Connecting GPS to laptop

[gchabs]

I have a Globalsat Bt-358 blue tooth capable GPS receiver and am using a Samsung netbook running Windows 7. The netbook did not come blue tooth capable, so I bought a $3.95 dongle to use in order to make it blue tooth capable. Long story short, I have had a devil of a time capturing the signal from the gps on the computer while using OpenCPM or SeaClear navigation software. I think I have successfully added the BT-358 as it appears as a recognized device. The computer also identifies it as being on COM PORT 1, for example. I then go into OpenCPM or SeaClear and tell the program that the gps is on the same COM PORT and change the settings in the program to COM PORT 1.

The question is, does the COM PORT 1 designation indicate that that is the port on which it is receiving the signal from the GPS? The port on which it will broadcast the signal to the navigation software? Do I need to adjust the software program so it reads and accepts the signal on another port. Or am I missing something fundamental. I recognize that this may be a computer use question vs. a navigation question, so if anyone can direct me to a book or article which would help me undersand COM PORTS etc., that would also be appreciated. Thanks as always. George - Papagayo

[S/V_Surya]

Yes , if you set the blue tooth to com 1 seaclear should be set for com 1. Mine looks for 4800 baud. There is a window in sea clear you can open to read the raw GPS data to confirm it is receiving. Can remember what it is right now but there are not that many options in sea clear.

[r.fairman]

1. Go to tools / properties / comm
2.Set comm port to same as bluetooth gps
3 Set Bps to 4800


regards

Richard Fairman JP BA Author SeaClear Unleashed