Lotse is a project mainly written in PYTHON and SHELL, based on the GPL-3.0 license.
Visualizes GPS information. Features points of interests, wayfinding (without a map) and a cool visual radar overview. Great for geocaching, not so great for driving.
This Application is intended for use as a simple Geocaching tool. It has functionality roughly equivalent to a low cost handheld GPS receiver. You can use it to find your way towards any point given in GPS coordinates or imported from a GPX file. This application is not supposed to be used for car navigation, as it only tells you the direction in which the target position lies relative to your current position and the distance, it doesn't take into account any map data.
For non Arch Linux users: Dependencies: python >= 2.6 (3.0 is not backwards compatible so < 3.0) gpsd > 2.94 (version 2.94 has a broken python interface) pygtk >= 2.17.0 (earlier versions might work but haven't been tested)
Install: run as root: 'python setup.py install' you can use the options listed under 'python setup.py --help install' and 'python setup.py --help'
For Arch Linux users: Recommended: Get lotse from AUR To build from git: run 'python setup.py sdist' get the md5sum of dist/lotse-.tar.gz and put it into the PKGBUILD then run 'makepkg -cf' and install 'pacman -U lotse-.pkg.tar.xz'
First you need to make sure that gpsd is running, this is crucial as lotse will only show an error message and quit if gpsd is not running on your computer. Refer to 'man gpsd' or other adequate documentation on how to get gpsd up and running. You should then check whether gpsd is running correctly by issuing 'xgps' this should give you some info about your GPS, you might need to install 'gpsd-clients' depending on your distribution.
AFTER HAVING VERIFIED THAT GPSD WORKS FOR YOU
You can launch lotse from the menu (it should be under 'Accesories') or you can run 'lotse' from the command line.
First, you need to create a waypoint for your target, so go to the Waypoint tab. If you have a GPX File (for example from your Geocaching Website) you can just click on import, choose the file and then select the waypoint you want to go to. (You need to highlight it and then click 'select') If you have the coordinates for example on paper or as text, copied from some place, you need to click 'Add', this will create an 'Unnamed' waypoint defaulting to your current position. Click on the lat/lon field and enter your coordinates, the way you have written them down, chances are lotse will interpret them correctly. Supported formats include (but aren't limited to): 48° 45′ 20.6″ N, 9° 11′ 24.8″ E 48.755722°, 9.190222° Then highlight the waypoint and click 'select' switch to the Goto tab, the black arrow points to the target while the red arrow indicates north your walking direction is always up on the display. Note, that GPS can only calculate your heading (the direction you are walking in, while you are not standing still). Tip: If you have a compass you can use the target 'Direction'
You can left click on the radar for a context menu, with which you can create a new waypoint at the location your mouse would be when translated to real world coordinates, or select the nearest waypoint.
Creating a GPX Log
To create a GPX log you can use the Log tab, remember to end the filename with .gpx
For bug reports or help requests contact me using the email niklas(_at.)komani.de