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Or.... you can get Franson GPS gate which will take any
USB GPS and make it work with pretty much any program. It
maps the USB port to a com port of your choosing and will
even convert data types.
Vern
s/v Nirvelli
On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 05:09:29 -0500
Ken James <> wrote:
> I recently learned something that may help others, esp.
>those with the Cmap ECS Vector charting programs, or the
>older Cap'n Voyager, Nobeltech, etc charting programs.
>
> I bought one of the small cheap (14$) 'mouse' type GPS
>sensors on EBay so the laptop can get the GPS info from
>this rather than my Garmin handheld unit. It has some
>distinct advantages, among them it gets its tiny bit of
>power from the USB connection, it is very small, it is
>waterproof, etc. But, I could not get it to work until I
>followed up on some clues. Now it works fine.
>
> Here is what I found; older charting programs were
>written before USB was around or was very common, and
>GPS's then all connected to serial ports until just a few
>years ago. So the older programs do not know about COM
>ports other than the serial ports, it so they may not
>know or look for USB COM ports. (Even using a serial to
>USB adaptor will not solve that problem). Therefor these
>programs cannot communicate with the USB 'mouse type'
>GPS's and no data will exchanged, unless they can be made
>to talk through the USB COM ports. (I think this would
>apply to older handhelds connected to USB ports also).
>
> Here is how to solve the problem; first disconnect the
>GPS. Then go to the folder where the chart program you
>want to use keeps it files, and find a folder named
>gps.ini (this location is not necc. the same location it
>keeps its charts, you can find the correct folder by
>right clicking the shortcut icon for the charting program
>then clicking properties, then click find target.). Open
>the gps.ini file, you should then see text. Save this
>file with a different name, I used "notmodgpsini"
>eliminating the "." before ini . Save it in the same
>folder it came from. It is now a back up copy in case you
>screw things up, you can put them back just as they were.
>
> Next you need to know what COM port was assigned to your
>GPS device connected to your USB port, so if you have not
>instaled the drivers (if needed) do so, with WIN XP that
>is easy, and with a handheld it may automatic. Go to
>Control Panel/System/System Properties/Device
>Manager/Ports (Com & LPT) and check to see what devices
>are connected to which COM ports, take a note of that.
> Then either connect the GPS unit and or install the
>drivers and connect the unit as needed, re-start the PC
>if needed and make sure the GPS is connected then again
>go to Control Panel/System/System Properties/Device
>Manager/Ports (Com & LPT). Check for the new device, note
>the COM port number it is assigned by your PC and
>connected to. This COM port assignment can also be
>changed to a different one you select by either using the
>port changing tool for Win98 or in the path specified
>above, left click to Properties then you will find an
>Advanced tab that lists the COM port where you can change
>its assignement. Don't use a COM Port number that is a
>serial port (one reserved in your older chartware program
>for example), in fact it is best let the PC auto assign
>the number here or you may need to try all this several
>times.
>
> Next, if you are using for example the CmapECS charting
>software, first dis-connect the GPS then use the Config
>program (contained in the same folder with the
>CmapECS.exe program) and change the COM port to that
>shown and listed for your device as noted before in
>Control Panel/System/System Properties/Device
>Manager/Ports (Com & LPT). With Cap'n Voyager it will
>find the port (once the other procedures here are
>finished, that is) when you tell it to find the GPS, so
>you can skip this step with it.
>
> You may need to know the baud rate your device sends and
>the baud rate the the COM port is set for, and the rate
>the charting program receives, the GPS devices sending
>rate can be found in the owners manual of the device,
>follow the above file path ending in (COM & LPT) then
>right click to Properties and use the Advanced tab to
>set the devices assigned COM port's baud rate, and with
>the CmapECS charting program for example the baud rate
>can be set with its Config application. (As a side note,
>the other parameters listed there should be 8, 1, N or
>No, 1. If they look like that, don't mess with them.)
> Cap'n Voyager auto sets its rate it seems, but the COM
>port baud rate still may need to be set for it.
>
> Now re-open the original gps.ini text file (not the
>back-up file you saved with a different name), then
>change the COM port number in the text (from say 3 to in
>my example 9) and change the baud rate text number if
>needed to agree with the rest of the baud rates listed
>eleswhere, such as maybe 4800 instead of nothing or maybe
>9600, as determined starting by the devices output baud
>rate, that is all else must not be _faster_ than that and
>should be the same number for good results...most GPS's
>now output at 9600 it seems (I did not have to change
>anything else except the COM port and baud rate in these
>gps.ini files to get things to work, but I am not using
>an electronic autopilot) and save the now modified
>gps.ini file using its original name.
>
> Once the COM port you changed in the gps.ini file is in
>agreement with the above path file location as listed in
>the Device Manager/Ports/COM Ports/ etc file path and is
>also is in agreement with the COM port the charting
>software is set for if necessary as with the CmapECS
>charting program by using its Config application, or in
>the case of Cap'n Voyager by telling it to find the GPS,
> (BTW, SeaClearII found the new COM Port automatically,
>that is a simple but good program ) the charting software
>program will use the USB COM Port you have designated
>and find the GPS and data will be exchanged.
>
> There is also a nice tool in SeaClearII (a simple,
>reliable free charting program available on the net) that
>shows GPS data sentences being sent and received, as far
>as I can tell with other programs you cannot see if the
>connected GPS unit is sending data (or if your program is
>sending it), but with SeaClearII you can see it.
>
> In sum, if your older charting program cannot see a USB
>connected device, it may be because the charting program
>was not set to use USB com ports. This can be solved by
>changing the COM port number in the charting programs
>gps.ini file, you may also need to find the devices
>assigned com port number and change the charting
>softwares port by using a Config application or set up
>application as needed, and you may also need to change
>the baud rate of the com port and the charting software.
>
> Once you understand the problem and how to solve it, it
>is a 15 min. fix.
>
> You _may_ need to restart your PC after the changes are
>made. Maybe not, I didn't need to.
>
> Re-connect the GPS. Give it some time to get a fix, then
>you are in business!
>
> I hope all this is not too confusing. If anybody has
>questions, I will be glad to try to help, but we may need
>to rely on the lists Gurus! (That's not me!!! <G>) -Ken
>
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