Bring the GPS unit back to to the lab and proceed with File Transfer.

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File Transfer for Magellan (Garmin is below):  

What you will need:

Click Start and launch the GPS Utility.  Be sure to connect data transfer cable to com port 1 on the back of the PC (this should already be done)

Several warning boxes may appear.

If given the option, click Ignore.

Then click Yes.

 

Since we all have our own login to the computer, it is likely that for each login you will need to set up the GPS communications parameters.

Select Setup from the GPS drop-down menu

Select Magellan for the GPS type

 

With the GPS unit ON, select download all from the GPS drop-down menu.  This will download all of the recorded information from the GPS into the display table.  Hint:  It is much faster if the Waypoints box is the only one checked.  This also eliminates confusing data from Tracks or Routes that may also be recorded by the GPS unit.  

Select Save As from the file drop-down menu, and choose DBF waypoint fileset [dbf+shp,shx] in the Save as type dropdown.  Name the file and save to the desired location.  GPS Utility automatically creates a point shapefile from your Landmarks/Waypoints.

Save this shapfile to your USB drive and finish the remaining steps on another computer if there are others waiting for the GPS utility.

 

Defining the Projection

You will have to define the projection for your shapefile of GPS landmarks. You will also need to do the same for some of your other layers, as well. A detailed explanation of the Define Projection Tool is available here.

Use the Define Projection Tool as follows:

• Double-click Geographic Coordinate Systems
• Double-click World
• Highlight WGS 1984
• Press OK twice

The GPS waypoints/landmarks you collected will now have their projection defined and should work with your other data.

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• Garmin GPS Unit with saved data points called /Waypoints/Landmarks
• Data Transfer Cable

Connect the GPS unit to your compute using the data transer cable and wait until you receive a message that indicates the device has connected correctly.

Open the Windows File Explorer

• Click on the Garmin eTrex 30x in the lefthand pane
• Double-click the Garmin folder
• Double-click the GPX folder
• Copy the Waypoints*.gpx file to c:\temp\

Open ArcMap

• Navigate to ArcToolbox > Conversion Tools > From GPS > GPX to Features
• Double-click GPX to Features to open the tool dialog
• For Input GPX File, browse to your file on c:\temp\
• Set the Output Feature Class to c:\temp\gpspoints.shp
• Click OK

Your waypoints should now be saved as a new shapfile in c:\temp\ with the coordinate system from the GPS unit which should be WGS 84, but you might want to double check.

Note: You could have also saved your GPS points directly to your geodatabase if you had created it already.

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Last modified 11/02/2021