| Author |
Message |
    
Ted Lavino
Moderator
Username: tlavino
Post Number: 101
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, October 12, 2008 - 10:39 am: | 
|
Helen, to get your GPSMap76 to work with your laptop (that doesn't have RS-232 ports) you will need the following:
1. Data or Data/Power Cable:
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Interface-Serial-Port-Connector/dp/B00005B8M5
2. RS232 to USB adapter and software:
http://www.buy.com/prod/keyspan-high-speed-usb-serial-adapter-keyspan-high-speed -usb-serial/q/loc/101/10357749.html
3. External antenna (if you want to use the Garmin unit at the nav station). See the link below for info.
Or if you are not going to use the chartplotter features of the GPS I would strongly suggest replacing the Garmin unit with one the new USB GPS units. Less money and simpler...
See the post I just did in the All Aspects of Sailing section:
http://www.electricmarine.com/discus/messages/147/1334.html?1223831531 |
Ted Lavino
Moderator
Username: tlavino
Post Number: 92
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, October 05, 2008 - 08:22 am: |
|
Greetings folks, remember that to upload/download information from a Garmin GPS you need to tell the GPS to use the Garmin protocol: Choose Setup in the Main Menu page by pressing the Menu button twice, choose Interface, Serial Data Format, and then choose Garmin as the protocol.
As discussed in class Garmin GPS's won't transfer route or waypoint info using NMEA 0183 protocols-you must use the proprietary Garmin protocol to do so and then switch back to NMEA 0183 when you want to use the GPS for position updates. Remember to do this both in your GPS and in your chartplotter software
Cheers |
David Sheriff
Board Administrator
Username: admin
Post Number: 225
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 - 10:12 am: |
|
Lets move the GPS stuff here. I don't think chartplotters are anything more than electronic chart displays with the same features that handheld GPS receivers have. They just show the same position values plotted on a chart.
This suggests how to make an easy open-source chartplotter. Make hardware that will display electronic charts, waterproof, bright and all that. Let the handheld GPS do all the calculations and serve as the principal operator interface. Not a perfect idea as the handheld GPS math processing has been done so long that it is a relatively trivial problem. Then you have to figure out how to drive the zoom and cursor on the chart.
Actually, you can buy bright, waterproof displays today that take standard computer SVGA (and similar) inputs. That's how they make those gorgeous integrated bridge displays that look like a wall of flat screens, which is what they are. The chartplotter units, on the other hand, now come with video inputs so you can keep track of the kids or see a video while you should be watching the radar. |
David Sheriff
Board Administrator
Username: admin
Post Number: 214
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2008 - 09:27 pm: |
|
I've gone over the class roster and come to the conclusion that we need about 2 more GPS handhelds than I have. If we can get some version if Garmin 76's, that means the whole class will have the same unit and we will not have to waste time translating between two different manufacturers. So bring your spares to class if you can loan one out.
I have been working with the 76Cx for quite a while today trying to get over my anti-Garmin prejudice. I am making progress and we are becoming friends. I updated all the software on the five units I have. I have also grudgingly ordered map software for mine so I can demo it. |
David Sheriff
Board Administrator
Username: admin
Post Number: 207
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008 - 02:05 pm: |
|
The whole problem with chartplotters is they are an intermediate form. They are the transition between the handheld gps and the environmentally qualified computer with daylight readable displays. That's what the newest high end boats are doing. With NMEA 2000 you can put whatever sensors you want on the net and get them to read out on any of a dozen big displays. Proprietary software will find it harder and harder to hold on.
Furuno makes "black box" equipment where you supply your own displays. You can't appreciate how fast this is moving. It is almost keeping up with Moore's Law at this point. Doubling in capability and halving in price at the same time. Well, we have some work before we get that good. But chips are still getting that good that fast. So the capability we can bring to a problem in 18 months changes dramatically.
The Europeans will push the development of Open Source Charting software and that will be it. I t could be Linux based. The Europeans appear to take offense at Microsoft and are really pushing Linux. I've tried to migrate to it twice but never got over the slightly too geeky startup procedure. When I get an install problem in W2k, I know what to do. |
David Sheriff
Board Administrator
Username: admin
Post Number: 206
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008 - 01:51 pm: |
|
Rose Point takes standard NOAA charts, so there is no fooling around with Blue Charts or other proprietary formats. That was a big selection point. I have a RayTech planner disk on my desk which is a simulator for Raymarine equipment. But I gotta go buy their stupid charts. A pox on all you guys. I'M GOING TO GET THE LAST LAUGH HERE. |
David Sheriff
Board Administrator
Username: admin
Post Number: 188
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 - 01:14 pm: |
|
" I have an old Garmin GPS 76. Will that be good enough for the class?"
You should see the antiques that I'm going to bring. If you have a newer GPS with WAAS capabilities you will get marginally better results, but I'm setting up the GPS exercises so you shouldn't need any better than 15 m resolution, which any old GPS should be able to give you. We have a few brand-new GPS 76 Cx models to loan people as well as a bunch of old stuff. We will have to keep track of whether the people with the WAAS capability have an easier time with the GPS exercises.
Since I am of the personal opinion, and possibly in error, that the maps on handheld GPSs are really of marginal utility, I don't think a mapping unit will be required. I will be anxious to have those students who own and use mapping GPSs to convince me of the error of my ways. For any vessel larger than a very wet dinghy, I'd much rather have an old-fashioned paper chart along with my 20-year-old GPS. I do actually own a GPS with mapping capabilities and a decent map built-in, which you cannot always take for granted.
You pay good money for a GPS and then you discover that you have to pay more good money for a US government chart that is free on the Web which has been encrypted by the GPS manufacturer so he can sell it to you for several hundred dollars. I understand why this is a good business model, but as a consumer I think it stinks. |
