Chapter 9 — Examining the Data 219

Recording Simulated NMEA Using GpsGate

As a GPS user and someone who uses a lot of mapping software, there have been times when I wished that I could create an NMEA file quickly and without the fuss of hooking up a GPS to the PC. Well, using GpsGate, this is possible:

1. Right-click on the GpsGate icon in the System Tray and choose Source Simulator.

2. Now right-click the icon again and choose Simulator. This brings up the screen shown in Figure 9-20.

FIGURE 9-20: GpsGate simulator window

3.The window that is displayed controls the parameters of the simulated NMEA output. It enables you to enter waypoints along which the simulator will travel, as well as the speed of the simulated travel and what NMEA sentences are output, along with their frequency of appearance of the sentences.

4.Choose the settings that are appropriate to you (I suggest outputting each NMEA sentence once a second, which will provide quite a genuine output).

5.Click the Start button.

6.Once again, right-click on the GpsGate System Tray icon and choose NMEA Log.

7.To record the input, click the Record button. This brings up a dialog box asking you to choose a location in which to save the NMEA output file.

8.To stop recording, click Stop.

9.Once you are done, you can examine the NMEA output file.