Thus draeath hast written on Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 12:28:50PM -0500, and, according to prophecy, it shall come to pass that:
> Now that I have a car/travel friendly notebook, I was curious about GPS
> units and map software... are there any such things that work with
> Linux? If I need to, I can build my own GPS amd interface (arduino, etc)
> so I'm mostly concerned about maps. At the worst, good "normal" maps and
> some basic navigation knowledge (and GPS coordinates) would cover...
It IS certainly possible to connect your GPS to a linux PC and retrieve
waypoints, routes, and realtime position data.
I have a Garmin GPS 72 (specifically purchased for marine use and
geocaching) and before that two Garmin GPS 12s.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=161&pID=214
With the GPS 12 I used:
GPS moving-map display program, written by Mike Banahan
But that was years ago on an older Debian 2.2 system, and I wasn't able to
get it to work with my upgrade. But I had loads of fun playing with that.
That was back before 2000.
Now I've used gpsman:
GPS moving-map display program, written by Mike Banahan graphical
manager of GPS data that makes possible the preparation, inspection
and edition of GPS data in a friendly environment. GPSMan supports
communication and real-time logging with Garmin, Lowrance and
Magellan receivers and accepts real-time logging information in
NMEA 0183 from any GPS receiver.
You're probably looking for something more like gpsdrive if you want
realtime maps.
Both the Garmin GPS 12 and the GPS 72 use a custom serial cable with a
round 4 pin connector (power, data). Many "newer" models use standard USB
connections, but I had to get a serial to USB converter.
GPS prices range from about $130 to $800 depending on features like color
screen, included maps, magnetic compass, SD slot, memory, waterproofing,
and barometer.
I recommend you try to figure out what features you really NEED, what
you'll use, and what you want to do with the unit.
I purchased 2 units off Ebay and they were fine. (But later drowned. :~( )
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