GARMIN Interface

GARMIN GPS Upload and Download via serial COMx port

Assuming the code is installed.

Assuming a Competition has been defined in TP.ini

For USB Garmin see USBGARMIN.html

Program has been tested with GARMIN GPS 12,38, 40, 2, 3, eMap and eTrex.
The intention is to support all GARMIN GPS models used by pilots for Hang Gliding or Paragliding competitions.

Make sure the GARMIN GPS settings are SETUP MENU, INTERFACE, GRMN/GRMN and HOST WAITING.

Defining the Serial Communication Ports for GARMIN

Use the Menu Option GARMIN/SETUP

Then you have to define the number of Garmins connected to this computer

The first number under the Garmin text defines the amount of Comports.

Next you fill into the Comports the serial communication ports that you use for Garmin GPS cables.

In the picture above we use 1 Garmin cable connected to Comport 1

Below is an example using 3 serial ports

Garmin 1 is connected to serial port 5
Garmin 2 is connected to serial port 3
Garmin 3 is connected to serial port 2

And now the Menu for Garmin looks like this

But if you run them out of one TP, they block each other. Only the active window is busy, the others stop.
To get them all working, start multiple copies of TP, and each TP uses one of the previous defined com ports.

How to feed pilots GPS with waypoints at registration

Lets assume someone has already created an comp_id.csv file in the competition directory.
Follow this link how to create an official turnpoint file called comp_id.csv

The UPLOAD function should be used to provide pilots at registration with all the waypoints used by the organizers.
After the upload the program allows to create a comp_id waypoint or a PILOT waypoint or an -XXX waypoint with the pilot number.
Which option is defined when you use SETUP/CREATE/COMP

Select the Menu Option GARMIN and the GARMIN Dialog window will appear.
If not, then the com port setting might be wrong. Or the Garmin is not set to GRMN/GRMN.

Choose the SEND Turnpoints button to load waypoints from the comp_id.csv file into the GPS.
This would be done at registration, when I pilot enters the competition.

Besides the waypoints, also a unique waypoint called PILOT or comp_id will be created which will identify this GPS when we download tracks in future.

We enter the pilot number, in this case it is 73.

And the pilot name.

The waypoint called PILOT or comp_id contains

an encrypted pilot number in the coordinates, to avoid that a GPS can be reused by another competitor
the comp_id as text , to make sure that this GPS was uploaded at this comp with the pilot number. To avoid reusing a pilot number that was created at another competition
The Name of the pilot. Not used by the code. Helps to identify the owner of the GPS in case it gets lost or there is some mix-up
The Pilot Number in clear text for scoring. The code checks if the pilot number and the encrypted pilot number match.

Now the GPS is ready to be used by the pilot.

Scoring tracks from a GARMIN GPS

Use the SCORE a Pilot button the get the Pilot track and waypoint data from his GPS.
First the data is stored as intermediate files in the current (task) directory as WAYPOINT.csv and TRK.csv.

Now one has the Option to analyze the data right now or download another pilot's GPS data.
If you want to stop at this stage, choose NO.
If you choose YES then the program looks either for a waypoint called PILOT or a negative waypoint ID to determine the pilot number. If there is none it will prompt for a pilot number. And the intermediate files then get copied to the TASKx/PILOTDATA directory as Pilotnumber-wp.csv and pilotnumber-trk.csv .

Once the data is downloaded, the GPS can get switched off by the program. This is one of the tick options.

Another option is to have auto score mode active.
Auto Score is a self-service approach with the idea to operate scoring without a dedicated operator.
Pilots plug in their GARMIN, hit the enter button, get the score and either accept or decline the score.

Once the Track is downloaded one can then Score the track log.

See Scoring FAI or Cylinder for more details.

If you got multiple COM ports, one can open a second GARMIN interface menu.
And then change the COM Port value in the panel to the 2nd com port to be used.

At Pilot Registration

Before the competition at Registration

Have a comp_id.csv file ready that contains the official Turnpoints and Goal GPS waypoint data
Make sure the TP.ini file uses a unique competition name which defines comp_id
Use the PILOT / GPS UPLOAD option to upload the comp_id.csv file into a GPS
And use the Create PILOT ID Option to create a waypoint called PILOT or comp_id in the GPS

The PILOT or comp_id waypoint will contain the PILOT ID Competition Number in an encrypted format.
This way a GPS can not be handed in twice by different pilots.
It is not easy to change the Pilot Number by hand in editing the waypoint data.
TP at scoring, reads the PILOT or comp_id waypoint and decrypts the pilot ID.
And checks if this PILOT ID matches the current competition.
One gets pilots who come late, just fly and then hand in their GPS and register late.
And then have an old Pilot ID in their GPS from a previous comp.
The Compname ensures that the pilot number assigned for this comp will be used.

Once the pilot id criteria are met the code then assigns the score to that Pilot ID.
With the RACE Interface the Pilot ID is matched with the Pilot ID of RACE and the score is transferred to RACE.
To setup the RACE interface, see the TP RACE documentation.

Known Problems

Forerunner needs the plug put in above the strap to make a good connection

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