NMEA Transmission via BT to PC

[ON3CHD]

Good evening,
I try to find out how to have OpenCPN reading NMEA sentences sent by my Brookhouse MUX through the NMEA differential RS 422 connector via an RS 232 BT to my Laptop.
When using Hyperterminal on my Laptop I can connect to this RS 232 BT and receive/read the info sent.
When I open OpenCpn /Toolbox/GPS I can·t see the ComPort to which this RS 232 is attached.
Can anyone help...in a simple way as I am not a technician but a simple sailor...
Additional info:System on which OpenCPN is installed = Windows XP Pro.
Thanks in advance for any help and my apologies if this topic has already been discussed but I could not find it.
Cheers.
ON3CHD

[HappySeagull]

Oh,man,I hate bluetooth!But trying to help,in sympathy, firstoff,XP has trouble "telling" an app what the ports available are above a certain number(is it 10?) while bluetooth drivers love to go crazy into the 20's.

One fix that seems really easy for me is XPORT which'll connect em together by finding the Bluetooth port and allowing you to reassign it a lower Port that XP will allow to OpenCPN.

A harder fix is in Device manager....where all the doofunnies and their ports can be seen.You CAN reassign the port a lower number by tunneling into all the options(properties,advanced...you know)but you may have to reassign something else first to make it free.And of course you need know which of the many ports bluetooth is using is the nmea one.-Usually,it's a serial port?By the way,the bluetooth need be plugged in before doing this but I belabour the obvious,because that's what I miss,in hindsight!

Maybe,too,while you are in there,on the "Properties"page see if the thing is communicating at BitsPerSecond 4800.It might help it might not.

I have too many other ideas but these are the first that pop up.

[ON3CHD]

Good evening,
You are perfectly right and that is why I clean about every week the unused port com via my device manager ...
In this case the port com used , and once again you are right, is a serial port to which number 5 has been allocated and which I have set up at 4800 bds.
I confirm that all is OK via Hyperterminal but that the problem is that CPN does not recognize the port com 5 in its dropdown list.
Any other suggestion?
Thanks anyway.
Cheers.
ON3CHD

[s/v Jedi]

I'm pretty sure the problem is with the BT drivers. I have a BT mux from ShipModul and never got it to work until I tried it with my MacBook. It has a Broadcom chipset which I tried before but with a driver from Apple and it worked immediately.

I got the other drivers working by putting Franson tools in between in a way described by a previous post in this thread.

cheers,
Nick.

[HappySeagull]

Did this setup ever work for any navigation program?Does it still work for them now?
Do you need the MUX because you have AIS?

Have you tried Xport yet?it's a good freeware but I don't know if it'll handle AIS too.
XPort for info and the download link.It actually runs as a self-contained application so you can just delete it's folder if it's no use.


If OpenCPN doesn't see Port 5 and Hyperterminal does,I wonder if You could reinstall the Bluetooth driver to your laptop because you mentioned "cleaning" the ports and that makes me makes me nervous....Did you already change the port number?

I see from looking at a Brookhouse Multiplexer that the inputs are as wires A/B etc and output options are RS232 as well as RS422.You could hook up a plain vanilla 9 pin comport jack to the TXconnections (they'd be GRND pin 5 and Data pin 3) and plug that into the laptop instead of the bluetooth to test the gps and OpenCPN via drop down "Com1"....

[cagney]

Originally Posted by ON3CHD

Good evening,
You are perfectly right and that is why I clean about every week the unused port com via my device manager ...
In this case the port com used , and once again you are right, is a serial port to which number 5 has been allocated and which I have set up at 4800 bds.
I confirm that all is OK via Hyperterminal but that the problem is that CPN does not recognize the port com 5 in its dropdown list.
Any other suggestion?
Thanks anyway.
Cheers.
ON3CHD

Before digging deeper try this from the Manual Toolbox Settings | Official OpenCPN Homepage

NMEA Data Source: Set the source for your GPS connection. Note that you can write in this field. For example to get "Gippy" to work with OpenCPN, this is where you write the path to the virtual GPS created by Gippy. Similar, if you know that the GPS is on COM3, but this port does not show up in the list, just write "COM3" in the field.]

Thomas

[ON3CHD]

Hi. Thanks. i should have said that I had tried.Cheers.

[ON3CHD]

[QUOTE=HappySeagull;622090]Did this setup ever work for any navigation program? Not tried yet Does it still work for them now?
Do you need the MUX because you have AIS? Yes

Have you tried Not yet. NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHY I SHOULD HAVE IT. Xport yet?it's a good freeware but I don't know if it'll handle AIS too.
XPort for info and the download link.It actually runs as a self-contained application so you can just delete it's folder if it's no use.


If OpenCPN doesn't see Port 5 and Hyperterminal does,I wonder if You could reinstall the Bluetooth driver Already done a few times to your laptop because you mentioned "cleaning" the ports and that makes me makes me nervous....Maybe this can be of interest...How to remove unused drivers from Windows XP - Tech Support Forums - TechIMO.com Did you already change the port number?

I see from looking at a Brookhouse Multiplexer that the inputs are as wires A/B etc and output options are RS232 as well as RS422.You could hook up a plain vanilla 9 pin comport jack to the TXconnections (they'd be GRND pin 5 and Data pin 3) and plug that into the laptop instead of the bluetooth to test the gps It works fine and even BT via Hyperterminal on the PC I also try to run OpenCPN and OpenCPN via drop down "Com1"....Done with COM6 to which it is connested when reinstalled.[/QUOTE]

Thanks anyway fyh.
Cheers.

[HappySeagull]

Ok,well you know how it is-one question brings another until we can get the right question!
I suggested xport as one of several Port handlers.It's particularly navigational.There's also VSPE.(free).Not so navigational but might work better.More "Hyperterminally"?These two I have used have done no harm whatsoever.

[ON3CHD]

Hi.
Thanks to all for your patience and advices.
Problem is solved.
Have installed OpenCPN on an old Toshiba PC ( s/v Jedi might be right...thanks again) and if in Toolbox/GPS the port com used was not named I did introduce it as per user manual here above already mentioned by cagney(thanks again).
What a dream! I now have a laptop free of cable repeating the info I wish on deck for single handed anchoring by night in unknown places.
Happy season to all of you.
Cheers.
ON3CHD