JOSM/Plugins/ColumbusCSV

The ColumbusCSV Plugin for JOSM allows the direct import of proprietary CSV files recorded by the Columbus/Visiontac V-900 into JOSM.

Visiontac VGPS-900 front

Icon	JOSM Version	Plugin Version	Maintained By	Date	Maturity
	4549	29179	OliverW	January, 7th 2011	Stable

Please report bugs or annoyances to me by either

• create a new TRAC ticket (preferred) OR
• send me a mail

Installation

Open JOSM and select from menu Edit > Preferences, then choose the tab Plugins. Check ColumbusCSV in the list (see picture 1), then press Update. JOSM should then download and install the plugin (see also JOSM Plugin Manager).

(1) Install the plugin

Finally restart JOSM, that's it.

Usage

!	Make sure that the microSD card is in the slot before you go logging :-)

After the plugin has been installed successfully you should find an additional entry in the Type combo (see picture 2). Of course you can select multiple files; each file becomes a separate GPX layer then.

(2) Import a V-900 CSV file

After the import you will find two additional layers per file (one for the track and one containing the way points). The map should look similar to picture 3. The V-900 is able to record audio files; they are saved as separate WAV files and are referenced by the CSV file. After the import you can play the audio file by pressing the marker button.

(3) Imported GPS trace with audio markers

.

In some cases some audio files 'get lost' - for unknown reason. This means, that there are audio files which are not referenced by the CSV file. The plugin 'rescues' these files and mark them with a '*'. Please note that the GPS position is guessed in this case.

Switch to 'Professional Mode'

By default the V-900 runs in simple mode, i. e. only the most important signals are recorded:

1. DATE
2. TIME
3. LATITUDE N/S
4. LONGITUDE E/W
5. HEIGHT
6. SPEED
7. HEADING
8. VOX (name of the audio file)

But there is also a professional mode, which issues additional information on the GPS signal quality:

1. FIX MODE
2. VALID
3. PDOP
4. HDOP
5. VDOP

To make your V-900 record this good stuff, just put a file named config.txt on the microSD card. The content of the file is

1,000,001,
notes:
1 Professional mode
000 Over-speed tag 
001 Spy mode timer

Sure, the log files become larger then. But as long as you are not hiking along the Transsib route this should not be a problem.

Settings

(4) Settings (dontZoom -> zoom)

ColumbusCSV supports the following settings (see also picture 4).

They are accessible via F12 (Windows) or Strg + , (Mac). Then choose tab Advanced Settings.

Setting	Description	Default
columbuscsv.import.showSummary	Show summary box after import	false
columbuscsv.import.zoomAfterImport	Auto zoom after import (set to 'false' on slow machines)	true
columbuscsv.import.ignoreVDOP	Ignore hdop/vdop/pdop entries	false
columbuscsv.warn.missingAudio	Issue warning message on missing audio files	false
columbuscsv.warn.conversionErrors	Issue warning message on conversion errors	false

Known Bugs and Workarounds

Unknown - there are currently no open TRAC tickets as far as I know.

1. User mdk reported problems with case-sensitive file systems. This has been fixed in 26821.
2. User mdk reported IOException playing a marker: This is after the end of the recording. A workaround has been provided in 27119.

References

• [1] Very comprehensive Wiki page on the V-900 (german)