chartplotting with WIN XP

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tommojill

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Been trying to get a chartplotter to work on windows xp. Bought the cable for usb to 232 and loaded the driver. XP recognises the cable BUT still not getting a G.P.S reading. If any of you have any solutions or have had the same problem I would appreciate some help. I had it running on a old Laptop running windows 98
with a com port with no problem. This is beggining to drive me mad.!!!!!!!!
 
USB to Serial works on my home desktop PCB here, although on various Yahoogroup stuff people have had pobs getting a few of these to work on USB-Serials with XP.

Jim
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Is the GPS outputting RS232 or NMEA levels?

Technically these are not compatible - so an RS232 serial port does not have to recognise the NMEA levels, but most do.
 
Join our help group ... GPS nav

Started the group to answer specifically this sort of question .... also to help people get best from all sorts of software such as Ozi_explorer, Win GPS etc. etc.

Already we have a good group discussing making cables - connecting all sorts of Laptops and different GPS's etc...... join in - your experiences, troubles, solutions etc. are everyones meat ....

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Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !
 
Its a Bill Gate\'s Plot !!! forgive the pun !!

*

Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !
 
I'm using as laptop with only one USB port and a hub running Windows XP, I have a Keyspan USB to PDA adapter (just one comm port) and it woks fine with my Garmin handheld, not yet attached it to my fixed GPSt. I had to fiddle with a few settings though.
 
What USB to Serial Device, GPS and Software are you using?, if you have had it working in Win98 then it is more likely to be your USB to Serial device.
Have a look in your device manager go to 'Ports' (should be there if USB adapter is working) and make sure to Comm port is not being used by another device ie. modem, sounds basic but I had problems with a Bluetooth adapter.

My GPS is set to NMEA 0183 1.5 and 9600baud (9600 should be enough as there is not much data going from the GPS), make sure that the Comm port is set to the same baud rateas the GPS.

If you think it could be a problem with the Nav software then try downloading a GPS utility from the internet (go to versiontracker.com and search for GPS).

Try that for now, I'll keep my eye on the thread if you get any more problems.
 
It is a usb serial adaptor from a company called prolific. The G.P.S is a Lowrance Global Nav 200 and Software is Seapro and Neptune Chartplotter. Prolific usb to serial com port appears in device manager, in properties general the device is working properly but still no joy.
When I try to run the software making it compatible to windows 98 it still does'nt work. If you have any more ideas it would be very much appreciated. Look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks TOMMO
 
There is a piece of software called NMEA time on versiontracker.com, try seeing if that can see the GPS, or try seeing if another serial device will work on your comm port on WinXP so you can find out where the fault is.
 
Thomas,
Did what you suggested and seems we are not getting any read out from nmea time or visual GPSxp. It seems the GPS is putting out an output but the laptop is not receiving it. I will try again tomorrow if not Sunday. This is really starting to irritate me(especially my wife).
Will be back on forum Sunday as most of tomorrow doing a few jobs on the boat. If you can think of any reason why this problem is occuring I would be very interested to read your views. I think I should just use the new one to watch DVD on board. Thanks alot for your help Tommo
 
You'll need an update from Euronav to run the SeaPro on XP rather than Win98- from their website.
I'm not a computer buff and if I'm stating the obvious my apologies. Either way I have always found them helpful.
 
oie=operator induced error

no 1 cable? usb to serial?
set serial port to 9600, is it a garmin? set it to what ever is your gps.
have always found that the prob is down to serial port speed. try the different ones
stu
 
oops

engage brain before opening gob, chart plotter not gps, still same prob try different speeds to connect
stu
 
I'd start by proving the serial comms side.

Fire up Hyperterminal and explore connections on all ports (my USB/Serial adapter prsents as COM15). As others mention 9600,N,8,1 are the magic parameters.

If you cant see the NMEA stream in Hyperterm then you dont stand a cats chance of getting the Nav software running, and the problem may well lie with the serial cable from GPS to USB adapter.

If you can see it, then providing the Nav Software should work if you point it at the right port (My nav software auto scans and looks for NMEA data so I dont have to set anything up)
 
Just a quick line to thank you all for you ideas. We have got the system working AT LAST. Once we downloaded the update for Seapro it worked like magic. What an end to a perfect day. Thanks again I am very grateful. Tommo.
 
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