Downloading Garmin GPS Data in Ubuntu

One of the simplest ways to download Track, Waypoint and Route information from your Garmin GPS in Ubuntu is using gpsbabel.

Install gpsbabel via apt-get

sudo apt-get install gpsbabel

Connect the gps via the cable provided to the serial port of the computer or via a serial to USB converter to the USB port on your desktop/notebook.  To extract the infrormation all you need to do is, execute the following command:

gpsbabel -r -t -w -i garmin -f /dev/ttyUSB0 -o gpx -F data.gpx

The above command copies Routes(-r), Tracks(-t) and Waypoints(-w) from a garmin device (-i garmin) located at Serial-USB interface (-f /dev/ttyUSB0) and saves the info (-o) in the standard gps format (gpx) in the file data.gpx. You can omit the information you dont require and even choose other fromats like kml for google earth:

gpsbabel -r -t -w -i garmin -f /dev/ttyUSB0 -o kml -F data.kml

You should now have a file “data.gpx” which can be used to retrive or map your gps data.