| Forum Home | ||||
| Press F1 | ||||
| Thread ID: 79492 | 2007-05-21 22:19:00 | Laptop - GPS | B.M. (505) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 551858 | 2007-05-21 22:19:00 | Is there such a thing as a Laptop – GPS interface? Given all the other bits and pieces you can plug into your Computer these days I figured somebody would have come up with a GPS Receiver and Interface. Just never seen one mentioned anywhere. |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 551859 | 2007-05-21 22:32:00 | Looks like DSE has one (www.dse.co.nz) | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 551860 | 2007-05-21 22:37:00 | Yeah there're bound to be a variety of them - try marine electronics outlets. | Greg (193) | ||
| 551861 | 2007-05-21 22:45:00 | Brilliant Speedy. Does any of our members actually use one? I’m not actually looking at taking on Navman, which is brilliant, but as long as I can get a Latitude & Longitude reading would be great for starters. Waypoints installation even better and a plot facility better still. Anything over and above that would be a bonus. The reason I ask is I’m in Aus. at the moment and it’s nice to be able to retrace your steps (in a car) with embarrassment pink. :o |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 551862 | 2007-05-22 02:19:00 | Not 100% sure of your requirements, any reasonable GPS will interface with a Laptop and provide realtime info if it supports "NMEA 0813". Older ones required a serial interface but most of the newer ones now have USB support. I'm using a Gamin GPSII+ and EasyGPS to download waypoints/tracks for storage. Trackmaker www.gpstm.com/ allows real time overlay on scanned maps and nicely interfaces to googlearth. Since you're in Aus at present checkout: http://www.oziexplorer.com/ |
hkeyzer (9827) | ||
| 551863 | 2007-05-22 03:06:00 | Just to elaborate a bit further, I have a elderly Apelco 015 GPS with me that has given up the ghost. Searches all day and finds nothing. It has Data Out but that isn’t much use if it doesn’t go. So, rather than buy a new GPS or Navman I wondered what was available that would just record various coordinates on a laptop with preferably a route facility which shows you where you’ve been and makes it easy to find your way back. There is no need for mapping facilities or map overlays. I guess that means a receiver and some interface software, with the receiver being USB connected. |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 551864 | 2007-05-22 03:10:00 | If your laptop has a serial port, many GPS units provide a serial message at 2400 or 4800 bps once evry second or so, saying what the time is, where you are (if it knows), how many satellites it can see. copy com1: tt: might do, at the cost of a cable (which can be expsnsive ... the GPS makers seem to like "special" connectors. There is software around to display maps and the whole navigation thing. Usually at a cost, of course.;) There are some links which might be worth following from this Google search (www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=gps+serial+output&meta=), and there's one free one there. Add "output" to that search string, and there's a mapping project which comes up. "NMEA" is the standard format, so a search on that should tell you much more than you would ever want to know. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 551865 | 2007-05-22 06:12:00 | Thanks all for your help so far . :thumbs: Anyone know anything about these???? . ebay . com . au/New-USB-GPS-Mouse-Receiver-MTK-32-Channels-for-Laptop_W0QQitemZ190114062784QQihZ009QQcategoryZ342" target="_blank">cgi . ebay . com . au 90QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem What else is needed to make them work?????? I hope this topic is of interest to others? :blush: |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 551866 | 2007-05-22 06:37:00 | The receivers are widely available (look for "GPS puck") . You will need some software if you want anything more than position and time information . If you want maps, waypoints, etc . . . that's the basics of what you are paying for in the Navman, and there are certainly open-source projects for that . Navman's added "turn left in 500 metres", "too late", "oops", backseat driving justify the rest of the cost . I suppose there's a subscription to keep the database updated, for the "The flash you just saw was the camera recording you at 200 km/hr" messages . |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 551867 | 2007-05-22 07:33:00 | Both the Son-in-Law and the Brother-in-Law run Navman and over here (Aus) and it’s brilliant . It is brilliant if you want to go somewhere . However, I just want to drive, and if I get bushed, TracBack . (TracBack, an expression I’ve found Googleing) :D With everyone’s help and Googling I get the impression that software becomes the issue . :confused: I bet the software I’m looking for is around and probably 10yrs old . ;) I’ve looked at the site you provided hkeyzer and it looks brilliant stuff, but way ahead of my requirements . |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 1 2 | |||||