GPS puck for MAC

[Paramotorgreg]

Hi All,
I am just about to leave Cartagena in Colombia for Panama and whilst in Panama i plan to spend a few weeks in the San Blas Islands. I have been using Navionics successfully until now but I have been in formed that it is useless in the San Blass and I will need OpenCPN for safety.

I have downloaded OpenCPN and the relevant charts on to my Mac which is running MacOS Big Sur Version 11.6. Various sources have recommended that the GlobalSat BU-353S4 puck is good with Macs and OpenCPN, but now that I have bought one I have discovered that there are no drivers after MacOS Catalina Version 10.15 so I cannot use this device.

Can anyone recommend for me a GPS puck with a USB connection that will work with a Mac and the latest operating system on OpenCPN? I’m sure I can’t be the only one with this problem and such a thing must exist but I haven’t been able to find it. Any help gratefully received, thank you.

[pnw2022]

I also have that older unit and it does not work with newer MacOS so kinda in the same situation. I do have GPS off the boat navigation via WiFi but still like having the USB dongle around for a backup.

Just googling around, I did find the place below and actually a bluetooth connection might be better overall anyway.

https://gpswebshop.com/collections/macos-compatible-gps


Oh - I think (can not recall for sure) that it is the usb<=>serial driver that is used on a lot of the GPS dongles that causes the problems with newer MacOS?
- Prolific PL2302 USB interface

[akopac]

I have a nmea network with an AIS, autopilot, and a nmea/usb adapter that goes to a Raspberry Pi 4. The Pi is my boat wifi hotspot and navigation computer. All of the nmea (Gps off AIS, rudder position, speed, compass,… is broadcast over the Pi’s wifi access point 24/7 for any device apps, and navigation devices. Opencpn uses the WiFi networked streaming data on any pc, Mac, or android devices onboard. I screen share the pi a lot with opencpn overlayed with AIS and radar. I’m pretty happy with it..
I do have a couple spare $15 eBay GPS/USB dongles too.

[karle]

Originally Posted by Paramotorgreg

Hi All,
I am just about to leave Cartagena in Colombia for Panama and whilst in Panama i plan to spend a few weeks in the San Blas Islands. I have been using Navionics successfully until now but I have been in formed that it is useless in the San Blass and I will need OpenCPN for safety.

I have downloaded OpenCPN and the relevant charts on to my Mac which is running MacOS Big Sur Version 11.6. Various sources have recommended that the GlobalSat BU-353S4 puck is good with Macs and OpenCPN, but now that I have bought one I have discovered that there are no drivers after MacOS Catalina Version 10.15 so I cannot use this device.

Can anyone recommend for me a GPS puck with a USB connection that will work with a Mac and the latest operating system on OpenCPN? I’m sure I can’t be the only one with this problem and such a thing must exist but I haven’t been able to find it. Any help gratefully received, thank you.

Any uBlox USB GPS receiver would work. If you have one of those Mac models with only USB-C ports, then you would also need an equivalent converter to plug it in.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

I have a Bad Elf that I have been using with an old iPad Air - gen 2 - for about 5 years now. Works fine

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by Smokeys Kitchen

I have a Bad Elf that I have been using with an old iPad Air - gen 2 - for about 5 years now. Works fine

Bad elf, use it too.
Important is you have minimum a 10Hz GPS, less the position is wrong….
And 3 or 5m wrong sometimes is difference run aground or not

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by karle

Any uBlox USB GPS receiver would work. If you have one of those Mac models with only USB-C ports, then you would also need an equivalent converter to plug it in.

Yes would highly recommend uBlox based solutions. Excellent receivers

[pnw2022]

I just came across the old Prolific GPS puck that needs the Prolific USB<=>Serial driver.

On a lark, I plugged it into a newer MacBookPro M1 (arm not intel). It registered just fine, and I was able to connect it to OpenCPN via: /dev/cu.usbserial-10 at 4800 baud and I am receiving NMEA0183 data.

To find the device, I just did an 'ls /dev' on the command line looking for 'serial'.

So, on an earlier post I made where I thought support for this was completely blocked on newer MacBooks, I guess I was wrong.

I used a little thumb-sized USB-C<=>USB-A adapter to plug it into the laptop.

[sailalibi]

Hi all, My Mac 12.6.6 works well with the bu-353s4 puc! Its just difficult to get opencpn to get the connection to the USB port right.

[CaptainRivet]

For mac bad elf is best choice,it is the only certified GPS puck by apple and simply works out of box for all apple products especially Ipad Pro's.
Other may work too but need a lot fiddeling with drivers,ports and every new app or software brings up a new challenge to get it back up and running. For all pad users i can highly recommend to install the garmin pilot app as this also installs a lot drivers and let you choose which GPS source ia used for the IPad because having driver and puck communicating doesn't automatically mean the apps are using the puck...

My experience with garmin glo/2 on MacAirs,Ipads incl. Pro plus iphone and since bad elf puck no issue at all.