EarthNC Trip and Route Tool
Dec 8th, 2007 by virgil
Welcome to the EarthNC Trip and Route Tool User Guide
The Trip and Route Tool (TRT) lets you create trip and route plans in Google Earth and easily export them to GPX file format for use with stand-alone GPS devices. In the case of Garmin USB GPS units, you can send your trips and routes directly to the GPS using the EarthNC TRT through use of the Garmin Communicator API.
While the EarthNC TRT is designed for use with EarthNC Plus, EarthNC Raster, and EarthNC Online marine charts, the Trip and Route Tool can be used for any type of Google Earth planning.
Download the Trip and Route Tool Google Earth File
Save the EarthNC Trip and Route Tool Google Earth File (click HERE) to your computer and open it in Google Earth to get started.
For best results, make sure you have the latest version of Google Earth. You can download updates HERE.
Watch our Video Tutorial
With the TRT Google Earth file open, you’re ready to watch our video tutorial which goes over the basic process of creating your trips in Google Earth and exporting them to GPS.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Open the EarthNC Trip and Route Tool Google Earth File (TRT)
- Create a Folder for a New Trip in the TRT using Add->Folder
- Populate this folder with Placemarks (points), Paths (routes), and Polygons using Google Earth’s built-in tools. You can also right-click->copy Placemarks from EarthNC or other overlays and right-click->paste these into your trip folder
- When ready to export, open the EarthNC GPS Export Interface using the link provided in the EarthNC TRT Main Folder in the Places window. The direct link to the GPS Export Interface is http://earthnc.com/ge2gps.html.
- Copy your Trip Folder (not the entire TRT folder) by right-clicking on your Trip Folder and selecting Copy.
- Paste the contents of the trip folder into the Text Field in the GPS Export Tool by using right-click->Paste
- Click on ‘Convert Trip to GPX’
- After a few seconds, buttons for ‘Send to Garmin’ and ‘Download GPX’ will appear.
- To send to Garmin, connect your Garmin GPS via it’s USB cable and power it on, then click on the ‘Send to Garmin’ link. For GPX download, click on the ‘Download GPX’ button and save the file to your hard drive. Refer to the instructions which came with your GPS device and software to import this file to your device.
- If you edit your trip in Google Earth, don’t forget to recopy, paste, and then reconvert/download your changes to update your GPS
Tips and Advanced Usage
- The GPS Export Interface is optimized for the Internal Google Earth Browser for Windows. To enable the internal browser, go to the Google Earth Tools->Options->General and uncheck ‘Show Results in External Browser’ in the upper right.
- You can modify export settings by clicking on ‘Options’ in the upper right of the GPS Export Interface.
- Remember that Routes are generally limited to 256 ‘legs’ or turn points in Garmin Devices. For long trips, you can create multiple routes to avoid this limitation. You can also exports routes as tracks using the ‘Options’ settings.
- Tracks may contain up to 10,000 points. Track can be displayed on the map, but generally can’t be activated for navigation.
Additional Help
Please use our Contact Form if you have additional questions or feature requests.
Recommended GPS Units
The Garmin Communicator Plugin works with most, if not all of the Garmin USB GPS devices produced over the last few years. To shop for Garmin Products at reasonable prices, we recommend starting at Amazon.com
