USB GPS

[Pblais]

Am I missing something or was I just lucky.

Lucky still counts!

[chris alberts]

Originally Posted by Pblais

What happens is the USB adapter looks liek a serial port. So the answer is NO Sea Clear can't use a USB comnnection BUT you can pretend it is a serial port. get a good adapter Google "pfranc" These are the best. They have LED indicators and can deal with all sorts of things better than some of the cheaper poor quality adapters.

The trick is boot the computer, then connect the adapter and then turn on the GPS. If you use any other order the USB will look like a mouse and the GPS NMEA signals are treated as such and you get quite a show.

On my laptop it coms up as COM5. My Compaq has no serial ports either. Also get a 12 volt adapter - it uses less power. Using an inverter is a waste of power. Making 120 volts from 12 volts then back to 12 volts loses about 40% of the inital power. You'll feel the heat.

Okay, I'm taking the dive. I'll order a US Global (not actually a mouse) G Mouse, and hope I've chosen a dealer that isn't a phishing scam. And your point about 12 volt adapters is a good one, although I'm unfortunate enough to have a Dell, which greedily allows only their adapters to work. Some sort of chip is necessary, as I remember.

[Pblais]

I'm unfortunate enough to have a Dell, which greedily allows only their adapters to work. Some sort of chip is necessary, as I remember.

Not true.

http://www.ebatts.com

I had a problem with an Compaq but not Dell's. If it does not work they will do a refund. They do free shipping on most items too. even if not, the adapter is far cheaper than the overall cost of an inverter and the extra power wasted.

[chris alberts]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Not true.

http://www.ebatts.com

I had a problem with an Compaq but not Dell's. If it does not work they will do a refund. They do free shipping on most items too. even if not, the adapter is far cheaper than the overall cost of an inverter and the extra power wasted.

I guess so, I just (mis)spent an hour trying to rediscover where I read horror stories from people who had bought adapaters for Dells that didn't work. I can't find them so I guess I'll have a look at the ebatts site.

[KevinE]

I looked at the Global Sat USB but I have decided to try a Bluetooth version very similar (HOLUX GPSlim236). It can work wirelessly as well as under with a USB cable and you can also get an additional antenna for it. If I ever get a Bluetooth enabled PDA then this will work quite well with it.
This will be my backup GPS system.

Does anybody know if the free version of Maptech Chart Navigator support GPS? I read somewhere that it doesnt' but wasn't sure (guess I'll find out soon enough).

[BobB]

I recently purchased a Deluo USB GPS for about $70 online and used it on a trip in the Northwest. Ran it with Coastal Navigator and free NOAA raster and vector charts. Performed great until one day it fell (I had up by port for best view of sky) behind my laptop, attached (it has magnet) itself to my VGA port and blew the backlight for teh screen, making the screen almost unreadable. My IT guys at work told me that magnetic fields are just like electric fields; probably short-circuit. Laptop now being serviced.

I wrote Deluo about it, asking them if they made non-magnetic gps. Their response did not address issue of magnetic fields and computers, but I will write them for clarification. In the meantime, great gps, but keep away from computer or shield the magnet.

Anyone ever have or heard of similar problem?

[BambooSailor]

Don't know how relevant my experience is to your question, but I used USB GPS from Microsoft, connected to DELL Inspiron through USB HUB (together with mouse). I placed in under window (on FP Belize catamaran) and it worked flawlessly.

[windthief]

I have an outdoor mounted unit that is just a little dome similar to interface units by furuno or raymarine but much smaller. drilled a hole in the dashboard outside and ran the USB into the nav station. One wire no batteries and has been good for two seasons.
only this is it draws alot of power from the laptop battery.

cost was around 75.00

[ssullivan]

Wow... terrible about the magnet. Mine has a suction cup to affix it to the port.

[Talbot]

My cheap Hong Kong version also has the magnetic base, plus a suction cup for use to attach it to the window.

re-learnt about magnetism the hard way by wiping bits on a hard drive!

The newer Garmin models (like the newer street pilot series) are coming with USB only. We just bought one of their new handhelds that has both USB and the "old style" round serial plug.

We recently tried a Globalsat Bluetooth GPS with Nobeltec on our trip last summer. Worked ok, but it's data caused the heading calculation to be more "wild" than the Garmin's. I wouldnt recommend it for use with chart software. Ok if you just want to get a fix.