[Xastir] Fetch GPS Track question (Garmin Astro)

[Kevin Ratcliff]

Greetings,

I have some questions about how the "Fetch GPS Track" feature works.
Another SAR team in the area has started using Garmin Astro units. My
team uses APRS. The Astro is designed as a dog collar with a
transmitter and a receiver that looks similar to a 60CSx. I know that
APRS and the Garmin Astro use incompatible over-the-air formats, but
I'm hoping that I can download track data from an Astro receiver to
Xastir.

Xastir has a "Fetch GPS Track" option, but I've never used it. I do
not have any Astro units to test with right now. I do know that the
Astro receivers store the received positions for the transmitters as
track points, with a separate track log and name for each transmitter.
Unlike the Garmin Rino units, the Astro is VHF and can be attached to
an external antenna for increased range.

The ideal behavior as I see it would be for Xastir to be able to
download these tracks from the GPS receiver and display them on the
map, with each track a different color, and labeled with each
transmitter's name. Google Earth does something similar to this when
downloading from Astro units. Even better would be the ability to
schedule a periodic download.

Since the Astros use the Garmin USB protocol I'm hoping the above is
possible. Has anyone already tried interfacing an Astro unit to Xastir
with the current code to see what happens?

There was a recent post on the SAR_APRS list about the Astros and
APRS, but it wasn't specific to Xastir so I thought I would ask my
questions here and forward the response to that list if there is a
workable solution.

Thanks!

Kevin
KB9MQU