Import GPSMS1 command

How to import GPSMS1 log data...

1. Select Import/Acquire > Import u-Blox/GPS from the File Menu.
2. A dialog box appears. Press the Help button if you need instructions on how to fill in the dialog box fields. Fill in the fields that are not grayed or accept defaults and press OK to continue. Or press Cancel to abort.
3. Wintrack will import the data and display it on screen as a case document.

   This command imports GPS data from homing pigeon releases, recorded at latitudes between 80° S and 84° N using the logging option of the u-Blox GPSMS1 device. Data should be downloaded to a PC using the u-logger.exe utility with text selected as data format. The release point gets time stamp 0, time stamps of subsequent points indicate the time elapsed since release. Escape sequences and messages are ignored. Latitude (N = Northing WGS-84 in degrees) and longitude (E = Easting WGS-84 in degrees) values are extracted from the log file and can be either transformed to flat XY coordinates using a transverse Mercator projection - or be translated to SwissGrid (XCH, YCH) coordinates using the following set of formulas:

   EA=(E-7.43863)/57.29577951 (Easting from Bern in radiant)
   NA=(N-46.95108)/57.2957795 (Northing from Bern in radiant)
   XCH= 600 + 1841.627*EA + 2520.1147*sin(EA) - 4654.4*EA*NA
   YCH= 200 + 6369.76*sin(NA) + 1591.87*EA*EA*(1-NA/.91) + 23.9*NA*NA

For points within Switzerland, this approximation gives a precision of about 1-2 m, which is better than the precision of a standard GPs device.

Calendar time of release is stored as GMT. Altitude is imported as supplemental data stream 1, speed as supplemental data stream 2, number of satellites (1-4) as supplemental data stream 3, longitude and latitude as supplemental data streams 4 and 5. In addition, tracking quality is recorded as event data as follows: 1D = F1, 2D = F2, 3D = F3, 3D+ = F4.

Note: importing GPS data from other sources

Provided that data are available as table in fixed column witdth text format and provided that their arrangement follows the rules explained below, the Import GPSMS1 command can also be used to import data from other sources or to import GPSMS1 data that have been modified in a spreadsheet editor like MS Excel. If your spreadsheet editor is not able to save data in fixed column width text format, the table can be imported into Wintrack using the Open Scrollsheet command and then saved as fixed column width text using the Save Scrollsheet As command. As in GPSMS1 LOG files, each data point/record must be represented by a line in the table while fields/variables are represented by columns. The following two fields are mandatory:

• Longitude. Represented as degrees (ddd.dddddd) or as
  degrees plus minutes (dddmm.mmm). Range is -180 (West) to 180 (East).
• Latitude. Represented as decimal degrees (ddd.dddddd) or as
  degrees plus decimal minutes (dddmm.mmm). Range is -80 (South) to 84 (North).

  Another group of fields are optional, that is they are present in GPSMS1 LOG files, are imported by Wintrack if present, but may as well be omitted. If one or more of these fields are missing from the table, Wintrack uses default values instead:

• WNO = GPS week number. Weeks start on Sun at 00:00:00, week 0 on Sun 22.08.1999 at 00:00:00. May be substituted by date in the format dd.mm.yyyy (all records and only if TOW is substituted by time of day). If either WNO or TOW are ommitted, recording is assumed to have started on Sun 22.08.1999 at 00:00:00.
• TOW = GPS time of week = seconds since last Sun 00:00:00. May be substituted by UTC time of day in the format hh:mm:ss (all records and only if WNO is substituted by date). If either WNO or TOW are omitted, TOW is set 0 for the first data point and incremented by 1 from point to point.
• Speed. GPS speed, default is 50 (km/h).
• Altitude. Default is 0 (m).
• Fix. Number of satellites 1D, 2D, 3D, or 3D+. Default is 3D+.

  In addition to mandatory and optional fields, up to 16 extended fields can be added to tables using column headers Ext01-Ext16. Extended fields are useful to bundle additional synchronously recorded data with GPs LOGs, e.g. data from pressure or temperature sensors, or electrophysiological data. When saved as case document, Ext01-Ext16 are mapped to supplemental data stream 6-22.

Related commands...

Use the Save Case Document As command to save the imported document so you can later open it again with the Open Case Document command. Use the Arena properties command to control scaling of the imported path data. The Print Case Document command lets you print case documents on the current printer or copy them to the clipboard as graphics.

Additional information...

• See Import GPSMS1 dialog for details on the associated dialog boxes.
• The related macro statement is explained in Import GPSMS1 statement.
• There is a toolbar shortcut to import GPSMS1 data.
• Inside case documents provides advanced information on case documents.
• See Creating and using macros to learn how to use and create macros.
• Keyboard Shortcuts gives an overview on keyboard shortcuts.
• Using the Wintrack toolbar gives an overview of toolbar shortcuts.