Where the heck am I? (Read 3141 times)

I bought my Garmin Forerunner 305 some 3 months ago. I just received my rebate check this week. It sat on my desk, in its box, for the first two months after I received it. I really don't need another GPS as I am perfectly happy with my Timex Speed+Distance second generation GPS although it doesn't do much other than recording my time and distance. I like the Timex GPS because I can wear the watch part of it when I'm not running. The Forerunner is somewhat big on my delicate runner's wrist. I feel somewhat dorky wearing it even on runs, even if all my running friends think I'm the biggest dork. Go ahead, surprise me by telling me that I'm not a dork. I took my Forerunner for a couple (read: 2) runs so far. I just turn it on before the run, press the start button, then the lap button a handful of times, then the stop button. I didn't even bother pressing the other buttons and customize the watch to my dorky needs, yet. For the last several weeks, the Forerunner resumed its position on the desk. This time it's in its cradle connected to the computer. I started working on the GPS uploading project at around the same time. Maybe it poorly written, or maybe I'm not dorky enough, but for the last several weeks, I struggled to understand the Garmin documentation for how to talk to the GPS. The break through came two weekends ago when I figured out what the documentation was talking about. Just like that, everything made sense to me. It was no longer cryptic. Just like that, I was able to tell the device to send its data to the computer, and the data was in the correct format. As of last night, I completed the first phase of the project. I created my own program to download the data from the Forerunner and save it as a history (.hst) file. There are still several hurdles. The biggest one is to do the exact same thing on the Mac. The programmers amongst us might ask why the heck would I write my own when I can use existing software packages. The same can be asked of this site: why would I write my own when there are existing training logs? I do acknowledge that I'm reinventing the wheel, but I like to think that my wheel's a little rounder, produces a little less road noise, and handles a little better in the snow. Everything about this site is a learning process for me. It will always be a work in progress. I am a computer programmer, and writing software is what I do. I learn something new every time I add a new feature to the site. By writing my own program to download GPS data, I learned a little about USB programming, and that makes me a little more valuable as a programmer. Besides, I'm enjoying it so why not? This weekend is the Boston Marathon weekend. To me, it's a holiday for the runners. Although I'm not running it this year, I'll be doing plenty of marathon related activities. As I mentioned in another thread, I'll be volunteering at the expo Sunday afternoon handing out bib numbers. Drop by if you can. You may have to ask around, although I'm not too hard to single out. Just look for the dorky guy. eric

Eric, I'm sure that if you ever asked for it, you would get quite a bit of help from the rest of us code monkey dorks. Depending on time and schedule, I know I would.

Cool! It's always nice when you have an "ah-HAH!" moment. We knew you could do it...

I'm not a computer programmer, but I do know how to code a little. I certainly won't be the one to question your motives on creating something like this site. I did something similar, just so I could learn html in a practical fashion. It is on hold for two more weeks until I graduate, but it is a similar idea. Dorks rule :-D

Eric, how are you enjoying your 305?

Come on Trent, surely you got a better comment than this... I don't use my Garmin all too often. It has enough data now for me to test the uploader. Right now, the tool knows when you connect and disconnect the GPS to the computer. I'm working on listing entries right now.

Interesting. I suspect that you will still need to use motionbased code to upload your data, so they will remain in the loop somehow. I also suspect that Eric will want to develop his own since he likes the challenge . Active link - http://www.garmin.com/pressroom/corporate/052907.html