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HELP for GPSS (Global Positioning System Software) Baseline Version 6.96 November 2010.
Hit the Esc key to Escape from GPSS. Hit the Enter key after it asks "are you sure ?".
GPSS can be used in a Laptop-PC, Car-PC or Pocket PC/Smartphone for GPS based navigation,
or used to track and communicate with vehicles via radio, mobile 'phone or satellite.
GPSS is issued for free non-business use, as a means of contacting other businesses.
For the very latest news and detailed information about GPSS see www.gpss.co.uk
This Baseline for the full Windows GPSS.EXE also includes the v13 baseline for GPSSppc,
the version able to run on Pocket PC and Smartphone. See www.gpss.co.uk/gpssonce.htm
GPSSppc has a much better and simpler user interface. See www.gpss.co.uk/gpsspuse.htm
Instructions below are for the full Windows GPSS, for which the mapping is compatible.
Click on logo above to remove this Help; again to remove logo. Use the scroll bar ----->
The Help screen is switched on with ? key or clicking on the icon in low right corner.
This Help text is in GPSS.TXT. Print with Notepad, Word, etc. or DOS PRINT GPSS.TXT
GPSS IS FOR USE 'ON THE ROAD', 'IN THE AIR' or 'ON WATER' STRICTLY AT YOUR OWN RISK !
LOCATE THE COMPUTER WHERE THE DRIVER WILL NOT LOOK AT THE DISPLAY OR BE TEMPTED
TO TOUCH THE KEYBOARD. ENSURE THAT THE COMPUTER CANNOT MOVE. USE A SAFETY BELT.
Robin Lovelock regrets that he can take no responsibility for problems arising
from use of the GPS software, including road accidents or getting lost !
The speech output enables the driver to keep "his eyes on the road".
The map display is for passengers, or for use when the car is parked.
GPSS will run on any full Windows PC under Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista or 7.
GPSSppc for the Pocket PC or Smartphone needs an OS such as Windows Mobile.
A GPS receiver, with a serial or USB NMEA interface will also be needed, if you want
to use this software `on the road'. Please see www.gpss.co.uk/wheregps.htm for advice.
We suggest you start by running GPSS 'hands off' to see the demonstration.
Then test GPSS with a GPS receiver - GPSS should show your position on a World map.
The GPS receiver connects to COM1 or another COM port (specified in GPSS.CFG).
If the software cannot open the specified port it will set it to NULL.
The ^ (shift 6) key switches on the 'GPS Engineering' display - to show COM port data.
If you have problems, see 'Problems?' on the DOWNLOAD page of www.gpss.co.uk.
e.g. need to edit GPSS.CFG ? switched a handheld GPS to NMEA ON ? Testing outside ?
If you wish, you may then register the software - step 2 on www.gpss.co.uk/download.htm
Robin will provide tips such as what mapping to add, answer your questions, etc.
then follow step 3: add mapping for your country off the same DOWNLOAD page.
You are now ready to start testing GPSS with the GPS on the road.
Don't drive if you use the PC ! Get someone else to drive for your first tests.
You may purchase a GPSS Superkey matched to your name.
For details of buying a Superkey see step 4 on the same DOWNLOAD page.
NOTE THAT THIS REGISTRATION IS FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE USE,
RUNNING GPSS IN A PC DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO A GPS RECEIVER.
Other uses, such as for demonstration or remote tracking, require a special licence.
For more detailed information about GPSS, consult www.gpss.co.uk.
A large quantity of mapping for over 155 countries is on the web site for
free download. For the USA, this free mapping goes down to street level.
Other pages on www.gpss.co.uk explain how to add mapping down to "house level".
Other pages explain how to make GPSS speak languages other than English,
including Russian, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish and Thai.
GPSS support remote, multiple vehicle tracking and two-way communication.
This is over a selection of communication bearers including GSM and other
mobile 'phone networks, radio, INMARSAT and ORBCOMM satellite systems.
For details of this please see www.gpss.co.uk/chase.htm
GPSS supports Geocaching - the "treasure hunting" hobby where people plant
hidden boxes of "goodies" with a logbook, and often a camera, then post an
accurate lat/lon and description on a geocaching web site.
Those that hunt down and find the box, write in the log book and append a
visit report, or "log", to the geocache description on the web site.
For the latest list of geocaching sites, please visit www.gpshobby.info
or www.gpss.co.uk/caching. Some local UK geocaches are already in $LGEO.GTX
under the G key. In addition to those planted by Robin and June, we
have some from Tony, Richard and Scotty.
Many of the user functions of GPSS can be triggered from a single keystroke.
This means they can be tested, or even used, with only a keyboard on the GPSS PC.
Configurable logic permits icons to be linked to keystrokes (e.g. for touch screens),
or keystrokes to be converted (e.g. for smaller, special keypads).
GPSS can be used with voice recognition (or simply the keyboard) to request information
or control the computer. e.g. tell it to be quiet ! For speech input just set the voice
recognition package up to emulate these keystrokes in response to spoken commands.
If you want to spell out place names, you will also need the alphabet, "A", "B", "C",
etc. Not all of the following need to be enabled and used. These keystrokes (and
suggested voice commands) are in the list below.
Key Voice Command Effect
? "Help" switches this HELP screen on or off.
"=" "find GPS" find GPS by trying COM1, COM2, COM3, etc.
A "Pardon ?" (Again ?) ask computer to repeat last phrase.
B "English" (British) switches to English.
C "Whats the Time" (Clock ?) tells you the time.
D "Destination" makes found place the destination for guidance.
E "Eating place ?" select eating places for search (in $E.GTX).
F "Filling Station ?" select petrol filling stations ($FS.GED)
G "Geocache ?" select Geocache locations in $LGEO.GTX
H "Home" make Home the destination.
I "Interesting Place ?" select Interesting Places ($LNTEH.GTX).
J "Jump Language" switches to Japanese, or next in LANGUAGE.CFG.
K "Real" (Keep) to real position after use of "Visit".
L "Location ?" tells you location in Grid or Latitude and Longitude.
M "Tell me More" More information on found place if available.
N "No" in answer to question from computer.
O "OK to speak" OK for computer to say everything again.
P "Population Centre ?" nearest Population Centre ($LPOP.GTX).
Q "Quiet" the computer will only speak when spoken to.
R "Speed Trap ?" select (Radar or camera) speed trap ($LR.GTX).
S "Sleeping Place ?" select hotels ($S.GTX).
T "Traffic ?" reserved for Traffic. Currently for Tiger Test.
U "Units" switches units between miles/yards & km/metres
V "Visit" visit selected place by car (indoor simulation)
W "Where are we ?" tells you where we are, and progress to destination
X "Zoom in" Selects (eXtracts) most detailed map (smallest area)
Y "Yes" in answer to question from computer
Z "Zoom" Changes scale of displayed map (bigger area)
(Enter) "Search" Search selected data for nearest, or next nearest place.
Ctrl-Enter - "Super Search" - find the 50 nearest places (ahead if moving).
Ctrl-A Display Analysis Form to control playback of recorded data.
Ctrl-B Display Banner showing Version number, etc. (the "little dog")
Ctrl-C Display Experimental Facilities including demonstrations.
Ctrl-D "Remove Destination" Removes the destination (square symbol)
Ctrl-E End the Simulation or Demonstration reading from GPSS.NME
Ctrl-F "Freeze" - Pause recording started with % key.
Ctrl-G select GPSS Users for search ($LGPSS.GTX if available).
Ctrl-H Hide GPSS display
Ctrl-I Input location as Legal Sub-Division code (LSD) - Canada.
Ctrl-K log mouse position into log file as ;MLL (location).
Ctrl-L Learner Driver mode (if supporting data available)
Ctrl-N Multi-Vehicle tracking mode.
Ctrl-O in-Car mode.
Ctrl-P toggle (Phone) dialup form.
Ctrl-R Display the Registration Form needed to suppress Snoopy.
Ctrl-S toggle autopan ("slide"?) on or off. Startup default is on.
Ctrl-U Sequence output through GPSS lat/lon, UTM, Military Grid, decimal lat/lon formats
Ctrl-V move information to bottom of screen on high res. displays.
Ctrl-W Waypoint to GEO file
Ctrl-X Zoomin map from largest map.
Ctrl-Z automatically enlarge maps to fill screen.
0..9 (any name) select place from those in GPSS.LOC. 1=first, 2=second,etc.
/ "Car" Switch search location between car and destinatiion
+ "Next" Next category of geographic data selected
- "Back" Last category of geographic data selected
` "Find" Start entry of a name to search for (e.g. a town)
(followed by text of name ended by (enter)/"Search". e.g. `ascot)
(or followed by a GPS update to GPSS.LOC. e.g. `3 or `3 Freds Home)
(or followed by a latitude and longitude. e.g. `523050N0033050W)
(or followed by a UK grid reference. e.g. `SU123567 enter)
(or followed by an Irish grid reference. e.g. `A123567 enter)
(or followed by a UTM grid reference. e.g. `32U526057740)
(or followed by a bearing for triangulation. e.g. `045)
^ (shift 6) "GPS" displays GPS Engineering Information in a window
including direction of satellites being tracked
& (shift 7) "Test" Switches in and out of Speech Input / Keyboard test
( (shift 9) "Save" Saves configuration data in .CFG
) (shift 0) "Automap" Toggles Automatic Map Selection on and off
_ (shift -) "Instruments" Toggles display of Instrument Panel
. "Reset Tacho" Reset the tachometer on Instrument Panel
% (shift 5) "Log" Toggle logging of GPS data to NEWTRIP.NME
(NEWTRIP.CFG holds AAAAA, making % log to AAAAA001.NME then AAAAA02.NME)
(Edit NEWTRIP.CFG to make it log into other files. e.g. JOHND001.NME etc)
* "Demo" Switches to demonstration mode
Space "Again" Repeats last input command from operator
\ "Platform" Switch use between Car, Balloon and Aircraft
' "Altitude ?" Ask for GPS based altitude
# "Airfield ?" Find nearest airfield known to GPSS
] "Hazard ?" Find nearest hazard known to GPSS
> "Faster" Faster Playback of recorded data
< "Slower" Slower Playback of recorded data
@ "Controls" toggle Icon Controls (switched on by click on low display)
| (shift \) swich off the demonstration by forcing to 'OLD' state.
(Esc) Escape for "More Information" or Exit from GPSS.
The following facilities are for special use and are subject to change:
! Toggle map rotation on or off
$ switch on automatic map server, such as SAD.EXE
`SHOWMAPS plot map coverage and create a summary of maps in SHOWMAPS.TXT
`/WAW plot towns in the current .WAW file and check existence of sounds
`/(townname) add town into NEW.WAW. Position at Destination, Edge at Car.
`NMEA switches mouse input to append simultated NMEA data into NEW.NME
`#L,, (or other category followed by ,,) start generation of NEW.GTX
`#(name) define the name to be enclosed in ## into NEW.GTX
`# end this map data generation mode
`DFBRGREL toggles DF bearings between absolute and relative
`RGI+ monitor RGI process
`SPEEDTRAP toggles recording of speed trap locations to NEWTRAP.TXT,GTX.
Click on controls at low centre for the touch keyboard,
for Car-PC with touch sensitive screens.
GPSS Configuration Files: Many facilities within GPSS are "hidden"
and only made available for specific applications. e.g. remote tracking.
Many of these features are made available with configuration files.
Here are some common ones that are not secret:
METRIC.CFG any file with this name makes GPSS start in km/m, not miles/yards.
DIALS.CFG - starts up with Instrument panel on.
GPSS.CFG - can be edited to change default GPS COM port, home location, etc.
For more details see www.gpss.co.uk/config.htm
CONDITIONS OF USE:
This copy of GPSS may be called "Free" because you may have obtained it from
www.gpss.co.uk, a friend, or a free CD or DVD. You may not sell GPSS for profit.
This GPSS software is the copyright of Robin Lovelock. The concepts demonstrated
in this software are the Intellectual Property of Robin Lovelock.
You do not need to register or pay for use of this copy of the software,
but please respect the following conditions of use:
You may copy and distribute the two floppy disk "baseline" of this software
to others in its complete and unmodified form on two floppy disks, CD or DVD.
You may not put this software on the Internet.
You may add maps and other data for your own experimental use.
You may give, but not sell, this other data, on a seperate disk, to others.
None of this software is to be sold without permission from Robin Lovelock.
The software is not to be decompiled.
You may not use any of the files for another purpose than with GPSS.
Any deletion or modification to data files must not be passed to others.
GPSS must not be demonstrated to others in the context of business development without
permission from Robin Lovelock. This permission is sometimes granted at zero cost.
GPSS is distributed as a means of contacting businesses who can exploit it.
If you are someone with a business interest, visit www.gpss.co.uk/ifyouare.htm
You can still run the software, even if you don't have a GPS receiver.
The program will start by trying to open COM1 for input (specified in
file GPSS.CFG). If it cannot open COM1 it will use NULL.
It expects to receive NMEA format GPS data on a serial or USB port.
GPSS operates in several `modes' indicated in the lower right corner flag:
DEM - `demonstration mode' when the program starts.
SIM - `simulation mode' if an operator mouse or keyboard input is received.
GPS - real information when data is received from GPS.
OLD - if GPS data ceases to arrive.
<- - `pointing mode' if the operator is moving the mouse.
If no data is received it will switch to 'demonstration mode' using a journey
'that I did earlier'. When in demonstration mode it will simulate operator
inputs (you will hear Michelle's voice). Any real input will cause a switch
to 'simulation mode': GPS is simulated but not the operator inputs.
It will switch to 'GPS mode' if GPS data is received. Loss of GPS data
will result in 'OLD' being displayed and GPSS will not simulate the GPS.
Movement of the mouse will pause update of the GPS (or simulated) data
for 10 seconds, giving you the opportunity to display Grid and Latitude
and Longitude co-ordinates of the mouse pointer on the available maps.
The Ctrl-U hot key selects the format of the displayed position.
Destinations can be chosen by:
1) clicking on a map (left button).
2) clicking on the destination list.
3) searching for a place then selecting it as the destination.
Voice instructions are then given to guide you to the destination every 20 seconds.
Your position is described relative to major towns or landmarks every 60 seconds.
clicking on a destination gives a similar verbal description of its position.
Hit H for Home (specified in GPSS.CFG) as the new destination, to guide you home.
The right button can be used to move the car (circle) symbol to a new location.
This can be used when 'exploring' maps indoors or to apply a GPS correction.
This facility is only available after you switch off the demo with Ctrl-C STOPDEMO.
You can request the computer to search for places nearest the car position.
e.g. the nearest Petrol Filling Statiion, Eating Place, Sleeping Place, etc.
This can then be chosen as the destination for voice guidance.
The baseline copy of GPSS, capable of being compressed onto two
floppy disks, provides non-detailed mapping over the whole UK mainland,
and more detailed sample maps for demonstration. More detailed maps
can be added from www.gpss.co.uk for the UK and over 150 countries.
Street level maps for all the USA may be downloaded from www.gpss.co.uk.
The following are details of sample maps within the GPSS Baseline:
Digital mapping such as that in BRACKNEL.BMP* is available from Bartholomew.
Bartholomew also market a range of raster images, including both `road atlas'
and `atlas' styles for many areas of the World. For more information contact
Duncan Pickering at Bartholomew on tel. 01242 258134 fax. 01242 222725.
* BRACKNELL.BMP was removed from the v6 Baseline in August 2006.
The GPSS Baseline includes sample UK data: over 3500 petrol filling
stations, 1000 towns, 850 eating places, 200 sleeping places and
700 interesting places to visit like National Trust sites.
I'm grateful to www.PocketGPSWorld.com for making speed camera data available to GPSS.
They have agreed to the data being included within the GPSS Baseline since v5.7.
Since GPSS v6.4, the UK speed data must be downloaded as SPEEDUK.EXE from
www.gpss.co.uk/speed.htm The WARNING.TXT is the GPSS Baseline is a small test file.
Updates are available from www.PocketGPSWorld.com - linked from the speed page above.
This speed data is placed within files $LR.GTX and WARNING.TXT monitored by GPSS.
Remove WARNING.TXT if you want to completely disable the automatic warning process.
GPSS Mirror sites: if you cannot access www.gpss.co.uk, here are the mirrors:
www.gpss.co.uk - the primary GPSS site
gpss.force9.co.uk - the primary host for www.gpss.co.uk
gpss.npl.com - mirror site
user28153.vs.easily.co.uk - mirror site
We welcome BUSINESS contact by 'phone, post, or e-mail. We prefer e-mail.
Sorry that we cannot provide telephone support to the end-user.
Sunninghill Systems,
22, Armitage Court,
Sunninghill, Berks.
SL5 9TA.
telephone: 44 (0) 1344 620775.
e-mail: gpss@compuserve.com
Businesses should start by visiting www.gpss.co.uk/ifyouare.htm
The main reason why Sunninghill Systems distribute the basic GPSS package free,
and sometimes grant licences and 'Snoopy Suppression' keys at zero cost, is to
contact businesses who can exploit the GPSS.EXE core product. This is where we
earn revenue - from those who use it in mass market products, or higher value
applications such as multiple vehicle tracking. Whether you are a large
corporation, or simply someone thinking of starting their own business, maybe
we can help each other in some way. E-mail me after visiting www.gpss.co.uk,
or give me a call. Sorry but the telephone is for business enquiries only.
I would like to thank all those who have assisted in the provision of sample
map data, the loan of hardware for 'road testing', or simply provided advice.
I would also like to thank my friends in many countries, for help in testing.
Enjoy the software, but PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY.
Robin Lovelock
November 2010.
© 1991-2010 Robin Lovelock, Sunninghill Systems.