PC/GPS interface
  
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PC/GPS interface

 
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BAD
Guest
Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:33 pm    Post subject: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is a Serial
Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port. You can buy USB to RS 232
cable converter from Garmin, but that costs $60. I can get the unit for
about $140, but the cable pushes the price up to $200!

Is there another fix or are there comparable GPS units that come with a USB
interface?

Thanks.

--
All emails scanned by Norton Anti-Virus 2005
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Dennis Pogson
Guest
Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:01 pm    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
BAD wrote:
Quote:
I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is a
Serial Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port. You can buy USB
to RS 232 cable converter from Garmin, but that costs $60. I can get
the unit for about $140, but the cable pushes the price up to $200!

Is there another fix or are there comparable GPS units that come with
a USB interface?

Thanks.

--
All emails scanned by Norton Anti-Virus 2005

Bought one on E-bay, brand-new, for $20. Make sure it works with your OS.

Dennis.

Satellite photocharts of the UK & Ireland
available, excellent detail and accurate
calibration using Oziexplorer.
Remove *nospam* to reply.
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Guest
Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:23 pm    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
There have been reports of some brands of USB to serial cables not
working for this purpose. Keyspan seems to be the brand of preference.
And no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way. You'll also have to
figure out the COM port by trial and error. Mine is COM5.

Rich Owings
www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com

"We were desert mystics, my friends and I, pouring over our maps as
others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey

Dennis Pogson wrote:
Quote:
BAD wrote:
I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is
a
Serial Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port. You can buy
USB
to RS 232 cable converter from Garmin, but that costs $60. I can
get
the unit for about $140, but the cable pushes the price up to $200!

Is there another fix or are there comparable GPS units that come
with
a USB interface?

Thanks.

--
All emails scanned by Norton Anti-Virus 2005

Bought one on E-bay, brand-new, for $20. Make sure it works with your
OS.

Dennis.

Satellite photocharts of the UK & Ireland
available, excellent detail and accurate
calibration using Oziexplorer.
Remove *nospam* to reply.
Back to top
Dennis Pogson
Guest
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:03 am    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
richo@mcn.org wrote:
Quote:
There have been reports of some brands of USB to serial cables not
working for this purpose. Keyspan seems to be the brand of preference.
And no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way. You'll also have to
figure out the COM port by trial and error. Mine is COM5.


So is mine, I guess Win XP figures out which number has not been allocated
and uses that. I had an earlier one that works on Win ME and 98, but Win XP
flatly refused to recognise it. Win XP, friend of the peripheral
manufacturers, will recognise just about anything except a GPS. Did our Bill
fall out with Garmin before the launch?


--
Satellite photocharts of the UK & Ireland
available, excellent detail and accurate
calibration using Oziexplorer.
Remove *nospam* to reply.
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Stan Gosnell
Guest
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:59 am    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
"BAD" <byby925@comcast.net> wrote in
news:R-ednQbAloZHw4bfRVn-uA@comcast.com:

Quote:
I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is a
Serial Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port. You can buy USB
to RS 232 cable converter from Garmin, but that costs $60. I can get
the unit for about $140, but the cable pushes the price up to $200!

Is there another fix or are there comparable GPS units that come with
a USB interface?

The Legend C and Vista C have USB. This means that you can't use
standard NMEA protocol to send the GPS data to other programs; you're
limited to the rather quirky and poorly documented Garmin protocol, which
means you're limited to (expensive) Garmin mapping products. You can get
a perfectly adequate USB-serial adapter for ~$30 at almost any place that
sells computer components. That's the way to go.

--
Regards,

Stan

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin
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John
Guest
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:04 am    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
"BAD" <byby925@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:R-ednQbAloZHw4bfRVn-uA@comcast.com...
Quote:
I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is a
Serial Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port. You can buy USB to RS
232 cable converter from Garmin, but that costs $60. I can get the unit
for about $140, but the cable pushes the price up to $200!

Is there another fix or are there comparable GPS units that come with a
USB

I have two different USB to serial converters which work well with XP and
Win2000 for Etrex's and Geko's. I believe all such devices, with external
cosmetic differences, have the same chipset from Prolific
http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/Products.asp?ID=59
The cable with regulated power supply for a car costs about £20 from
independent suppliers.
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Keith Sheppard
Guest
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:58 pm    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
Quote:
I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is a
Serial
Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port.

The newer colour eTrex Legend uses USB as its native connection. Of course
it's newer and it's colour so that means it will be more expensive. However
if I were buying a new GPS now I would definitely pay the extra for the
colour version for a number of reasons:

1. Colour screen is easier to see especially when your eyesight if fading a
bit, like mine.

2. Rumour has it that the newer colour models have better sensitivity under,
eg, dense tree cover.

3. Uses faster USB interface.

Keith
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Keith Sheppard
Guest
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:00 pm    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
Quote:
The Legend C and Vista C have USB. This means that you can't use
standard NMEA protocol to send the GPS data to other programs; you're
limited to the rather quirky and poorly documented Garmin protocol, which
means you're limited to (expensive) Garmin mapping products.

Not quite true. My MapMan application supports Garmin USB protocols and
that's free. I have no doubt there are others which also support it.

Keith
http://homepages.tesco.net/~Keith.Sheppard/MapMan.htm
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Stan Gosnell
Guest
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
"Keith Sheppard" <keith.sheppard@tesco.net> wrote in
news:OM1Td.14$uG6.8@newsfe6-win.ntli.net:

Quote:
Not quite true. My MapMan application supports Garmin USB protocols
and that's free. I have no doubt there are others which also support
it.

There are a few which work, but the Garmin USB protocol is poorly
documented and ever-changing, so it's hit or miss. From what I've read,
the Legend C and Vista C have a slightly different protocol, and don't work
with much third-party software. It appears that Garmin has adopted a
variation of the Microsoft mantra: The job's not done until Lotus won't
run. Garmin keeps breaking third-party conduits for Garmin protocol. As
for me, I'll stick with NMEA, and if the GPS doesn't support it, I won't
buy it.

--
Regards,

Stan

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin
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Keith Sheppard
Guest
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:32 pm    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
Quote:
Not quite true. My MapMan application supports Garmin USB protocols
and that's free. I have no doubt there are others which also support
it.

There are a few which work, but the Garmin USB protocol is poorly
documented and ever-changing, so it's hit or miss. From what I've read,
the Legend C and Vista C have a slightly different protocol, and don't
work
with much third-party software.

MapMan has been tested against Legend C for USB comms. If there's anyone
out there with a Vista C who would be willing to run a quick MapMan USB test
and report back to me, I'd be most grateful.

Keith
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Dave Wissenbach
Guest
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:13 am    Post subject: Re: PC/GPS interface Reply with quote
"Stan Gosnell" <murkuhn@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns96059892CCFF6mework@204.52.135.8...
Quote:
"BAD" <byby925@comcast.net> wrote in
news:R-ednQbAloZHw4bfRVn-uA@comcast.com:

I am all set to buy a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS for use in hiking and
GeoCaching. In reading the specs I notice that the PC interface is a
Serial Port. My laptop doesn't have a serial port. You can buy USB
to RS 232 cable converter from Garmin, but that costs $60. I can get
the unit for about $140, but the cable pushes the price up to $200!

Is there another fix or are there comparable GPS units that come with
a USB interface?

The Legend C and Vista C have USB. This means that you can't use
standard NMEA protocol to send the GPS data to other programs; you're
limited to the rather quirky and poorly documented Garmin protocol, which
means you're limited to (expensive) Garmin mapping products. You can get
a perfectly adequate USB-serial adapter for ~$30 at almost any place that
sells computer components. That's the way to go.

--
Regards,

Stan

I myself wouldn't call the Garmin protocol quirky and poorly documented.
I've found the Garmin documentation fairly well written (the USB interface
was an exception, but they made up for that by furnishing source code as an
example for third-party developers.)

The USB interface makes a big difference when downloading and uploading
simple track and waypoint data. There's no waiting for the data transfer.
Another nice feature of USB is that the (supplied) cable is the same
standard (inexpensive) cable which is used by Digital Cameras.

Many third-party programs, including my freeware, already support the Garmin
USB protocol.

See

http://gpsinformation.us/vistacolor/etrexvistacolor.html

for a review and an incomplete list of third-party programs which support
these devices.

Dave
http://www.gpstrailmaps.com/map3d/
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