Using PC's with USB ports

[boatmike]

Using PC\'s with USB ports

For all those who followed my rants regarding Garmin at the boat show many thanks. All of your comments helped greatly. For those experiencing problems still ( someone said it was very common) I believe I have got to the bottom of the problem (luckily my son is a computer engineer) So here is what I have found:

The original problem was that the Garmin bought at the show worked OK giving GPS information through a serial port but not a USB port and that the Garmin converter (£45) didn't work. Garmin said this was a Microsoft problem, which others on the forum appeared to be convinced of too. It isn't. Here is what I have found out. Please bear in mind I am not too computer literate in the first place.

There are two types of USB port. Series 1 and series 2. Most new computers will have series 2.
USB's are NOT just a different type of plughole. The "protocol" of connection to the computer is different. Morover the mark 1 is marginally different to the mark 2 but this may not be important. You therefore need a software driver (CD disk) supplied with the adaptor to make it work and this is where the problem lies.
Without getting into technicalities (which I don't understand anyway) you need a driver that recognises USB2 and is specific to your windows programme. The Garmin only recognises USB1 and is written for Win 98 and 2000. NOT NT or XP. It actually states this in the instructions but Garmin UK say this is not true and it will work with XP. It doesn't. All the messing around changing lines of programme and disabling ports in your software is unnecessary. All you need is an up to date driver that is written for windows XP and USB2 ports. I bought one from WWW.time computers.com product code 0338-130-00015. £11.50 plus postage.
Plug it in, run the driver disk and it works perfectly.
The Maplin one is out of date and not strictly compatible with Windows XP either but it's better than the Garmin one. The Garmin one can be made to work with an early version of NT or XP and a USB 1 by changing lines of programming as some have suggested. Later versions of XP or USB2 ports won't work even if you do this
as next time you unplug and replug it will revert to where it started.

No marks at all to Garmin UK then who should know better. Only half marks to Maplins.
Full marks to Time computers, and everyone who contributed on the Forum
Hope this helps those still floundering as I was!


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[DanTribe]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Thanks very much for that. Your post is printed off and I will take it with me to the shop.
So it's not just me then! Everbody I've asked has given a different opinion. The guy at Garmins stand seemed to have his answer ready verbatim, so he must have been fed up with people asking. Makes me wonder why they can't get it sorted.
Dan

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[boatmike]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Damn right Dan! What peed me off in the first place was their insistance that their product was quote "guaranteed to work" and "a lot of development had gone in to it" "Thats why it is more expensive" Then Garmin technical department on the phone insisting it was a Microsoft problem. Blatent b******t !! Rant justified I think!!!

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[Talbot]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Still far too much like hard work, when you can just plug a USB GPS mouse into the laptop and have everything you want without fuss.

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[boatmike]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Just so. If that's all you want. And I grant you it's cheaper.
It's not all I want though. I want to still know where I am if my computer (the weak link I would suggest) decides to go on the blink. I also want a good strong signal not a marginal one which I can only get from a proper waterproof rail mounted marine quality antenna and want WAAS accuracy when it becomes available shortly. You get what you pay for..... Both choices are valid for different reasons surely?
As far as ease of installation is concerned, thats just the point I am making. The correct equipment is indeed plug in and go. Its just Garmin's bad advice that makes it difficult!

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[Talbot]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

All true if the laptop is your prime tool. However, My main use of the laptop is as a planning tool, for which the signal is more than sufficient. It certainly has proven very resilient in the car!

I also have a decent plotter at the helm (navman 5500) and a secondary hand held GPS that I could link in through a serial link if I could be bothered. If all else fails, its back to horizontal sextant angles etc.

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[boatmike]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Fine, well then you don't have a problerm do you?????

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[Moose]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Drfiting off slightly, the WAAS thinghy was working last week because we went all the way through Chichester Harbour with a 3 to 9 foot error on the GPS and all the WAAS fix messages popping up. V. Impressive but do we need this level of accuracy?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.phantom37.co.uk>http://www.phantom37.co.uk</A>
Moose

 

[boatmike]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Actually I think there are still some satellites to go to complete the set and the accuracy is not yet at it's maximum globally but I am not sure. So far, the existing GPS that I have driving the old chart plotter seems to be accurate enough but I can only interrogate the signal strength not accuracy so I don't know how accurate the position actually is. I do know that a lot of the time it only picks up 3-4 satellites. When I have both running (belt and braces) I can compare both. With the Garmin on WAAS I get told the position accuracy. Do I NEED it? Probably not. All a bit academic really as I don't sail with my eyes shut. But then I am old enough to remember when I bought my first Decca. I didn't NEED that either but it wern't half nice to have! As I am still running with it set up at home all I really know is that I get a positional accuracy of 18ft in my back garden on 6 sats but if I bring the antenna into my conservatory it is down to 3 sats and 150ft. I think thats about the accuracy you would get if you had a GPS mouse inside the boat most of the time but I can't say for sure as I haven't tried one.....
In any case. "He who dies with the most toys wins!"


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[Birdseye]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

boatmike

I dont have the skills that your son has, but I still wonder if there is more to the problem than just the issue of usb 1 and 2. For a start, Microsoft themselves recognise the issue of XP seeing an NMEA signal as a serial mouse, and they have issued a patch (the comdisable tool) to stop XP doing this. This tool may well be incorporated in your new driver, but it doesnt seem to be in my Prolific software driver even though the latter is for XP and not for 98.

Have your problems stopped altogether? Can you connect in any sequence? No probs with the cursor moving of its own accord all over the screen?

And do all chart plotter programs recognise your NMEA signal? I have a gps utlilty, the UKHO programme and trial versions of some others all of which recognise the NMEA on the lappy under XP. But I have another chart plotter which works faultlessly under 98 but is intermittent recognising the NMEA under XP

Exasperating (?)

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.

 

[boatmike]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

Yes my problems have gone completely and I can either leave the USB connected, and switch computer on or off or disconnect and reconnect while its on. It is wise (I am told) to avoid plugging in to the port until the chartplotter software is running but even this seems to work OK now. My software is WinChart. I have not tried anything else, but obviously whatever you do use must be entirely XP compatable too if thats the opsys you are using.

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[Talbot]

Re: Using PC\'s with USB ports

My plotter has 12 channels, and uses all of them despite having the aerial inside the wheelhouse. My secondary gps is veryold (1994) and only has 6 channels, but that is the number of satellites it is seeing again with the aerial under the wheelhouse. neither work inside the house, so GRP seems to allow the transition of the signal whereas brick doesnt. My USB mouse has 8 channels and in the country has no problem while stuck on the inside of either the front or rear window of the car. In town I occasionally get loss of signal in narrow streets, but I would expect that!

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