Rocket locator log file conversion - help!

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Thorfire

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I'm trying to convert the log file I have from yesterday into a kml file to display the flight on google earth. I've tried converting it with https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map_input?form=googleearth . I can't get the format quite right. I haven't been able to get the altitude out of it yet. My data is in this format on the log:

[12:24:12] $GPGGA,182412.000,4532.8422,N,09255.5474,W,1,09,0.9,261.7,M,-32.3,M,,0000*6A
[12:24:12] $GPGGA,182413.000,4532.8422,N,09255.5474,W,1,09,0.9,261.7,M,-32.3,M,,0000*6B
[12:24:13] $GPGGA,182414.000,4532.8422,N,09255.5474,W,1,09,0.9,261.7,M,-32.3,M,,0000*6C
[12:24:14] $GPGGA,182415.000,4532.8422,N,09255.5474,W,1,09,0.9,261.7,M,-32.3,M,,0000*6D


Is there anyone out there that help me create column headers to identify this data???


Thanks!
 
Google $GPGGA and you will find information on the data string.

$GPGGA

Global Positioning System Fix Data

Name Example Data Description
Sentence Identifier $GPGGA Global Positioning System Fix Data
Time 170834 17:08:34 Z
Latitude 4124.8963, N 41d 24.8963' N or 41d 24' 54" N
Longitude 08151.6838, W 81d 51.6838' W or 81d 51' 41" W
Fix Quality:
- 0 = Invalid
- 1 = GPS fix
- 2 = DGPS fix 1 Data is from a GPS fix
Number of Satellites 05 5 Satellites are in view
Horizontal Dilution of Precision (HDOP) 1.5 Relative accuracy of horizontal position
Altitude 280.2, M 280.2 meters above mean sea level
Height of geoid above WGS84 ellipsoid -34.0, M -34.0 meters
Time since last DGPS update blank No last update
DGPS reference station id blank No station id
Checksum *75 Used by program to check for transmission errors



Global Positioning System Fix Data. Time, position and fix related data for a GPS receiver.
eg2. $--GGA,hhmmss.ss,llll.ll,a,yyyyy.yy,a,x,xx,x.x,x.x,M,x.x,M,x.x,xxxx
hhmmss.ss = UTC of position
llll.ll = latitude of position
a = N or S
yyyyy.yy = Longitude of position
a = E or W
x = GPS Quality indicator (0=no fix, 1=GPS fix, 2=Dif. GPS fix)
xx = number of satellites in use
x.x = horizontal dilution of precision
x.x = Antenna altitude above mean-sea-level
M = units of antenna altitude, meters
x.x = Geoidal separation
M = units of geoidal separation, meters
x.x = Age of Differential GPS data (seconds)
xxxx = Differential reference station ID

eg3. $GPGGA,hhmmss.ss,llll.ll,a,yyyyy.yy,a,x,xx,x.x,x.x,M,x.x,M,x.x,xxxx*hh
1 = UTC of Position
2 = Latitude
3 = N or S
4 = Longitude
5 = E or W
6 = GPS quality indicator (0=invalid; 1=GPS fix; 2=Diff. GPS fix)
7 = Number of satellites in use [not those in view]
8 = Horizontal dilution of position
9 = Antenna altitude above/below mean sea level (geoid)
10 = Meters (Antenna height unit)
11 = Geoidal separation (Diff. between WGS-84 earth ellipsoid and
mean sea level. -=geoid is below WGS-84 ellipsoid)
12 = Meters (Units of geoidal separation)
13 = Age in seconds since last update from diff. reference station
14 = Diff. reference station ID#
15 = Checksum
 
Last edited:
Edit out the time stamps in before the $GP...'s, then you should be able to use any NMEA to KML converter to view the data in Google Earth.
 
I'm able to plot the Latitude and Longitude. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get the altitude to plot. I've been trying to enter the data in this format:

latitude longitude altitude
4532.8422 -9255.5474 287.1951219512
4532.8423 -9255.5473 313.4146341463
4532.8423 -9255.5473 398.1707317073
4532.8422 -9255.5471 528.3536585366
4532.8419 -9255.5465 685.6707317073
4532.8413 -9255.5452 845.7317073171
4532.8401 -9255.5446 994.512195122
4532.8387 -9255.5442 1130.4878048781
4532.8369 -9255.5431 1246.6463414634
4532.8345 -9255.5418 1347.8658536585
4532.8316 -9255.5392 1435.0609756098
4532.8281 -9255.5388 1510.9756097561
4532.824 -9255.5368 1573.4756097561

and getting this result:

no alt plot.JPG

I must not be entering the altitude in a way it gets into the file :(
 
I found the problem I was having. I didn't have the altitude data labeled correctly. This format worked for me:

latitude longitude alt
4532.8422 -9255.5474 287.1951219512
4532.8423 -9255.5473 313.4146341463
4532.8423 -9255.5473 398.1707317073
4532.8422 -9255.5471 528.3536585366
4532.8419 -9255.5465 685.6707317073
4532.8413 -9255.5452 845.7317073171
4532.8401 -9255.5446 994.512195122


Darkstar cert flight.jpg
 
now, if you save the path after each flight and then immediately go into your folder location and re-name the rocketpath file it will be in the correct format... if you forget to rename the file it will be overwritten next time you run the program.
 

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