Works with any NMEA GPS device
Overwrites KML file every two seconds +-
Configure KML filename, description, name, range, tilt, heading
Metric/English units

Requires Windows 2000/XP & dotnet framework 1.11

New & Improved - Version 1.02

Now includes automatic GPS and/or GE startup (once configured). Creates network link for easy setup. Just configure it to start GPS and GE, and you're on your way with just one click.

Just added: Hot Keys for range and tilt. Other minor changes as well.

Good job,
Works fine for me.

A question �

If I added the ability to send the generated KML file to a server somewhere, would this be a good thing? What if you could set a URL, userID & password, and just FTP the KML output file?

I have made some improvements to the code and am wondering if I should implement the FTP thing before compiling. Any thoughts?

Great code...seems to work fairly well. Any options you can add to it would be great. I was using NMEA2KML program which wrote to localhost. Anyway...If you need Beta testers...count me in.

Again...Great Job
Andy

Thanks for the complements guys. For now, the FTP thing has to wait, as a project came up & time is scarce. Should get some free time in a few days to take a crack at it.

In the meantime, I have replaced the original .msi file with another that includes a few improvements. Be sure to uninstall the old version before installing the new one.

Improvements include:
No longer have to close GPS connection to edit the KML settings
Placemark name can now be blank
Placemark description can be longer
You can set the placemark description to be GPS fix time
Range settings can now be much larger than before
Added trackbars to range, tilt, and heading settings for ease

Set your network link to the kml file to refresh about every ten seconds. Depending on your GPS fix quality, the kml file will be overwritten about every two seconds. The app will only write to kml when the GPS receives a NMEA sentence with position info, so a bad signal will stall the kml generation until a better fix is established.

Future improvements will include setting placemark icon, icon size, and other things I have not thought of yet. I want to create a pocket PC kml writer too. I�m open to ideas!

Enjoy.

It works fine, but if the decimal seperator is not a "." ( in the regional settings of Windows XP) then the coordinates are wrong.

YES!!! it works

Outstanding!!!!


Alastair

Just added the ability to use the GPS heading for the placemark heading. Thanks for the idea Kevin! Now your view of the world will turn with you.

I have not tested it yet (can�t right now), but it should work just fine. Let me know what you think.

Download it here: Link removed � version obsolete.

Enjoy!

Ron
aka MotoDude

Ron, got the updated file today.
Uninstalled old one installed new, (it kept my comm and KML config settings when reinstalled).
Gave it a road test and it runs perfectly. The heading rotates as i turn corners and always places me going in a northerly direction ( heading is vertical towards the top of the screen).
No more trying to decipher which side of the road a land mark is on.
As your first beta tester on this I should let you know its behavior.
It rotates to your heading as long as you are moving, when you stop, GE takes over on the next refresh and rotates it back to north. At 4 second refrsh rate GE will rotate about 2 or 3 times while making a 90 degree turn before it gets my true heading, not a problem tho,
it might for geocaching because it tried it at a walking pace and GE tries very hard to put it back to north not giving you a true direction .Great for driving though. Will try with a 2 second refresh next time.
Ron keep up the good work and all i have to say to GE is "no suppot for navman??? Talk to the MOTODUDE,
later Kevin
...

Could not sleep tonight, so decided to polish the code a bit. Added custom icon support (png files only) and included a small collection of icons. Thanks to Kevin for testing the heading settings while cruising up & down the road. The heading can now be set to use your GPS heading. This setting works only if your moving, stationary GPS readings will not cause the app to write to kml.

This will most likely be the end of development for this little tool. A few minor bugs have been ironed out and it should be ready for prime time, at least until something better comes along. It�s been a fun project and I�ve learned a lot about GE in the process.

The latest, and last (?) build can be downloaded here:

Link removed � version obsolete

Keep your eyes on the road and enjoy the view!

Ron