External GPS for Android Tablet

[WalshamUK]

I have an Android tablet (Android 4.4 Kitkat) to which I want to add an external GPS coupled to the tablet via a USB cable. External GPS is required as I want to mount the tablet well below decks where there is no GPS signal. There is no internal GPS within the tablet. The main usage will be Navionics navigation software.

Does anybody have any experience of hooking up an external GPS via USB?

Any recommendations as to which GPS hardware to try? Cheap would be good.

Keith J.

 

[mjcoon]

I have an Android tablet (Android 4.4 Kitkat) to which I want to add an external GPS coupled to the tablet via a USB cable. External GPS is required as I want to mount the tablet well below decks where there is no GPS signal. There is no internal GPS within the tablet. The main usage will be Navionics navigation software.

Does anybody have any experience of hooking up an external GPS via USB?

Any recommendations as to which GPS hardware to try? Cheap would be good.

Keith J.

Connecting via USB (needs USB-host or USB OTG) can be tricky. How about Bluetooth? GPS usually goes through decks OK; are yours steel?

Have you searched Google Play for apps?

Mike.

 

[Sandy]

I've plugged my Garmin Handheld into my PC using USB and it worked well. What application do you use on your table.

 

[mjcoon]

I've plugged my Garmin Handheld into my PC using USB and it worked well. What application do you use on your table.

The USB on a PC will always be USB Host! And there's likely to be a better repertoire of drivers for different device classes...

Mike.

 

[DaveRo]

There's a app 'you are here gps' which enables gps over usb/otg. It works with 'some devices' - which is typical for otg.
Bluetooth would be a better bet imo.

 

[WalshamUK]

I have an Android tablet (Android 4.4 Kitkat) to which I want to add an external GPS coupled to the tablet via a USB cable. External GPS is required as I want to mount the tablet well below decks where there is no GPS signal. There is no internal GPS within the tablet. The main usage will be Navionics navigation software.

Does anybody have any experience of hooking up an external GPS via USB?

Any recommendations as to which GPS hardware to try? Cheap would be good.

Keith J.

I hadn't thought of using Bluetooth. Perhaps a good idea. Do you have any experience of using hardware that will acquire GPS signals and pass them on via Bluetooth?

As fpr apps, I'm still at the stage of figuring out what GPS hardware to use.

 

[WalshamUK]

I've plugged my Garmin Handheld into my PC using USB and it worked well. What application do you use on your table.

Navionics navigation software.

 

[WalshamUK]

There's a app 'you are here gps' which enables gps over usb/otg. It works with 'some devices' - which is typical for otg.
Bluetooth would be a better bet imo.

What's OTG?

 

[PetiteFleur]

Before I got my android tablet with gps inside, I used a netbook with a usb gps attached, no idea of the make but it worked fine below deck(grp), Got off ebay.

 

[Ravi]

Any recommendations as to which GPS hardware to try? Cheap would be good.

Keith J.

I bought one to use with my laptop. (Probably, like most of my purchases, from a forum recommendation.) It is just for a backup to my backup GPS so, all I wanted was Lat and Long and the free software (GPSinfo) gives me that. You will need to check if it is compatible with your OS and software.
This looks like the device that I have .....
http://www.globalsat.com.tw/products-page.php?menu=4&gs_en_product_id=2&gs_en_product_cnt_id=76

 

[Boreades]

OTG = a slightly different type of USB connection, preferred by Android devices and Apple iToys.

Search Amazon for OTG adaptor, c.£2

Whereas you can plug something like an FDDI GPS mouse with a USB cable directly into a Windows laptop, you might the OTG USB to connect, then you need the right software.

 

[mjcoon]

What's OTG?

It stands for the (very unhelpful) phrase "On The Go". What it means is that if you plug a special OTG cable into a micro-USB socket, the other end of the cable has a full-size USB socket which acts a bit like a USB host. At the very least you should be able to plug devices like memory sticks or USB keyboards into it, if the tablet supports OTG. Plugging other devices, like GPS receivers, may need special software on the tablet. For instance, I can plug my DSLR into my Hudl.

Mike.

 

[mjcoon]

I hadn't thought of using Bluetooth. Perhaps a good idea. Do you have any experience of using hardware that will acquire GPS signals and pass them on via Bluetooth?

I have certainly been trying! But without much success. Reason is just that my Hudl tablet has a rather poor GPS but my (Android) smartphone is much better. I was hoping to hold the phone to an aircraft window and watch progress on tablet. But of course that requires an airline that allows such things!

Part of the problem is that Google Play apps that do GPS & BT are poor at describing whether they "suck" or "blow" data!

Either using USB or BT you need a tablet app that uses a special Android mechanism that passes the GPS data in so that it get be read by your Navionics.

Mike.

 

[Pete R]

For instance, I can plug my DSLR into my Hudl.

Mike.

Did you need an app for that?

 

[DaveRo]

OP: Does your tablet have a power socket separate from the usb port? If not, and if the usb gps device is not powered, then you might have a problem using usb.

I use an sd card reader occasionally with my Nexus 7. It's extremely flakey - sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. I've had photo cards corrupted too. On forums like xda developers people often report the same. Some blame cheap otg cables, but I bought one recommended there. I've found that it works better when the tablet is fully charged. I think my card reader requires more power/voltage than the the tablet can reliably provide. This is only a guess BTW, but since then I've only used it when fully charged and had fewer (not no) problems. The card reader was very cheap, and may be off-spec.

So you might need to keep the tablet plugged in. It might be possible to run it through a powered usb hub - don't know if that works with otg. I can envisage a 'powered otg cable' too - maybe that exists.

 

[mjcoon]

Did you need an app for that?

Yes (that is really the point I am making!): "DslrDashboard" = https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dslr.dashboard

Mike.

 

[lw395]

OP: Does your tablet have a power socket separate from the usb port? If not, and if the usb gps device is not powered, then you might have a problem using usb.

I use an sd card reader occasionally with my Nexus 7. It's extremely flakey - sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. I've had photo cards corrupted too. On forums like xda developers people often report the same. Some blame cheap otg cables, but I bought one recommended there. I've found that it works better when the tablet is fully charged. I think my card reader requires more power/voltage than the the tablet can reliably provide. This is only a guess BTW, but since then I've only used it when fully charged and had fewer (not no) problems. The card reader was very cheap, and may be off-spec.

So you might need to keep the tablet plugged in. It might be possible to run it through a powered usb hub - don't know if that works with otg. I can envisage a 'powered otg cable' too - maybe that exists.

GPS often has a very 'lumpy' current draw.
It sits there using very little power, then has a burst of activity a few times a second.
This might not go well with portable devices.
I've considered using an external USB GPS with my hudl, with 5V supplied from outside.
I have not got a definitive answer whether this should work, or what apps I might need.
Apparently it can be done, but you might or might not need to 'root' the Android installation, which seems to be anorak for load a new version of it which hasn't been mucked up by the hardware manufacturer etc.

 

[DaveRo]

Apparently it can be done, but you might or might not need to 'root' the Android installation, which seems to be anorak for load a new version of it which hasn't been mucked up by the hardware manufacturer etc.

At its simplest it means you change the existing installation to bypass the standard access permissions enforced by Android on ordinary apps. So you can access the whole filesystem (much of it normally invisible) and add apps that access the hardware in non-standard ways (like 'stickmount' which will mount a usb memory stick). The main disadvantage is that automatic updates (OTA) fail, so you have to load new versions of Android yourself - or stay on an old version.

 

[PhillM]

I borght a Bad Elf for my ipad. Apparently it can be used with Android, but you need an ipad to configure it.

http://bad-elf.com/pages/support-gps-faq

 

[lw395]

I borght a Bad Elf for my ipad. Apparently it can be used with Android, but you need an ipad to configure it.

http://bad-elf.com/pages/support-gps-faq

Almost got to have one for the name.
But expensive?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dpower-Wireless-Bluetooth-Transceiver-Backplane/dp/B00M0G6HGI/ref=sr_1_1?
I wonder about using one of these:
ie=UTF8&qid=1417787549&sr=8-1&keywords=rs232+Bluetooth
(It's under £4 for a rs232 to Harold Bluetooth adaptor)
to hose data from a Magellan GPS?
Or any of the other GPS I already have..