Thread: GooPs Real-time GPS Tracking and Navigation for Google Earth -Version 2.5.13 Released

Thanks Pendagon,

When I tried this several months ago I had to tweak the kml to get it to show up in Google Maps. I don't remember quite what I had to do, I'll take a look at it and see if I can make it work again.

Originally Posted by Pendagon

Has anyone had any luck with sending this info back to a website with google maps in real time. I want to be able to see the activity of my vehicle on my websight map. Any help would be great. Great job so far guys keep up the great work!

Has anyone had problems with the Google Earth satellite imagery being blurry when using GooPs? I see this on my laptop, but not on my desktop. It appears that GE is sending requests for the satellite image data to GooPs instead of the GE server.

GooPs version 1.9.1 Release Notes

Important: You must remove any existing "GooPsServers" network links from your Google Earth "Places" folder.

Workaround for Google Earth blurry images when using GooPs
On some systems Google Earth will not be able to access the satellite imagery data when GooPs is running. This causes the earth to look blurry.
If you experience this problem select the "Blurry Image Fix" checkbox in the GooPs Options Dialog, delete any GoopsServers network links in the Google Earth "Places" folder, and restart GooPs.
If you use this workaround you will not be able to run an http server on your system at the same time you are running GooPs.

Smoother navigation and control in Google Earth when AutoTracking.
GooPs no longer "fights" you when you tilt, rotate, or zoom your view using the mouse or navigation control.

Cursor Label Enhancements.
The display of cursor label fields is now configurable. The cursor label fields are Name, Speed, and Altitude.

Added a "Visible" Checkbox.
This controls the visibility of the vehicle and track.

COM Port Selection now goes to COM32

For some reason version 1.9.1 won't connect to my GPS. It just hangs at Acquiring signal. It works fine with 1.8. I use GPSGate to "split" the gps signal into different ports.

Moahdib,

Sorry you're having problems. I can't find any changes in that area from 1.8 to 1.9.1.

If the status box says "Acquiring signal" then it is connected to the GPS and receiving data.
I just found a bug introduced in 1.9 where the status box won't change to "Signal Acquired" when the satellite locks.

If you press the "Record" button in the options dialog (while receiving data from the GPS) GooPs will dump the gps data to a file called "Me@play.nme" in the GooPs executable directory.
If you look at this file it should have gps data (nmea sentences) in it.

Does the demo mode work with 1.9.1?

If you are using the latest version of GE and you get the network link error message box, you now must right-click->refresh the GooPsServers network link to get it going again, pressing the "Ignore" button doesn't work.

Let me know what you find.

-Dave

Originally Posted by moahdib

For some reason version 1.9.1 won't connect to my GPS. It just hangs at Acquiring signal. It works fine with 1.8. I use GPSGate to "split" the gps signal into different ports.

*sighs*

I've only there was a way to create a large cache of a state easily. All cache building programs are a pain to use. I dont want to have to enter coordinates and then realize i screwed up because it just keeps moving left across the globe.

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for your great input. I appreciate the feedback.

Originally Posted by FlyingsCool

1. It appears you are using a solid object to represent the postion of your vehicle. I notice that in v1.5.2 you added the ability to replace that with an image file. I should probably test it, and maybe your code will handle this - but, I'd like to replace it with a "SketchUp" object instead. Something a little more representative than the "Star Destroyer" you are using now (not a bad choice, I'd just like to use something different). Is this possible?

I have experimented with using sketchup models for the cursor. They can be quite large and take a while to initially load, but once loaded they work great. I've been trying to decide how to incorporate model cursors into GooPs. Initially I'll probable do it the same way that image cursors are designated in the GooPs config file. Here's a preview.

Originally Posted by FlyingsCool

2. Could you add a variable to control view rotation as well. I'm imagining default is 180. I realize you can turn it off and rotate to any angle you want, but, it would be nice to set a default.

I've thought about this also. I just need to figure out the user interface.

Originally Posted by FlyingsCool

4. I use several devices to drive Goops. Is it possible to allow the user to perhaps install Goops to separate directories, and store the setup parameters (com port and speed) to an ini file or something? That way the user can start the appropriate goops depending on the device they are using.

GooPs currently uses the users registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER) for its settings. I could either do command line overrides for these, or put overrides in the GooPs config file. You could also create a batch file that executes a registry script to change the appropriate registry entries and then starts GooPs.

Originally Posted by FlyingsCool

5. The point of focus when using Goops in "Air" mode is still a point on the ground. This means that you have to zoom out as the vehicle rises above the distance you are from the vehicle (or something like that). Is there any way to make the focal point to be the position of user at the altitude of the user?

This is a long-standing problem with "Air" mode. I put a kludge in to try to compensate for this problem. With kml 2.1 they introduced a way to position the camera/view based on any altitude (used to be just the ground). I haven't been able to make it work very well yet.

Originally Posted by FlyingsCool

6. Any chance of making the units of the velocity selectable (i.e. knots, kmh, lightyears/hour etc?).

I'll put it on my list.

Originally Posted by FlyingsCool

7. The ability to change your name through a config setting (something other than "Me") would be cool, too.

You can do that now. Go to the options dialog, select the "Me" vehicle from the dropdown list, type a new name in the "Name" field, and press the "Update" button.