GPS prob and Laptop

[PhilF]

I got one of those mouse type GPS usb.
Running XP and Maptech software
Setting at nmea 4800, ports match, flow control, none, Coms 3 or 4 normally
Correct position is found on chart (home) and then after about 1 minute time outs and says cannot open coms port and loses position
That is after is must have found the coms port to find the correct position on the map.
Any Ideas welcomed,
Thanks
Philf

 

[steverow]

Um...tricky Phil,
Obviously as it works for a bit then there's probably not a lot wrong with the initial
setup ie Comx, 4k8, 8 N 1 etc etc.
This could be something to do with the version of NMEA that the GPS map is sending.
Not familiar with the exact software but it could be that your plotter is looking for NMEA 0183 v 1.5 and you are feeding it version2.0. or NMEA 2000
Exactly the same happens on Cmap ECS if you do this.
My etrex will not work with c-map but works with seaclear,whereas the Garmin 235 works OK with both provided you change the settings.
Have a look at that first see if it can reconfigured in the GPS doobery software.

Other than that you could either have a faulty GPS thing, or more nastily a faulty chip on the motherboard that feeds the USB port...but dont see that very often.

Hows the Guitaring.?..Ive given up being in a band now...too old to rock and roll..
not flogging me axes though.

Hope this helps

Steve.

 

[steverow]

More thoughts,
Have a look at the data stream coming off the GPS in an emulator such as hyperterminal, save it as a file...(only need a few seconds worth) and send it to me.
Let me know what version of Maptech you are using.

Steve.

 

[PhilF]

gps is feeding version 2.2nmea 0183 , guitars are great have a hankering for a 50th aniv strat
ta
Phil

 

[steverow]

It's possible this is the problem.
How old is your Maptech? Can you check which version of NMEA it needs in the manual?
Another way of telling would be to download Seaclear, free at www.sping.com and see if it works with that. The kap files in your charts should be compatible, although it doesnt really matter, you just need to know whether it will maintain position, which you can do on the world basemap supplied with it.
If it doesnt then you probably have another problem, but it's worth eliminating the NMEA issue first.

I used to own a silver 25th anniversary strat in the late 70's. Sold it to get a Washburn Falcon of all things, which was a disaster as it used to break 1st 10 guage strings, regularly about 3 times a night.
Still we do these silly things when we're young..Wished I still had the 25 strat.

Steve.

 

[henkm]

This might not be it, but have you read:
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php?C...true#Post655549
?
h

 

[steverow]

No, dont think it's relevant.
AFAIK it's just a straightforward USB device with no serial convertor which XP should have picked up. Maybe Phil will enlighten?
There are several known probs with these, such as mouse prob.
All can be overcome.
Anyway Worth a try.

Steve.

 

[steverow]

Re: Even more thoughts.

Phil,

Ive got my CPC cataologue out and been looking at the specs of these USB GPS Modules. There are several in there, and the NMEA sentences they send seem to vary.
It would be worth you looking at the output via hyperterminal to establish which tokens are being sent.

Steve.

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

i will do hyperterminal tonight and will check and sea if it works with Maxsea tomorrow on the Boat.
It is a USB connection, not a serial port converter, I have one of those with the garmin 12, works fine but too many wires!

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

$GPGGA,180308.529,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*50

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180308.529,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*03

$GPGGA,180309.529,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*51

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPGSV,3,1,09,20,70,068,00,23,56,174,00,24,54,296,00,07,40,255,00*72

$GPGSV,3,2,09,11,30,140,00,13,29,197,00,04,27,301,00,01,24,046,00*77

$GPGSV,3,3,09,25,23,058,00*4B

$GPRMC,180309.529,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*02

$GPGGA,180310.529,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*59

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180310.529,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0A

$GPGGA,180311.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*59

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180311.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0A

$GPGGA,180312.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5A

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180312.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*09

$GPGGA,180313.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5B

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180313.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*08

$GPGGA,180314.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5C

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPGSV,3,1,09,20,70,068,00,23,56,174,00,24,54,296,00,07,40,255,00*72

$GPGSV,3,2,09,11,30,140,00,13,29,197,00,04,27,301,00,01,24,046,00*77

$GPGSV,3,3,09,25,23,058,00*4B

$GPRMC,180314.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0F

$GPGGA,180315.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5D

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180315.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0E

$GPGGA,180316.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5E

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180316.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0D

$GPGGA,180317.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5F

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180317.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0C

$GPGGA,180318.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*50

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180318.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*03

$GPGGA,180319.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*51

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPGSV,3,1,09,20,70,068,00,23,56,174,00,24,54,296,00,07,40,255,00*72

$GPGSV,3,2,09,11,30,140,00,13,29,197,00,04,27,301,00,01,24,046,00*77

$GPGSV,3,3,09,25,23,058,00*4B

$GPRMC,180319.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*02

$GPGGA,180320.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5B

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180320.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*08

$GPGGA,180321.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*5A

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180321.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*09

$GPGGA,180322.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*59

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180322.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0A

$GPGGA,180323.528,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,0,00,50.0,129.9,M,47.0,M,0.0,0000*58

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,50.0,50.0,50.0*05

$GPRMC,180323.528,V,5137.3034,N,00011.6648,W,,,170205,,*0B
this is in sea clear, stops as well

 

[steverow]

Re: Even more thoughts.

OK Phil,

There's no GLL or RMB which is what I suspected from reading the CPC catalogue.
My guess is your maptech is configured to run on GLL/RMB/VTG none of which appear. In fact it looks like an incredibly pared down set of tokens.
I may be wrong and just a guess that it is initially taking the POS from RMC then having some sort of panic over the extra digits in 0183v 2.2
I reckon that this is more suitable for car navigation sytems.

Money back time??

Just as a double check, everything else....scanners...printers, etc etc work OK on your USB ports do they??

I'm just gonna get my NMEA data file out and double check this...back later ..



Steve.

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

came from Hong kong, via ebay, maybe work with ipac 2210 HP?

 

[steverow]

Re: Even more thoughts.

Yeah, possibly, depends on what mapping software U use on it.
Just compare the set of tokens you have with what's required.

Looked at my NMEA (0183 v2.0) specs, and seems it has nowhere near enough sentences to run most marine products.
The main missing bit is GLL (geographic latitude and longtitude), this can be compensated for by RMC, (Recommended minimum GPS/Transit data), but may only be active when a waypoint is active.
I suspect also that there is a digits issue here as well.
Did it come with any bundled software ie Autoroute, and does it work with this??

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Steve.

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

ah but it does the same thing with the GSP info program it came with, reads data for a bit and then stops, could it be an XP issue or a conflict in my PC, I dont think its a software issue, but then I know nothing about IT. The unit itself flashes on and off indicating that it is seeing satelites

 

[steverow]

Re: Even more thoughts.

Yes entirely possible,
although with XP one assumes it's plug and play so therfore all IRQ and similar port conflict isues should be resolved.

I think from here then, I would be tempted to try it on another computer first install it from fresh and see what happens.
I'm not the worlds greatest expert on XP, I still use 98 for most things as it's easier to work with...anyway I think you first need to eliminate any computer problem and verify the device itself.

Steve.

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

same on another XP laptop, thanks for trying, on boat now, loverly

 

[steverow]

Re: Even more thoughts.

OK Phil,
I think we've covered most possibilities.
Must be something to do with the device itself or it's driver software.
Dont get to my boat 'till tomorrow night,you lucky so and so.
Have a nice weekend.

Steve.

 

[BrendanS]

Re: Even more thoughts.

Phil
going to have a stab here, even though I think this one needs hands on. Deinstall any software that came with the USB GPS. Pull out the USB GPS. Reboot computer. Wait till it's up and running. Plug in GPS. XP should detect it. Go to Start. Control Panel. System. Hardware. Device Manager.
Then open all the '+' boxes.

Do any of the items listed have ! or ? or anything at all listed against them. Can you see where the USB GPS is listed. Probably under Univeral Serial Bus Controllers. If so, where is it, and what does it say. If you can find it, right click on it, and click on properites. What does it say under there, and what driver does it use.

Now start software and use it like normal. When device dies after a few minutes, do same as above, and record results.

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

Hi Brendan,
when its plugged in it appears under ports, no ! or ? usually coms 3 0r 4 no conflicts. It find the correct position here and in London and then just stops. If I unplug the usb gps it does not appear in the port in device manager. the driver is ser/2PL
it says usb to serial com on the port setting in device manager

 

[PhilF]

Re: Even more thoughts.

its a communication time out, any techies know what causes that,
PhilF