PM: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM10
4:55:47 PM: LOGBOOK: 2014-06-30 20:55:47 UTC DR Lat 27.74170 Lon -82.63770
4:56:07 PM: EnumerateSerialPorts() Found Garmin USB Driver.
4:56:09 PM: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM10
4:56:09 PM: Stopping Secondary Thread
4:56:14 PM: Stopped in 5 sec.
4:56:15 PM: Sent Route to Garmin GPS on port: COM10
Unit identifies as: GPS 72 Software Version 2.50
4:56:16 PM: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM10

Fabbian

[fgd3]

I repeated the test uploading to a Garmin GPS 12 in NMEA mode. Again, I named the routes RA and RB. Waypoints for RA were named RAA and RAB. Waypoint for RB were named RBC, RBD, and RBE. I tried to upload the routes (one at a time) from Route Manager by clicking on the "Send to GPS" button. For route RA only waypoint RAB was uploaded. For route RB only waypoints RBD and RBE were uploaded.

The log entries for RA:
5:12:05 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.405,N,08238.232,W,RAA*1C
5:12:06 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.483,N,08237.931,W,RAB*16
5:12:06 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,RA,RAA,RAB*36

The log entries for RB:
5:12:17 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.299,N,08238.287,W,RBC*10
5:12:18 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.392,N,08237.909,W,RBD*1F
5:12:18 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECWPL,2744.581,N,08237.811,W,RBE*12
5:12:19 PM: -->GPS Port:Serial:COM10 Sentence: $ECRTE,1,1,c,RB,RBC,RBD,RBE*48

Switching both OpenCPN and the GPS 12 to GRMN mode each route and all its associated waypoints uploaded.

The log for RA:
5:23:35 PM: Sent Route to Garmin GPS on port: COM10
Unit identifies as: GPS 12 SOFTWARE 4.58

The log for RB:
5:25:18 PM: Sent Route to Garmin GPS on port: COM10
Unit identifies as: GPS 12 SOFTWARE 4.58

The GPS 12 does not allow the user to specify route names, so each route was simply placed in the next available numbered route. The waypoint names were preserved, however.

I hope that is of some help to you.

Fabbian

[fgd3]

I should mention that my tests with the GPS 72 and the GPS 12 were conducted on my Windows Vista installation.

Fabbian

[bdbcat]

Hello Garmin testers...

OK, we have a working solution for Garmin waypoint uploads via generic NMEA strings.

The current code is in github master now, so source builders may take a look.

The root problem was a Windows-only bug( surprised?), and came about as a result of working with the flakey Windows Bluetooth SPP stack.

I have reproduced the failure on 3.3.1824, and confirmed the solution in github master, all on Win7/64 with Prolific USB serial adapter and Garmin eTrex GPS receiver.

Test results appreciated.

Thanks for your patience.
Dave

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

Hello Garmin testers...

Test results appreciated.

Thanks for your patience.
Dave

Thanks for you perseverance on this. Is there anyway I could get an executable as I would be more than happy to test it, but don't have the means or connectivity to compile here.
Peter