NAME

       mtkbabel - Tool for managing GPS data loggers based on the MTK chip

SYNOPSIS

       mtkbabel [-abcdEfhiIlmopRrstvwx]

DESCRIPTION

       mtkbabel  is  a command line program to operate GPS data loggers based on the MediaTek MTK
       chip.  It was tested on the i-Blue 747, Qstarz BT-Q1000 and on the Holux M-241, it  should
       work also with other GPS devices based on the same chip.

       The main features are:
        - Command line interface
        - Save data log in GPX and raw binary format
        - If required retrieve all the data, also the old one being overlapped
        - Change logging criteria: time, distance, speed
        - Change log format
        - START/STOP logging
        - Set OVERLAP or STOP method on memory full
        - Erase the internal memory

USAGE

       In order to use mtkbabel, please follow these instructions:

       1. Attach the GPS data logger device to your computer via USB.

       2.  Now  you have to switch the GPS device (at least the i-Blue 747) into LOG or NAV mode,
       otherwise the device will not be powered on, and no connection will  be  possible.  Beware
       that in NAV mode the device goes into sleep mode if not connected to any Bluetooth device.

       3.  In  order to use mtkbabel you have to either be root (not recommended) and/or you must
       have read/write permissions for the USB device file, usually  /dev/ttyUSB0.   This  device
       usually  has  permissions  'crw-rw---- 1 root dialout', so you can either add your user to
       the dialout group (in this example) by doing

          $ adduser USERNAME dialout

       or (not recommended) make the device world-readable/-writable by doing:

          $ chmod 666 /dev/ttyUSB0

       Another option is to write a udev rules file  to  change  the  owner  and  permissions  of
       /dev/ttyUSB0 according to your requirements.

       4.  You  can  now run mtkbabel. For example, if you want to download the track log and the
       list of waypoints you captured on the device, run:

          $ mtkbabel -s 115200 -l off -f foo -w -t

       The default speed of 115200 baud should work in most cases and you can omit  it,  for  the
       Holux M-241 you must use 38400 instead.  This will turn off the autolog function, which is
       always turned on when you switch on the  device.  The  track  log  will  be  in  the  file
       foo_trk.gpx,  the waypoints in the file foo_wpt.gpx (both in GPX format). The file foo.bin
       will contain the binary log file. Downloading the  data  from  the  GPS  device  can  take
       several minutes, depending on how much data has to be transferred.

       In order to delete all data from the GPS device, run:

          $ mtkbabel -s 115200 -E

OPTIONS

       -a     Read all the log memory (overlapped data).

       -b filename.bin
              Do  not  read data from a GPS device, but rather read a previously saved .bin file.
              Ignore -f option.

       -c     Create a GPX file with both tracks and waypoints.

       -d debug_level
              Debug level: 0..7.

       -E     Erase data log memory.

       -f     Base name for saved files (.bin and .gpx). If you,  for  example,  use  -f  gpslog,
              mtkbabel   will   create   files   which  are  called  gpslog.gpx,  gpslog_trk.gpx,
              gpslog_wpt.gpx and gpslog.bin.

       -h     Show a help text and exit.

       -i     Ignore some error conditions and try to extract as much data as possible from GPS.

       -I     Same as -i, but also write bad records into the GPX file.

       -l {on|off}
              Turn logging ON/OFF.

       -m {stop|overlap}
              Set STOP/OVERLAP recording method on memory full.

       -o log_format
              Enable or disable log fields (FIELD1,-FIELD2,...), available  fields:  UTC,  VALID,
              LATITUDE,  LONGITUDE,  HEIGHT,  SPEED, HEADING, DSTA, DAGE, PDOP, HDOP, VDOP, NSAT,
              SID, ELEVATION, AZIMUTH, SNR, RCR, MILLISECOND, DISTANCE.

       -p port
              Communication port, default: /dev/ttyUSB0.

       -R     Recover from disabled log: erase data and reset recording criteria.

       -r time:distance:speed
              Set logging criteria  (zero  to  disable):  every  0.10-9999999.90  seconds,  every
              0.10-9999999.90 meters, over 0.10-9999999.90 km/h. Not all the devices support such
              wide ranges, more reasonable values are 1-999 seconds, 10-9999  meters  and  10-999
              km/h.

       -s speed
              Serial port speed, default 115200 baud.

       -t     Create a GPX file with tracks.

       -v     Show version information and exit.

       -w     Create a GPX file with waypoints.

       -x     Force  reading Holux format. This is required to read-back the binary data produced
              by some Holux devices, which do not embed into the data itself the Holux identifier
              string.

BUGS

       Please report any bugs to Niccolo Rigacci <niccolo@rigacci.org>.

LICENCE

       mtkbabel is covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2 or later.

AUTHORS

       Niccolo Rigacci <niccolo@rigacci.org>

       This  manual  page  was written by Uwe Hermann <uwe@hermann-uwe.de>.  It is licensed under
       the terms of the GNU GPL (version 2 or later).

                                          July 30, 2011                               MTKBABEL(1)