Garmin GPS - 76CSx and Mappoint

Author

76CSx and Mappoint

Xxxxx

2006-12-19, 10:33 pm

My 76csx is connected to a USB port. When, in Mappoint 2006, I choose
Tools - GPS - Configure, it lists COM3 and COM5. Clicking Scan reports
Searching... and then "No GPS device was found." The 76csx's interface is
set to NMEA.

I'm guessing that this is because it's looking for something attached to
COM3 or COM5. This computer doesn't have any physical serial ports, so I
assume there's some kind of USB -> COM mapping that can be done. (And
moreover, the 76csx's connector is USB, not serial.)

Is this simply not going to work? Or, are there additional drivers I'd need
to install? (Note: with the interface set on Garmin, MapSource sees the
76csx just fine.)

--
Nada y nadie

Steve Calvin

2006-12-19, 10:33 pm

Klatch

2006-12-19, 10:33 pm

"Xxxxx" <Not_gonna_give@all.com> wrote in message
news:F62ih.6552$HT5.5448@trnddc02...
> My 76csx is connected to a USB port. When, in Mappoint 2006, I choose
> Tools - GPS - Configure, it lists COM3 and COM5. Clicking Scan reports
> Searching... and then "No GPS device was found." The 76csx's interface is
> set to NMEA.
>
> I'm guessing that this is because it's looking for something attached to
> COM3 or COM5. This computer doesn't have any physical serial ports, so I
> assume there's some kind of USB -> COM mapping that can be done. (And
> moreover, the 76csx's connector is USB, not serial.)
>
> Is this simply not going to work? Or, are there additional drivers I'd
> need to install? (Note: with the interface set on Garmin, MapSource sees
> the 76csx just fine.)
>
> --
> Nada y nadie
Give Garmin's Spanner a try. It says it is for the GPS18, but seems to work
with all the USB units. It is a free download, so no harm in trying.
http://www.garmin.com/support/downl...ils.jsp?id=1627

Jack Erbes

2006-12-19, 10:33 pm

Steve Calvin wrote:
> Xxxxx wrote:
>
> ok, so forgive my "stupidity" as I try to avoid M$ products, but why
> wouldn't you just use MapSource?

MapSource won't recognize the USB connected GPS as a COM port for
navigation purposes, it won't read the NMEA data.

When you plug the GPS in it shows up in the Device Manager in a new
category, Garmin Devices, as the Garmin USB GPS. It does not show up as
a COM port which is what all non-Garmin navigation applications want to
find the NMEA data on.

If you start Garmins nRoute (you can download it for free from Garmin)
and connect a GPS by USB that will read the NMEA data off of the
connected GPS (still with no new COM ports being seen in the Device
Manager) and also use any maps you have under MapSource and give you a
navigation console on your PC. nRoute looks just like MapSource except
that you it has some menus and tool bars for navigation.

nRoute and your MapSource mapping combine to make a pretty nice laptop
navigation system.

I also have Micro$oft Streets & Trips on my laptop and if I want to use
that for navigation I have to set my 76Cx to the NMEA out mode and
connect it via a serial to USB adapter (which will create a virtual COM
port) and them S&T finds that COM port and uses it.

Jack

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

Jack Erbes

2006-12-19, 10:33 pm

Xxxxx wrote:
> My 76csx is connected to a USB port. When, in Mappoint 2006, I choose
> Tools - GPS - Configure, it lists COM3 and COM5. Clicking Scan reports
> Searching... and then "No GPS device was found." The 76csx's interface
> is set to NMEA.
>
> I'm guessing that this is because it's looking for something attached to
> COM3 or COM5. This computer doesn't have any physical serial ports, so I
> assume there's some kind of USB -> COM mapping that can be done. (And
> moreover, the 76csx's connector is USB, not serial.)
>
> Is this simply not going to work? Or, are there additional drivers I'd
> need to install? (Note: with the interface set on Garmin, MapSource sees
> the 76csx just fine.)
>

It will work if you use a serial to USB adapter. Your USB connection
does not create a COM port, you'll see your GPS in the Device Manager as
a Garmin USB GPS in the Garmin Devices category and your application
is looking for RS-232 COM ports.

You can use the GPS with nRoute and MapSource when it is connected by
USB, see my other post here.

Jack

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

Steve Calvin

2006-12-20, 7:33 am

Jack Erbes wrote:
>
>
> MapSource won't recognize the USB connected GPS as a COM port for
> navigation purposes, it won't read the NMEA data.
>
> When you plug the GPS in it shows up in the Device Manager in a new
> category, Garmin Devices, as the Garmin USB GPS. It does not show up as
> a COM port which is what all non-Garmin navigation applications want to
> find the NMEA data on.
>
> If you start Garmins nRoute (you can download it for free from Garmin)
> and connect a GPS by USB that will read the NMEA data off of the
> connected GPS (still with no new COM ports being seen in the Device
> Manager) and also use any maps you have under MapSource and give you a
> navigation console on your PC. nRoute looks just like MapSource except
> that you it has some menus and tool bars for navigation.
>
> nRoute and your MapSource mapping combine to make a pretty nice laptop
> navigation system.
>
> I also have Micro$oft Streets & Trips on my laptop and if I want to use
> that for navigation I have to set my 76Cx to the NMEA out mode and
> connect it via a serial to USB adapter (which will create a virtual COM
> port) and them S&T finds that COM port and uses it.
>
> Jack
>

Thanks Jack. I gotcha now. ;-)

--
Steve

Xxxxx

2006-12-20, 10:33 am

To paraphrase a certain discredited former U.S. official, you try to connect
your GPS to the software you have, not the software you might want. ;-)

I don't have any PC-based MapSource maps (there's this useless waypoint
manager that came with the 76csx, but it's not terribly mappy), yet. I have
CN NA 8 on order (should get here on Friday), but in the meantime, I thought
it would be interesting to try the 76csx in MapPoint (which I use in my work
for data mapping) to see if it would work. It didn't.

--
Nada y nadie
"Steve Calvin" <calvins@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:Te2ih.929$4R1.824@newsfe12.lga...

> ok, so forgive my "stupidity" as I try to avoid M$ products, but why
> wouldn't you just use MapSource?

Xxxxx

2006-12-20, 10:33 am

The cable that came with the 76csx is a USB cable. There are no serial ports
on my notebook computer. So, a serial to USB adapter wouldn't help.

The only explicit device that shows up in my COM port list is my bluetooth
dongle, which is also USB, but whose driver treats it as a virtual COM port.

So, I take it that the only way it would work with Mappoint would be if I
were to write a driver that maps the Garmin's USB connection into a virtual
COM port. Note that this isn't functionality I necessarily need -- it was
more a matter of my satisfying my curiosity. (I haven't fully explored the
Mapsource Waypoint manager CD that came with the 76csx to see if it contains
any additional utility drivers.)

--
Nada y nadie
"Jack Erbes" <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:LMSdncREatBjIRX
YnZ2dnUVZ_ua3nZ2d@ad
elphia.com...
> Xxxxx wrote:
>
> It will work if you use a serial to USB adapter. Your USB connection does
> not create a COM port, you'll see your GPS in the Device Manager as a
> Garmin USB GPS in the Garmin Devices category and your application is
> looking for RS-232 COM ports.
>
> You can use the GPS with nRoute and MapSource when it is connected by USB,
> see my other post here.
>
> Jack
>
> --
> Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
> (also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Jack Erbes

2006-12-20, 12:33 pm

Xxxxx wrote:
> The cable that came with the 76csx is a USB cable. There are no serial
> ports on my notebook computer. So, a serial to USB adapter wouldn't help.

I have a DC power and data cable that is sold as an accessory for
Garmins. It uses the round four pin connector on the back of the GPS
(two pins are 9-35VDC in, the other two pins are the RXD and TXD pair
for a RS-232 COM port input. You can get this same cable with an AC
adapter on it too. The cables will work on a number of Garmin models
that use that same connector. A good place to find the cables is eBay
and on the Internet, both Garmin and generic copies are available.
>
> The only explicit device that shows up in my COM port list is my
> bluetooth dongle, which is also USB, but whose driver treats it as a
> virtual COM port.

>
> So, I take it that the only way it would work with Mappoint would be if
> I were to write a driver that maps the Garmin's USB connection into a
> virtual COM port. Note that this isn't functionality I necessarily need
> -- it was more a matter of my satisfying my curiosity. (I haven't fully
> explored the Mapsource Waypoint manager CD that came with the 76csx to
> see if it contains any additional utility drivers.)

As Klatch suggested, the Garmin Spanner utility might work for you.
That will supposedly create a virtual COM port that MapPoint can use.
Beyond that, the Garmin data cable and a serial to USB adapter would be
else you could try.

The Trip & Waypoint manager will install MapSource for you and it
includes a map that has about the same level of detail as you basemap,
maybe a little less. So if you install T&WM and nRoute you'll have a
working navigation system.

Jack

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

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