GPS FAQ

db8tr · 05-15-2002

SUBJECT Hardware -> GPS

Question: I want to connect a GPS to my laptop, but it only comes with USB ports and all the GPS's have serial (9 pin) interfaces. What can I do?

Answer: What you need is an USB to Serial converter. It is not just a cable that changes around pinouts, it actually has to convert the serial data to the USB format for transmission to the computer. It should come with software to emulate a serial port for your computer (usually COM 5). A generally respected manufacturer of USB to Serial cables is Keyspan, but you can usually find the same thing cheaper on ebay. Just make sure if you get it from a fly-by-night vendor to check that the drivers that are supplied with it are compatible with your operating system.

RufusG · 08-01-2002

NetStumbler shows 3 possible GPS types:

DeLorme
Garmin
NMEA

Is there a list of GPS types that DO work with NetStumbler ?

Thanks

RufusG
===================================
Folks,
If you've just come across this thread, I'm attempting to create a GPS and NS FAQ thread. At this time, very rough and will be changing. Right now I'm merging/deleting individual threads and posts. Please stay tuned.

Thorn

Thorn · 08-02-2002

The DeLorme and Garmin are both proprietary formats that are not actually functioning in NetStumbler (NS) to my knowledge.

NMEA is an open data format. Many GPS model support this, as it is used to communicate with other devices that a GPS might be connected to, such as aircraft and marine autopilots. Check the manufacture's specs for a particular model. This is actually what most NS users are running.

I have a Magellan (now Thames) GPS 315 which outputs NMEA v2.1. It works fine. Getting a particular model to work with NS sometimes takes a bit of configuration on both the laptop/ppc adn the GPS. Read the FAQs and search through the forums for information on specific models of both computer and GPS.

OhioWarDriving · 08-06-2002

A correction to the last post...

I currently use a GARMIN GPS with Netsumbler. It allows the user to choose any of several formats for data being passed by it to the PC. This includes the NMEA format used by Netstumbler.

-OWD-

TheWatcher · 08-06-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Thorn
The DeLorme and Garmin are both proprietary formats that are not actually functioning in NetStumbler (NS) to my knowledge.

NMEA is an open data format. Many GPS model support this, as it is used to communicate with other devices that a GPS might be connected to, such as aircraft and marine autopilots. Check the manufacture's specs for a particular model. This is actually what most NS users are running.

I have a Magellan (now Thames) GPS 315 which outputs NMEA v2.1. It works fine. Getting a particular model to work with NS sometimes takes a bit of configuration on both the laptop/ppc adn the GPS. Read the FAQs and search through the forums for information on specific models of both computer and GPS.

Just added information, I'm using Garmin eTrex Venture for Netstumbler/XP and MiniStumbler/PocketPC2002 ... read for details setup

http://www.airsnort.info/live/module...rder=0&thold=0

netguy123 · 08-14-2002

Hello, I have a garmin 3 GPS unit. When I coonect to com 1while in
netstumbler, the GPS options are shaded and not active for me select. Anyone knows what is happening here? I am trying to use my GPS ... what do I need to do get the menu options active so I can select my GPS ..

Thanks

blackwave · 08-14-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by netguy123

Hello, I have a garmin 3 GPS unit. When I coonect to com 1while in
netstumbler, the GPS options are shaded and not active for me select. Anyone knows what is happening here? I am trying to use my GPS ... what do I need to do get the menu options active so I can select my GPS ..

Thanks

Could you please provide more information relating to/ but not restricted to:

Your machine platform and configuration
You version of Software, such as NetStumbler Version: 0.3.23
Your hardware configuration, are you using a usb to serial converter? Is your com port conflicting with other hardware/software?... etc.

netguy123 · 08-14-2002

Greetings,

my OS is WIn98 .... netstumbler version 0.3.23
The GPS unit is a Garmin III with updated firmware.

The problems I am having is with the Netstumbler menu that
contains the GPS speed, GPS model, etc. Those options are shaded and I can't figure why ....

Thanks for the assistance in advance

mentat · 08-14-2002

They're mock ups for future use. Currently NetStumbler only supports NMEA at 4800.

jpainter · 08-21-2002

Deluo makes one for $99

See thread:

http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...&threadid=3407

blackwave · 08-22-2002

Question: Do I have to pay for GPS access?

Answer:: No, Not for civilian frequencies.

For More info click here:
http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/

Quote:

What is GPS?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.

What's the signal?
GPS satellites transmit two low power radio signals, designated L1 and L2. Civilian GPS uses the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz in the UHF band. The signals travel by line of sight, meaning they will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but will not go through most solid objects such as buildings and mountains.

Originally asked by UberModder
Answered by blackwave

alucard · 08-28-2002

Q: Has anyone hooked up the Magellan 750nav in-car GPS to NetStumbler?

A: Any GPS that has a PC link and supports NMEA (industry standard for GPS communication), should work regardless of type (automotive, marine, handheld, etc.) and/or manufacturer.

Magellan has a faq (pdf), http://www.magellangps.com/en/suppor...cts/750nav.asp

Make sure that serial port is working before investing to much!

"Future Optional Accessories

PC Interface Kit
The 750NAV PC Interface Kit will allow you to download information to your 750NAV Address Book, update system information, or import third party data. "

Answered by jebus and davepc

Thorn · 03-03-2003

Future posts EDIT.

This is kind of like surgery, people. You might not want to watch. It's going to be rather ugly.

Thorn

===============================
agentgrn's excellent FAQ:
http://www.agentgreen.org/projects/n...-tracking.html

=================================
Earthmate GPS receiver
Q: Does anyone have any information on how to get an "Earthmate Hyperformance GPS receiver" by DeLorme to work with Netstumbler? I see different GPS receivers made by DeLorme but not the Earthmate. Thanks in advance!!

A: The Earthmate does not output NMEA sentences. You can get a translator dongle thingy from Byonics
http://www.byonics.com/gst-1/

Asked by SourceHaXoR
Answered by sparafina

rwilcox

I thought I read that Net Stumbler supports Delorme Earthmate but can't select it from the menu.

tenedios
I also am having trouble with the earthmate gps not being recognized by netstumbler. I did search the forums and was unable to find an answer this perpetual problem.
thank you

Amongo
Can that unit output gps data in the standard NMEA format?
If not, I don't think you are in luck.

tenedios
You are correct the Earthmate Gps can not output data in the NMEA data format. The answer lies in buying another type of GPS or adding an Adapter that converts Rockwell Binary format of the Earthmate to the NMEA format. One such device is made by www.byonics.com and is known as the GST-1 (GPS sentence translator) and sells for $45.00. I hope this completes this thread about the Earthmate.

acidrayne
I have a friend using winXP with an orinoco silver card and the DeLorme Earthmate Road Warrior v2.0. He has the serial to usb adapter and uses Street Atlas USA Deluxe and I have seen the thing work like a charm. I don't know why his would work and yours would not, but I would say you either have a different model or need to do some more research into the settings.

unclex
Do a search on the forum for Earthmate and Tripmate - there will be some links for yoou to get going - there is a software product that will get you going - if you do not find it I will post it...

do a search for this on google Eartha2NMEA

http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...4030#post14030

Radar
Earthmate
The Earthmate does work with netstumbler with
the GST-1 Byonics
I ordered one last week had it in 3 days.
The guys at byonics are great.. They answer email and
everything :> )

The GST-1 works great and will also work with Street Atlas
you just choose Generic GPS.
So you loose nothing and gain being able to use it
with Netstumbler and other programs.

rwilcox
Thanks for all of the good suggestions. I was hoping since Netstumbler had the Earthmate as an option it mught be supported directly. I think I will give the EARTH2NMEA software a try.

acidrayne
As I had said in another post after this one, I found out that the friend of mine was not successful anymore. Apparently it was working and then suddenly for no apparent reason it stopped.

Please post your results of success with Eartha2NMEA software here or send me a PM. - Rayne

unclex
On the TRip mate you have to do a hard wire convertion

http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...4030#post14030

netrambler · 03-06-2003

Question: What GPS unit should I use with NetStumbler?

Answer: Answers include:

from mrdquick ...anything that supports NMEA 0.183 and is compatible with comfoolery is ok. I recommend the garmins, as the other user did and if possible get one with the capability of an external antenna, but that is not required.

from Thorn The DeLorme and Garmin are both proprietary formats that are not actually functioning in NetStumbler (NS) to my knowledge.

NMEA is an open data format. Many GPS model support this, as it is used to communicate with other devices that a GPS might be connected to, such as aircraft and marine autopilots. Check the manufacture's specs for a particular model. This is actually what most NS users are running.

Thorn · 03-06-2003

Q: Why doesn't my Magellan GPS always work with NetStumbler?

A: For the Magellan Models 315 and 320, set the baud rate to 4800 and format to NMEA v2.1. These models need to establish their location BEFORE sending serial data, so make sure you have a satellite lock. The data is not transmitted until AFTER locking onto the satellites and the units switches to the NAV mode. If you are inside a building, give it plenty of time to wake up and see the satellites. Going outside speeds this up, as there is better sight of the satellites. Watch the signal level display bars. It needs to see 3 satellites minimum to establish a location. When it is ready, it will switch to the location mode, and start transmitting the data over the serial cable.

Also, check your serial word size, parity and stop bits are all set correctly under the Com port settings of the PC. It should be 4800,8,N,1 (4800 Baud, 8 Bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit.) The PC cannot read the data if these settings are wrong.

05-15-2002	#1 (permalink)
db8tr Wireless Widget Whacker Join Date: May 2002 Location: Kansas Posts: 145	USB to Serial SUBJECT Hardware -> GPS Question: I want to connect a GPS to my laptop, but it only comes with USB ports and all the GPS's have serial (9 pin) interfaces. What can I do? Answer: What you need is an USB to Serial converter. It is not just a cable that changes around pinouts, it actually has to convert the serial data to the USB format for transmission to the computer. It should come with software to emulate a serial port for your computer (usually COM 5). A generally respected manufacturer of USB to Serial cables is Keyspan, but you can usually find the same thing cheaper on ebay. Just make sure if you get it from a fly-by-night vendor to check that the drivers that are supplied with it are compatible with your operating system. __________________ -Db8tr

08-01-2002	#2 (permalink)
RufusG Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 19	Which GPS will work with NetStumbler NetStumbler shows 3 possible GPS types: DeLorme Garmin NMEA Is there a list of GPS types that DO work with NetStumbler ? Thanks RufusG =================================== Folks, If you've just come across this thread, I'm attempting to create a GPS and NS FAQ thread. At this time, very rough and will be changing. Right now I'm merging/deleting individual threads and posts. Please stay tuned. Thorn __________________ RufusG Last edited by Thorn : 03-03-2003 at 02:16 PM.

08-02-2002	#3 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,008	The DeLorme and Garmin are both proprietary formats that are not actually functioning in NetStumbler (NS) to my knowledge. NMEA is an open data format. Many GPS model support this, as it is used to communicate with other devices that a GPS might be connected to, such as aircraft and marine autopilots. Check the manufacture's specs for a particular model. This is actually what most NS users are running. I have a Magellan (now Thames) GPS 315 which outputs NMEA v2.1. It works fine. Getting a particular model to work with NS sometimes takes a bit of configuration on both the laptop/ppc adn the GPS. Read the FAQs and search through the forums for information on specific models of both computer and GPS. __________________ Thorn Sex and Violence. You can't enjoy one, if you don't survive the other. (And that works both ways...)

08-06-2002	#4 (permalink)
OhioWarDriving Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 11	Garmin GPS A correction to the last post... I currently use a GARMIN GPS with Netsumbler. It allows the user to choose any of several formats for data being passed by it to the PC. This includes the NMEA format used by Netstumbler. -OWD-

08-14-2002	#6 (permalink)
netguy123 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3	GPS info needed Hello, I have a garmin 3 GPS unit. When I coonect to com 1while in netstumbler, the GPS options are shaded and not active for me select. Anyone knows what is happening here? I am trying to use my GPS ... what do I need to do get the menu options active so I can select my GPS .. Thanks

08-14-2002	#8 (permalink)
netguy123 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3	Greetings, my OS is WIn98 .... netstumbler version 0.3.23 The GPS unit is a Garmin III with updated firmware. The problems I am having is with the Netstumbler menu that contains the GPS speed, GPS model, etc. Those options are shaded and I can't figure why .... Thanks for the assistance in advance

08-14-2002	#9 (permalink)
mentat Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: CT Posts: 476	They're mock ups for future use. Currently NetStumbler only supports NMEA at 4800.

08-21-2002	#10 (permalink)
jpainter Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 38	Netstumbler USB GPS that works Deluo makes one for $99 See thread: http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...&threadid=3407 Last edited by Thorn : 03-03-2003 at 02:14 PM.

08-28-2002	#12 (permalink)
alucard Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 9	GPS and Netstumbler Q: Has anyone hooked up the Magellan 750nav in-car GPS to NetStumbler? A: Any GPS that has a PC link and supports NMEA (industry standard for GPS communication), should work regardless of type (automotive, marine, handheld, etc.) and/or manufacturer. Magellan has a faq (pdf), http://www.magellangps.com/en/suppor...cts/750nav.asp Make sure that serial port is working before investing to much! "Future Optional Accessories PC Interface Kit The 750NAV PC Interface Kit will allow you to download information to your 750NAV Address Book, update system information, or import third party data. " Answered by jebus and davepc Last edited by Thorn : 03-06-2003 at 12:52 PM.

03-03-2003	#13 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,008	Delorme Earthmate Future posts EDIT. This is kind of like surgery, people. You might not want to watch. It's going to be rather ugly. Thorn =============================== agentgrn's excellent FAQ: http://www.agentgreen.org/projects/n...-tracking.html ================================= Earthmate GPS receiver Q: Does anyone have any information on how to get an "Earthmate Hyperformance GPS receiver" by DeLorme to work with Netstumbler? I see different GPS receivers made by DeLorme but not the Earthmate. Thanks in advance!! A: The Earthmate does not output NMEA sentences. You can get a translator dongle thingy from Byonics http://www.byonics.com/gst-1/ Asked by SourceHaXoR Answered by sparafina rwilcox I thought I read that Net Stumbler supports Delorme Earthmate but can't select it from the menu. tenedios I also am having trouble with the earthmate gps not being recognized by netstumbler. I did search the forums and was unable to find an answer this perpetual problem. thank you Amongo Can that unit output gps data in the standard NMEA format? If not, I don't think you are in luck. tenedios You are correct the Earthmate Gps can not output data in the NMEA data format. The answer lies in buying another type of GPS or adding an Adapter that converts Rockwell Binary format of the Earthmate to the NMEA format. One such device is made by www.byonics.com and is known as the GST-1 (GPS sentence translator) and sells for $45.00. I hope this completes this thread about the Earthmate. acidrayne I have a friend using winXP with an orinoco silver card and the DeLorme Earthmate Road Warrior v2.0. He has the serial to usb adapter and uses Street Atlas USA Deluxe and I have seen the thing work like a charm. I don't know why his would work and yours would not, but I would say you either have a different model or need to do some more research into the settings. unclex Do a search on the forum for Earthmate and Tripmate - there will be some links for yoou to get going - there is a software product that will get you going - if you do not find it I will post it... do a search for this on google Eartha2NMEA http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...4030#post14030 Radar Earthmate The Earthmate does work with netstumbler with the GST-1 Byonics I ordered one last week had it in 3 days. The guys at byonics are great.. They answer email and everything :> ) The GST-1 works great and will also work with Street Atlas you just choose Generic GPS. So you loose nothing and gain being able to use it with Netstumbler and other programs. rwilcox Thanks for all of the good suggestions. I was hoping since Netstumbler had the Earthmate as an option it mught be supported directly. I think I will give the EARTH2NMEA software a try. acidrayne As I had said in another post after this one, I found out that the friend of mine was not successful anymore. Apparently it was working and then suddenly for no apparent reason it stopped. Please post your results of success with Eartha2NMEA software here or send me a PM. - Rayne unclex On the TRip mate you have to do a hard wire convertion http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...4030#post14030 __________________ Thorn Sex and Violence. You can't enjoy one, if you don't survive the other. (And that works both ways...) Last edited by Thorn : 03-04-2003 at 12:24 PM.

03-06-2003	#14 (permalink)
netrambler stumbler Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: NW Chicago Posts: 95	What GPS unit should I use with NetStumbler? Question: What GPS unit should I use with NetStumbler? Answer: Answers include: from mrdquick ...anything that supports NMEA 0.183 and is compatible with comfoolery is ok. I recommend the garmins, as the other user did and if possible get one with the capability of an external antenna, but that is not required. from Thorn The DeLorme and Garmin are both proprietary formats that are not actually functioning in NetStumbler (NS) to my knowledge. NMEA is an open data format. Many GPS model support this, as it is used to communicate with other devices that a GPS might be connected to, such as aircraft and marine autopilots. Check the manufacture's specs for a particular model. This is actually what most NS users are running.

03-06-2003	#15 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,008	Magellan GPS Model 315/320 Q: Why doesn't my Magellan GPS always work with NetStumbler? A: For the Magellan Models 315 and 320, set the baud rate to 4800 and format to NMEA v2.1. These models need to establish their location BEFORE sending serial data, so make sure you have a satellite lock. The data is not transmitted until AFTER locking onto the satellites and the units switches to the NAV mode. If you are inside a building, give it plenty of time to wake up and see the satellites. Going outside speeds this up, as there is better sight of the satellites. Watch the signal level display bars. It needs to see 3 satellites minimum to establish a location. When it is ready, it will switch to the location mode, and start transmitting the data over the serial cable. Also, check your serial word size, parity and stop bits are all set correctly under the Com port settings of the PC. It should be 4800,8,N,1 (4800 Baud, 8 Bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit.) The PC cannot read the data if these settings are wrong. __________________ Thorn Sex and Violence. You can't enjoy one, if you don't survive the other. (And that works both ways...)

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