NASA PC Navtex RS232 to Bluetooth/Wifi anyone got a ready made solution?

[Foz]

All,

This may have been covered - if so would appreciate being directed to the proper thread thread…

I have a NASA PC Navtex which has an RS232 output which did connect to my nav laptop. However, it, the laptop, being windows 7(!!) has now died, leaving me without my Navtex. It also left me without AIS but I fixed that with a Digital Yacht WiFi output hooked into my iPad with the overlay onto Navionics charts and in addition into my Garmin GPS map as an AIS overlay - all good.

Is it possible to connect the Navtex RS232 output to a Bluetooth/wifi device to transmit data and use the NASA Android app on my phone or the iPad to somehow read the text file or is there another solution?

Bit reluctant just to write off my PC Navtex box, without seeing if I can resolve the connectivity?

Many thanks

 

[ShinyShoe]

You can certainly get RS232 to Wi-fi devices.

The NASA app I can't say. But I expect someone will have cracked the Comms from the RS232, so in it's simplest form you'd be able to connect via WiFi to a terminal and get / receive some text content that either will be plain text readable or with some ingenuity readable...

 

[Refueler]

The NASA PC Navtex usually comes with an adaptor lead that takes the RS232 and converts to USB .. (all based on 232 ...anyway) ...
If not in the box - plenty of Belkin and other brand adaptors out there.

There are plenty of units that accept USB and then broadcast as WiFi .... the NMEA4WiFi as example for 50 euros does exactly that as well as combining 3 other NMEA streams etc.

Nmea4Wifi - Introduction

 

[Foz]

So, is the RS232 output from the NASA Navtex engine NMEA, ASCII or a NASA proprietary output? Noting there was a cd to install software on the laptop?

 

[laika]

So, is the RS232 output from the NASA Navtex engine NMEA, ASCII or a NASA proprietary output?

It ain’t NMEA. With the disclaimer that I know nothing about this I’ll guess it’s the demodulated serial protocol described under “message format” here: NAVTEX - Wikipedia, (possibly with some proprietary stuff added?). It shouldn’t matter though if you’re taking the simple route with a serial to usb converter. That should give you a com port you treat like you did your old serial interface