Fortuna GPSmart GPS Software Resources

FortunaSync

The manufacturer-supplied software that you must have to be able to transfer data in and out of the GPSmart receiver is FortunaSync. At the time of writing the version of FortunaSync referenced by this link announces itself as a Beta version dated March 2004, but as of early October 2004 Fortuna stated to me that they had no plans to replace it with a full-release version. The documentation needed to use FortunaSync is also on Fortuna's Tech Support site.

FortunaSync can upload/download the part of the memory of the GPSmart that contains the coordinate data stored in the handheld, and provides rudimentary tools for viewing and modifying this data. Some users have found the user interface rather fragile. FortunaSync provides no way to export the data thus retrieved to other programs.

(FortunaSync is also documented as being able to update the firmware running on the GPSmart. Some users who have tried this have reported via online forums that it can leave the handheld in an unserviceable state.)

SmartGPX

SmartGPX is user-written software that is able to decode the memory image generated by FortunaSync and export the coordinates that it finds into an xml-encoded text file that can subsequently be processed by any application that understands the GPX file format. Some examples of such software are listed below. SmartGPX is hosted on this website - see the links at the foot of the page for further details.

GPXsmart

GPXsmart is user-written software that is able to extract the coordinates that it finds in an xml-encoded (GPX file format) text file and encode them into a copy of READFILE.FEC for subsequent upload back into a GPSmart receiver using FortunaSync. An early prototype which is able to extract only the Mark/Waypoint information from a GPX file has been released. GPXsmart is hosted on this website - see the links at the foot of the page for further details.

The GPX file format for GPS data

GPX is a file format for describing GPS data using XML. It has been developed by Topografix as an Open Standard maintained by Dan Foster. There are many tools, some freeware, some commercial, for processing GPS data in GPX format. Some of them are mentioned below. For a fuller list consult the Topografix GPX resources page.

Some GPX-enabled applications for Windows PCs

EasyGPS, from Topografix.

GPS Utility.

GSAK, the Geocaching Swiss Army Knife.

Waypoint Workbench, an Excel spreadsheet that converts between coordinate formats.

[7th October 2004]