You may have been using a Hema Navigator for some period of time, and have accumulated some data in the offroad application (OziExplorer) while using it.
This data may be waypoints, routes and / or tracks.
This article describes how you can translate (convert) the data for use within the Hema Explorer app, or for use with Explore mode on the Hema HX-1, and assumes that the source data from the Navigator is in OziExplorer format. However, the concepts shown here will work with data from other sources.
This article assumes that you have a good understanding of basic computer principles and terminology, and that you know the basics of copying files etc. If you do not know how to copy files on your computer, you should do some Google searching, and learn how.
It is important to understand that the OziExplorer software used by the Navigator has its own data formats, and these are different to the formats used for data storage in the Hema Explorer / HX-1 Explore mode app.
Therefore, this process requires that the data be translated from one format to another before it is usable in the Hema Explorer app.
It is also good to know a little about the target file format described here (GPX). Again, some Google searching will help to learn more about GPX files.
One thing which is good to know is that the files created by OziExplorer only contain one type of data. ie. a WPT file ONLY contains waypoints, and a PLT file ONLY contains track data, whereas with GPX files, a single GPX file can contain a mix of different data types. ie. a file called CapeYork-Trip.GPX might contain 50 waypoints and 4 track logs within the one file. It's just a good thing to know!
To translate the data, we will be using the freely downloadable GPSBabel software.
Step 1
Download and install the GPSBabel software on your computer.
The GPSBabel software is provided by a third party. If you use and like the software, consider giving the authors a donation to help them to provide continued development and support.
GPSBabel is not affiliated with or connected with Hema Maps in any way. Hema Maps will not provide support on the installation and use of the GPSBabel software. Use it at your own risk.
This article is not a complete description of the features and capabilities of the GPSBabel software. This article is designed to show you how to translate data taken off your Hema Navigator, and import it for use within the Hema Explorer / HX-1 Explore mode app only.
Step 2
Copy the source data off your Navigator to your computer. OziExplorer exported data will be in the OziExplorer Data folder on the Navigator's SD card.
The data will be in seperate files for different types:
- WPT - Waypoints
- RT2 or RT - Routes
- PLT - Tracks
If you do not know how to copy data to / from your Navigator and computer, you will need to find out before proceeeding. The following article(s) might help:
Where are the programs and data stored
Clearing data off your Navigator
Step 3
Run the GPSBabel software on your computer.
The GPSBabel screen will appear, as shown below:
When you start GPSbabel on your computer it will remember the input and output formats you used the last time you ran the software, so it may look different to the screen shown here.
The basic process to translate data using GPSBabel is:
- Select your Input Format
- Specify the Input File(s). Browse to the file you wish to translate (you can select multiple files of the same type for processing at one time).
- Choose the Translation Options. GPSBabel can do many complex transformations on your input data before it is written to the output, but we are not going into that here. Let's keep it simple!
- Choose your Output Format
- Specify the Output File.
- Click the OK button to start the conversion process
- View the programs output log here. Any error and status messages will be written to the output log, enabling you to check that everything went according to plan.
Below is an example of running a conversion of an OziExplorer track log to GPX format, with selections made on the controls highlighted.
As you can see in the example, the log file shows that the translation from OziExplorer Track Log (PLT) file to GPX was successful.
If there was a problem, there would be an error message displayed here.
The most common cause of errors is trying to translate a file of a specific type, but telling GPSBabel that it is something else. ie. translating a track log, but telling GPSBable it is waypoints, so you should make sure you set the Translation Options correctly depending on what you are converting.
Step 4
Import the GPX file you created using the Hema Explorer Cloud Upload function on the Hema Exploerer cloud website at http://cloud.hemaexplorer.com
The Cloud Upload function can only import GPX files containing tracks or waypoints at this time, so you would need to convert a Route to a Track using GPSBabel during the process described above.
First click the Filters button in the Translation Options section of the GPSBabel window
In the Data Filters window:
- Tick the Miscellaneous option
- Tick the Transform option, select Routes -> Tracks, and tick the Delete option
- Click the OK button to accept these settings.
The effect of this should be that the route will be converted to a track in the GPX file, and the original route data will be left out during the conversion.