Nobeltec NO GPS, old XP laptop, no USB

[techguy]

Hello. Someone dropped off an old laptop today running Windows XP. He says his GPS is not showing in nobeltec. This is the first time I've seen this software. His laptop is soo old that it doesn't have any USB ports. He said the previous owner had it working for years on this laptop. I'm not sure how you would get a GPS signal without some sort of USB dongle. Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks.

[techguy]

Ok, I was wrong. There is ONE USB port on the back. Nothing in it.

[Ded reckoner]

I don't know if your computer supports Bluetooth, but my Bad Elf GPS connects that way with my TIMEZERO Navigator. It's running on Windows 10.

[techguy]

Thanks, ya it's a very old laptop. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work with Bluetooth.

[hugosalt]

I ran Nobeltec VNS on a XP years ago (dell laptop) connected to a Garmin handheld.
Was connected thru what I believe would be called a serial port??
(a trapezoid?? with a number of male/female prongs with a thumbscrew on each side)
Cable (from Garmin) connected to GPS, to computer.
Still have computer in basement and all Nobeltec discs which guess now worthless.
Side note...Above worked great until Nobeltec kindly helped me solve a minor problem
by taking remote control of computer and from then on Nobeltec and the GPS never talked to each other again.
Although now surely outdated, I did enjoy Nobeltec and think maybe still good for some
planning.
Hope this will help.

[HeywoodJ]

NMEA 0183 is older than XP. Ran Nobeltec for a very long time with a serial port (9-pin D-subminiature connecter as described above) for the GPS data. Still miss the built-in serial port on my computers, much easier than USB dongles.

Lots of GPS units out there still that output NMEA 0183, the physical layer is serial RS422. Many laptop ports, even though RS232, will accept that directly, or adapters are cheap. If it used to work I’d be looking around for the old GPS unit with a 9-pin connector hanging around at the Nav station or wherever the computer used to be situated.

[wholybee]

I hate to be "that guy" but throw that laptop in the trash. (or the e-waste collection pile)
You could probably make it work. As mentioned, NMEA0183 GPS units are still out there. Here is one(you will also need the interface cable):
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/517154

But I would rather a $150 laptop from Amazon then something between 14 and 21 years old.