Walter
Stucki has written a small tool
that converts the Ozi-Wpt Format into the .KML Format we need for GoogleEarth click
here http://www.thermikcheck.ch/wpt2kml.htmNews - help:
To use T2t you will need a computer with Windows2000 installed; T2t will probably work also on other versions of Windows (95/98/Me/NT/XP) but has not been tested on these operating systems. If you experience troubles please send us an e-mail message.
Track2Thermic installation: download the file T2t.zip in a folder or on the Windows desktop; then, double-click on the downloaded zip file to unzip it using WinZip, that will show you the list of the compressed files. Click on the “setup.exe” file and confirm the options that will be presented. In a couple of minutes the program will be installed and ready to use. Please also update it to the latest version as explained below. The thermal classes will be assigned by default, but you can change it at any times.
Track2Thermic update: DO NOT UNINSTALL THE SOFTWARE from your PC. Download the latest file in a folder or on the Windows desktop; then, double-click on the downloaded zip file to unzip it using WinZip, that will show you the list of the compressed files. Just extract them in the same folder where you installed the original software, overwriting the old program “track2thermic.exe” and also other files if present.
T2t uses the GPS flight tracks in the .PLT format (Oziexplorer ver. 3.90.3 or newer; you can also use CompeGPS ver. 4.05 or newer); hence, you will also need to install this software, that is free in the trial version. Connect your GPS to your PC with the serial cable, switch the GPS on and make sure that the communication port is open. Then, using OziExplorer or CompeGPS, download from your GPS the flight track, and save it as a .plt file (e.g., flight12.plt) in a folder. Now run T2t and go to the folder where you saved your track, highlight it and choose a folder and a filename to contain the thermal map (e.g., “thermap.wpt”); click on “Run” and in few seconds the new file “thermap.wpt” will be generated with all the thermals contained in “flight12.plt”. You can repeat these steps using other tracks of flights made by you or your friends. The last operation is to send the waypoints/thermals to your GPS; to do this, use OziExplorer or CompeGPS again, in a similar way to the track download operation.
Sascha Eissler has written a small tool that converts the Ozi-Wpt Format into the .dta Format we need for GPS_LOG click here http://www.media-eissler.de/wpt2dta
Walter
Stucki has written a small tool
that converts the Ozi-Wpt Format into the .KML Format we need for GoogleEarth click
here http://www.thermikcheck.ch/wpt2kml.htm
Using the “.IGC” files from the OLC (ON-LINE CONTEST)
website: you can also download and use the track files from the OLC website, but, since OLC is hosted on a Linux server, these files will have end-of-line sequences (CR-LF) not directly suitable to be used under Windows and DOS. You will need to convert them using a simple program called
“todos.exe”, which can be copied or moved in any folder of your PC. After downloading the “.ZIP” file, double-click on it and extract the file “todos.exe” only – the other files are of no use in this case. From the DOS prompt run, e.g., “todos.exe 338dcf01.igc” (where 338dcf01.igc is the name of the track file whose end-of-line sequences you need to convert). This way the file will be ready for use with T2t, OziExplorer, CompeGPS or any other track analysis software.
Since version 1.32 this file convertion is not longer necessary: T2t do it
automatically.
Please pay attention to the folder where you install the program: if this is different from C:\Programmi\Track2Thermic\ you will need to adjust the parameters “pathmain”, “pathorigine” and “pathdestinazione” contained in the “track2thermic.ini” file. All non-Italian Windows installations, for example, will suffer from this problem.
Please pay also attention to the International Setup (in the Control Panel): if you get the message “Error 6 Overflow/Overrun” from T2t when you run it against an .IGC file, please make sure that the Date Format uses the “/” separator (e.g. 23/03/2003).
When you upload the thermals/waypoints to your GPS, waypoints with duplicate names will not be accepted by some GPS models; for example, the Garmin 12 will skip waypoints with duplicate names. To solve this problem, here’s a hint:
using OziExplorer, open the .WPT file containing the thermals; then click on View | List | Waypoint List to see the complete list. Click on the Sort button to sort the list alphabetically, then visually scan your list for duplicate names (the waypoint pairs with duplicate names will be adjacent) and change slightly the last digit (altitude) to make them different. For example, if you find two “DS2076” waypoints, rename one to “DS2077”. When you are done, click on the Close button, save the file and upload the thermals to your GPS again. This is just a temporary workaround; in the next versions of T2t we will try to solve the duplicate name problem automatically. The idea behind is that even changing the reference altitude of a thermal of 10 meters the results will be the same!
New in version 1.33:
updated WPT file memorizes into data field nr. 11 (this field is usually called "notes") other interesting data as follows:
"(143g 0846m 0400s 10052003d 1221t 14k)") shows as follow:
"143g"=wind source in degrees - it can be from 000 to 359 - "g" is a constant
"0846m"=how many meters pilot climb the thermal - it can be from 0000 to 9999 - "m" is a constant
"0400s"=how many seconds pilot climb the thermal - it can be from 0000 to 9999 - "s" is a constant
"10052003d"=date of the day pilot found the thermal in format ddmmyyyy - "d" is a constant
"1221t"=time of the day pilot found the thermal in format hhmm - "t" is a constant
"14k"=wind source speed in km/h - it can be from 00 to 99 - "k" is a constant
These data are more useful for software (third party or by yourself) elaboration because of fixed structure. We have contacts with CompeGPS and SeeYou productors and, may be in the future, they will insert reading/filtering "live" thermals files in their software on a pocket-pc. If you are interested and need more informations please let write to
us.
T2T windows version can elaborate more than one IGC file at a time: WPT as results will be added to same file if you specify the same destination file. To use it, choice folder containing all file to elaborate than click on "Execute all" button...
T2T calculates take-off too: into new WPT file you will find a waypoint name like "TOF045", it means, as usual, TAKE-OFF starting altitude of 450m. You may choice desired take-off icon too. Actually take-offs are not "classified" (i.e. very popular, popular, used, etc.); if you desire classified take-offs please have a look and download here http://www.friulano.it/t2t_euromap.htm where you may find a lot of european wide thermals data too, 31.08.2004 updated. Take-offs are computed: T2t takes care of initial five GPS points of a IGC track: if they are "stable" than are computed as "take-off".
New in version 1.32bis:
IGC OnLine Contest flight tracks now elaborated without need convertion with the old program todos.exe;
new button (menu Utilities: "Find relevant thermal data") that will refresh thermal WPT file; the option takes care of best class thermals and eliminated those neighbors of minor class;
new button (menu Utilities: "Centroid-based thermal data Classifier") that will refresh thermal WPT file; the option takes care of best class thermals, with priority, and included those neighbors of minor class; then will be created a new thermal with average values of old ones (class, wind direction, climb rate, altitude). The thermal will be in a new position determined by statistic method (centroid);
you can use T2t with all over the world tracks too, not only with european tracks.
New in version 1.31:
now it’s possible to select a different icon to the thermal class, to the climb rate, or to the wind direction, by choice;
the thermals/waypoints in the target WPT file are correctly numbered, so OziExplorer can load them in a better way;
in the Utilities menu there is a new button, “Update Icons”, that will refresh the icons already present in the WPT file if you decide to change what the icons represent, e.g., from thermal class to climb rate or wind direction;
the “Edit Parameters” button has been moved to the “Utilities” menu;
a problem when a track file had zero altitude in the first points has been fixed; previously such a track was considered as “track with no altitude record” and rejected;
the date and time format of the International Setup has been corrected;
New in version 1.30:
some IGC formats with B-record longer than 35 characters are now accepted;
New in version 1.29:
now in the IGC files the barometric altitude records are also accepted, beside the GPS altitude records; previously, a track with only barometric altitude record would be rejected as “track with no altitude record” even if this was not true;
some IGC formats with 35 or 41 characters long B-records are now accepted;
the screen has been redesigned to get good results even with a 800x600 resolution;
New in version 1.28:
the English language has been added;
now source files in the .IGC format, compatible with ON-LINE CONTEST (please run "todos.exe" program on files downloaded from the OLC/Linux website to convert them to the Windows/DOS format;
the display is larger, and selecting the files is easier;
Version 1.27:
First public version, with basic features.
Future projects:
We are studying a thermal map where the thermal coordinates will be the theoretical thermal trigger point projected on the ground;
better and more translations are in progress;
T2t software is still experimental, and as such, subject to refinements and improvements. We tested it with flight tracks made in North-East of Italy, and we believe it works correctly with all European coordinates (North of Equator and East of Greenwich); and the rest of the world too. If you have any suggestions about improvements or you find any typos, we will be grateful if you send us an email.