Making GPX tracks for APRSIS32

The 2012 Pigman Triathlon long and olympic course race is coming up next month in which I am slated to be a Net Control Station.  We will also be doing an experiment simultaneously where both Net Control locations will have an APRS display infront of them, linked by HSMM-MESH routers, to track the APRS equipped vehicle that will be trailing the last bike rider through the course.

One nice feature of APRSIS32 is that it will import a GPX file and display it on a screen, essentially creating a digital copy of the race map that has APRS posits (positions) in real time.  I have made these GPX files before for a race like this so I thought I'd outline how I make GPX files for importing into APRSIS32.

Software requirements:

• Google Earth
• GPSBabel

Step 1:
Open Google Earth, zoom into route start location

Step 2:
Create a "Path" along the race route by clicking points along the route.  You can get as detailed or as simple as you like.  The more detail, the better the map will look.

Here is Google's tutorial on making paths:
http://support.google.com/earth/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1113936

Make sure to change the name of the path to something useful.

Step 3: 
Save the path as a KML file.

To do this, right click on path name on the left hand pane, Save File As....

or

File > Save > Save File As...

Choose KML format, give it a useful name and save in a spot you'll remember

Step 4:
Convert the KML file to GPX format

I use GPSBabel for this.  It's a popular program that will convert a ton of different formats dealing with GPS data to another format.

http://www.gpsbabel.org/index.html

Step 5:
Import GPX file into APRSIS32

To load a new GPX overlay, go to Configure > Overlays > Import GPX file...

Browse to the location you saved the GPX file to from previous step and play with the color, opacity, width, etc.

Now, is this the only way to create GPX files?  No, it's just the way I prefer and know how to do.  You can do it relatively easily with Google Maps and a tool called GMapToGPX, drive the route with your GPS and export the data or many other ways.