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Old 15-09-2010, 16:00   #1
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Dell Mini with GPS

Hi there....

Anyone have a Dell laptop with integrated GPS receiver?

Any tricks to getting it to work with OpenCPN?

Any special XP/Vista/7 quirks?

Thanks
Dave
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Old 15-09-2010, 16:55   #2
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Quirk No 1 - stick with XP.

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Old 16-09-2010, 03:41   #3
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I have a Dell Inspiron 11z with a built in Dell Wireless 705 GPS Receiver. This is a combination of Skyhook XPS and Broadcom GPS.

I have not been able to get OpenCPN to recognize it. I am on the line between buying commercial software, buying a second GPS receiver that is proven with OpenCPN, or downloading the source code and debugging the issue.

Please share if you figure it out!
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Old 16-09-2010, 06:16   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RainDog View Post
I am on the line between buying commercial software, buying a second GPS receiver that is proven with OpenCPN, or downloading the source code and debugging the issue.
shouldnt take drastic action at this stage, no matter if youre on lx or win, try and get other (free!) gps applications to recognise the chip first of all..
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Old 16-09-2010, 07:34   #5
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shouldnt take drastic action at this stage, no matter if youre on lx or win, try and get other (free!) gps applications to recognise the chip first of all..
Any recommendations?
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Old 16-09-2010, 09:37   #6
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This thing works perfect, and you can stick it out a porthole in the weather while you keep your laptop below.

Amazon.com: GlobalSat BU-353 Waterproof USB GPS Receiver: Electronics
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Old 16-09-2010, 10:45   #7
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Any recommendations?
I got the BU 353 as well which works well on all OS. Having said that, I'd try and get the internal one running first.

What operating system are you on?

Try Gippy or xgps on linux (latter is intregal part of most distributions). On windows try navmonpc or seaclear, or indeed any number of gps monitoring and navigation programmes out there..
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Old 16-09-2010, 14:41   #8
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Raindog....

Several user have reported this problem, but I have been unable to make any progress since I don't have access to the hardware.

I'd be happy to help you come up on the source build, and help debug it.

Lets fix this thing!

Dave
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Old 16-09-2010, 14:50   #9
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Ok i read the reviews and they were positive So what is the best software to use for navgation ?
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Old 16-09-2010, 15:00   #10
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Ok i read the reviews and they were positive So what is the best software to use for navgation ?
OpenCPN | Official OpenCPN Homepage

+

Raster Navigational Charts: NOAA RNCs

---

For full disclosure, I recommend you stick with paper charts and proper navigation beyond electronic means. For route planning however, OpenCPN is hard to beat if the charts are available.
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Old 16-09-2010, 15:09   #11
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Ok i read the reviews and they were positive So what is the best software to use for navgation ?
The one which you know how to use is best.

There is a broad spectrum of both commercial and free stuff available. If you start at Open CPN (free) it will give you an idea of what it is all about and if you find something missing then you can just go ahead and try different things.

I think it is a good idea to try out both vector and raster charts, if only to get the idea of the differences.

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Old 16-09-2010, 16:05   #12
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The one which you know how to use is best.

...

I think it is a good idea to try out both vector and raster charts, if only to get the idea of the differences.

b.
Absolutely.

And you might read this: --> Inland Waters Resources - Chart Errors which compares paper charts vs electronic and raster vs vector.

I should probably also add in a discussion on Google Earth, topo maps, and aerial photos.

My choice is to have them all.

For the free charts available, see the second link in my signature.

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Old 16-09-2010, 19:45   #13
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RainDog (and Jerry)...

I'm looking at a log file for this problem, and I see that COM4 is closed immediately after opening, presumably due to some error.

We have some debugging capability in the current code.

If you add the following to the config file (opencpn.ini)

Code:
[Settings]
DebugNMEA=1500
the log file may contain more useful information on the error condition.

This may not catch the offending code, in which case we shall have to ad more debug log output. Step by step....

Thanks
Dave
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Old 16-09-2010, 20:15   #14
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What navigational software application do you use with the BU-353 for marine use? Thanks.
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Old 17-09-2010, 04:31   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bdbcat View Post
Lets fix this thing!
I am travelling this week but will try to get the dev environment set up next week and figure out the issue. Just let me know what class or module the gps interface code is in.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bdbcat View Post
RainDog (and Jerry)...
If you add the following to the config file (opencpn.ini)

Code:
[Settings]
DebugNMEA=1500
the log file may contain more useful information on the error condition.
Thanks for the tip.
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