eliminate need for GPSBabel installation

[caver456]

Surely all of the Garmin Serial-mode communication can be done with a python script instead of GPSBabel? Googling 'garmin serial python' is a good start - a few things to investigate:

https://mygisblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/how-to-talk-to-garmin-gpsmap-60csx-using-python/

which mentions 'Garmin Spanner' - ?

pygarmin

Also, maybe the GPSBabel code can just be used in python directly?

Note, this doesn't get rid of the need to install the Garmin Serial drivers.

[caver456]

Priority on this issue isn't clear. While it would be nice to get rid of the external dependency, there are some reasons why it might be fine to keep it as-is:

• GPSBabel has tons of existence-proof, reliability, stability, user-base, etc.; other options investigated so far (pygarmin) don't seem to have a solid track record; maybe there is a brilliant option out there somewhere?
• Garmin Serial protocols are pretty complex since there are so many of them, and the protocol table has been deleted from the Garmin web site; GPSBabel already incorporates all of these protocols, so it would be hard to reproduce, i.e. GPSBabel has a LOT of value-added, and it's free
• GPSBabel outputs gpx which is what caltopo needs anyway; pygarmin does not seem to output gpx directly
• it's probably a good idea for GPSIO users to have something like GPSBabel installed anyway
• an installer tool (nullsoft or such) could hopefully take care of the GPSBabel installation

So - this issue is not high priority, until/unless something changes. The only follow-on for now would be to incorporate GPSBabel installation into the GPSIO installer (if and when one exists).