GPS/Driver problem?

[Hydrozoan]

I have a Globalsat BU-353S4 GPS ‘puck’ for the laptop, having changed about 3 years ago from the BU-353 which would not work with Windows10.

I now find that the BU-353S4 in its turn does not seem now to function properly with Windows10 and my Seatrack/ID10 Imray-based electronic charts from Meridian Chartware. Curiously, the chart package seems to pick up the GPS signal initially, but does not update it, and the relevant com port does not come up on the ID10 Comms setup, and only a couple of the NMEA sentences can be seen.

(An old GPS test program does work with the BU-353S4, and shows the NMEA sentences scrolling through as normal – and when that is running, the BU-353S4 is unavailable to the ID10 package as I would expect.)

The technical gentleman at Meridian is not available at present, but they tell me that the Norcom Navistick they sell should be fine with W10 and ID10. I do not doubt that, but I see that it is a SIRF III GPS receiver which is in those terms one step back from the BU-353S4, I believe - and moreover, it like the BU-353S4 is also a USB2.0 not a USB3.0 device.

So before I try the Navistick I thought I would ask here if anybody can help with the BU-353S4. I think it may be an issue that it has no specific W10 driver but I’m not sure of that and it’s all very confusing (to me, at any rate).

 

[RobbieW]

Try changing the port speed, I've had pucks that worked at 9600 rather than 4800. Do this in the config for the comm port in W10

 

[Hydrozoan]

Try changing the port speed, I've had pucks that worked at 9600 rather than 4800. Do this in the config for the comm port in W10

Thanks, but yes, I've checked that and it works at 4800 as confirmed by the GPS test software - and the W10 Control Panel confirmed that the Prolific USB-to Serial Comm Port is ‘working properly’ (at 4800).

However, prompted to check that yet again by your post I went further down and followed the ‘update the driver’ option and will see if that makes a difference.

 

[Hydrozoan]

… prompted to check that yet again by your post I went further down and followed the ‘update the driver’ option and will see if that makes a difference.

Bingo (I hope). Going to ‘Hardware’ for the device in Control Panel and clicking on the device name (‘Prolific USB-to Serial Comm Port’) and then on the ‘Driver’ tab brought up the Update Driver option and that seems to have got the NMEA sentences flowing in the Seatrak/ID10 package.

Apart from any natural stupidity on my part, I think that when on the boat I found that it had received but was not updating the GPS position, I was confused by the Control Panel ‘Hardware’ ‘Device Status’ report saying that ‘This device is working properly’!

That’s my excuse anyway.

PS And I did not have an Internet connection to update a driver, too!