Discussion: .gpx file from Holux M1000 datalogger

Is there anyone out there that has had success importing into Quickroute the file obtained from using a Holux M1000C datalogger track imported into a PC with the furnished exTour software and then exported as a .gpx file? The device is cheap and small, is supposed to run for more than a day on the rechargable battery, and worked fine on my first excursion in the woods as far as recording a track that could be viewed with the software on a Google map. Unfortunately, the generated .gpx file seemed to cause problems for Quickroute, and it would be nice to be able to superimpose the route on a scanned file of a printed map. The hardware seemed to work well (early spring, but the track seemed to be doing fine even when going under hemlocks and down into a couple of pretty deep ravines). Got the device because of wanting something with no display that I could carry along to record progress on a full 24 hour rogaine. Would be nicer if I could do a little more with the output! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Eric, I have found that sometimes you just have to edit the header of the GPX file a little bit to get these alternate dataloggers to work. I usually compare it to a gpx file which works.

Send your file to me, and I will check it out for you.

Valerie

Eric, just wondering, what settings are you using for this unit for best results. I am struggling with a balance between "too noisy" and too few readings, especially with very thick tree canopy all year round. Also, what kind of accuracy are you getting. Would really be interested in your answers.

Thanks,
Andrea

Hi Andrea,

I've just been using the 1 reading every 5 seconds that came as the default setting. I've only had the unit for a little over a month, and in our area that has meant not a lot of leaf canopy until last week, except under sections of hemlock forest. But the last weekend the leaves were pretty much fully out, and the unit didn't seem to have any problems losing lock. I would guess that the track accuracy is probably somewhere in the 10-20 meter range for x-y coordinates, but the vertical scatter is not very good--the gps units all seem to be a little disappointing in that dimension, since the fitting really isn't nearly as good for the altitude coordinate just because of the geometry involved. I have mostly been using the data with Quickroute on scanned orienteering maps, so there have been two normalization points involved, but the routes look very sensible in general. Eight days ago I took it along on a 24-hour rogaine in South Dakota, and looking at the track on Google maps, one could see various deviations from the actual route we took by comparison with places where we were definitely walking along dirt roads, while the track was indicating something 10 to 20 meters off to the side. In general, though, the path seemed to be a very good, if occasionally embarrassing, representation of our route. I think this 10-20 meters is pretty typical of gps units without true differential correction. I have noticed tracks from some of my son's workouts posted here on Attackpoint (Rosstopher) where he has been doing intervals on the Harvard track, and the track and several meters to either side of it are covered with traces from his 30 or so laps, when one knows that he was all the time running on the inside lane!

Ditto to vmeyer. When OCAD 10 could first export GPX files they wouldn't open in Garmin's Mapsource. They fixed it, but someone gave me a getaround, it was something like the date format that was a little different.

Hey Eric: just noticed this ... instead of using the Holux software to download, I use BT747. The GPX files from there (Convert > GPX) work just fine in Quickroute. http://www.bt747.org/webinstall

Hi Hugh,

Thanks! In fact Valerie pointed out to me right after the first posting that it was just something in the header file that was giving problems in Quickroute. She suggested an online website converter that would work. But mostly I have just used the gpx file that Holux exports, cut off the first couple of lines and replaced them with the first lines from a Quickroute-generated gpx file that I have stored away. Then I can happily see the route both on the Google maps screen that the Holux software provides, and conveniently load a minimally adapted gpx file into Quickroute for superimposing onto the orienteering map for the event. But I may download this bt747 software and see how it does instead! However, I am already doing a bit of tampering with the results output from what the Holux puts out for total climb, since the algorithm they use seems to grossly overestimate the climb for the event, and if I am already messing with the exported csv file to play with the statistics for the day, I may not in the end be saving myself a lot of time.

You might also want to check out GPSBabel - a free software package that does a lot of conversion and data massaging between various GPS formats. They list 3 different Holux formats, not sure if one of them is the same as the M1000, but worth a look.

I couldn't get GPSBabel to work (without hassle) with the M1000-C, but BT747 worked fine.

I have noticed the same problem of exaggerated climb with the Holux as well as my Garmin. Bleh. I've gotten used to ignoring it. Sometimes both are spot on though, so I blame signal or something instead of the algorithm. But again, I've gotten used to ignoring it.

I actually started using the BT747 when I rebuilt my PC and tried to reload the Holux software and got a 'you have already registered the software' error. Instead of pursuing the licensing issue with Holux I found freeware.