Re: How to use an old gps with a new laptop?

placidsailor wrote:
I have a very old Garmin Model 12 - no mapping. Can I hook it up to a
new pc laptop? If so, what cable do I need and where can I get it? I'm
in the U.S. and I want to be able to map my travel in real-time while
in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. What is the best software (maps
and nautical charts) to do this and where can I buy it? Thanks, Stan

If you can afford a new laptop why not buy a state of the art cabled or bluetooth GPS receiver? It will be faster, more accurate, and an absolute no brainer to connect and get working. And it won't need batteries, it will draw power from the USB port. Look at the Holux GR-213, less than $50 typically and a wonderful, simple, tough, and easy to use GPS receiver.

That said, to use the model 12 look at the interface setting and see if it has a NMEA IN/NMEA OUT setting (not just a GARMIN or GARMIN HOST) setting. If it does, get a serial to USB adapter. A search for "serial USB adapter" on the internet or "serial usb" on eBay will surface links for buying one of those.

Install the drivers for that, plug serial to USB adapter in, and a new virtual COM port will appear in the Device Manager.

As soon as you have a fix on the GPS receiver you will see the NMEA data strings if you look at that COM port with Hyperterminal (COM port setting 4800/8/N/1).

Now you need an application. Micro$oft Street & Trips would be a good and inexpensive software to start with for the U.S. Get that going and it will give you some background on using GPS and get you to the U.S. border where you will run out of mapping.

Now the hard part.

You need to find an application and the mapping data for the obscure places. A good start would be Ozi Explorer for the software.

Then you can start working on finding and using the mapping for the obscure places. If nothing else, you can go there, find local maps, scan them in bit mapped images, calibrate the images, and start building useful maps for places where no maps could be found.

You can even add the missing trails, roads, and features. And if you can make those available to the world via the internet, it will be easier for the next person and inspire others to make more and better mapping.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)
.

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