GPS units and file formats

Hans first GPS; Garmin eTrex Venture® Cx, had the capability of saving the track data as GPX files directly.

The second GPS; Garmin Forerunner ® 405, did not stored the tracks in GPX format but the TCX format, which is basically a GPX file with added information like heart rate and distance.

Difference between the GPX and TCX file format

A trackpoint from a GPX file

<trkpt lat="59.6500974" lon="16.5200726">
   <ele>39.5512695</ele>
   <time>2009-03-21T07:14:50Z</time>
</trkpt>

The same trackpoint from a TCX file

<Trackpoint>
   <Time>2009-03-21T07:14:50Z</Time>
   <Position>
   <LatitudeDegrees>59.6500974</LatitudeDegrees>
   <LongitudeDegrees>16.5200726</LongitudeDegrees>
   </Position>
   <AltitudeMeters>39.5512695</AltitudeMeters>
   <DistanceMeters>1534.3891602</DistanceMeters>
   <HeartRateBpm xsi:type="HeartRateInBeatsPerMinute_t">
   <Value>151</Value>
   </HeartRateBpm>
   <SensorState>Absent</SensorState>
   <Extensions>
   <TPX xmlns="http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/ActivityExtension/v2" CadenceSensor="Footpod"/>
   </Extensions>
</Trackpoint>