GPS USB thingy

[iangrant]

Having spent vast amounts of money on 12V Garmin GPS Power/data leads. I've just found and bought one of these:
USB GPS

Hope it works!!

Ian

 

[PhilF]

would be interested in feedback, PhilF

 

[Talbot]

I bought one of those from Hong Kong at half the price from ebay and have been very pleased with its performance in the car as well as at sea

 

[moodycruiser]

I bought one a few months back and checked it on the move and at anchor - it was spot on the nose when anchored in Newtown river and seemd ok when under way. beauty is you can also use it in MS autoroute and a host of other applications on laptop. Needs to be mounted outside 'though to get good reception, and beware the magnet on the underside !

 

[iangrant]

Just seen the same thing on Ebay 20 quid cheaper

Typical

Ian

 

[duke]

I know I'm going to regret this - but why beware the magnet on the underneath?

Duke

 

[CharlesM]

might damage the magnetic storage media of your computer - certainly floppies (or stiffies as we seth efricans call them).

Dont know if it would be strong enough to damage your hard drive though..

Charles

 

[BlueChip]

[ QUOTE ]
might damage the magnetic storage media of your computer - certainly floppies (or stiffies as we seth efricans call them).

Dont know if it would be strong enough to damage your hard drive though..

Charles

[/ QUOTE ]

I needed to erase a whole load of floppies for disposal. I found it completely impossible to erase a floppy disk using a permanent magnet - even with my seasearcher magnet which will lift 30Kg. Try it sometime you will see what I mean. I think it needs an ac signal

 

[Oldhand]

A possible disadvantage I can see from the specs is it only operates on WGS 84 datum. There would be a considerable offset of position in relation to UK Ordinance Survey mapping done on OSGB36.

 

[Avocet]

Got a similar thing a while back on Ebay for about £40 and manages to make up a lead to interface it with my DSC radio. Seems to work fine and I can use it on the laptop in the car too.

 

[PhilF]

just got one for £29 on ebay, will report back if it ever arrives

 

[iangrant]

Happy to report that it arrived and is in and working!!!
#

Ian

 

[davidfox]

Just bought the ebay version, does yours work down below?

 

[iangrant]

not sure yet, I've not tried it onboard. Works in the car port..

Ian

 

[PhilF]

i'm getting a device not present message
device manager says its on com 21
any ideas
Philf

 

[Allanrichard]

Have just bought the USB one on Ebay form Hong Kong and it works brilliantly on laptop with Autoroute in the car. Does anyone have any ideas re marine charts for pc ?

 

[Guest]

ANY GPS that outputs to a PC

Any GPS that has NMEA / Garmin protocol will fir up to Autoroute / Mapping prog on a PC ..... you don't have to have the USB mouse type ..... I get along fine with my little eTrex ... and also have the display on the gps available in cockpit - while pc is chugging away down below !

 

[Guest]

Magnetics ...

Can erase :

Music cassettes
Video Cassettes
Floppy disks
Credit Card strips
to name a few

Will displace / affect :
Compasses
Some autohelms
Some Radios


Basically magnetic objects - I restrict on board and also at home - I have too many items laying around that a stray hand with a magnet could play havoc with ....

A pet hate ... is the habit of some who insist on putting cassettes on top of speaker cabinets ........

 

[iangrant]

Go to my computer right click properties - device manager and advanced tab- you can change com port there to one that the nav system will list,

Mine is on com 7
Ian

 

[PhilF]

its interesting, my charting software is recognising the gps and finding a position, but the GPS software GPS info, is still "device not found", works fine on my laptop with 98, must be an XP issue