Laptop and GPS question

[Sailor Sue]

I'm trying to hook up a USB GPS (Globalsat BU-353) to a laptop for charting. The instructions say to set the COM Port in "Dervice Manager". My Device Manager shows no COM Ports. Am I missing something, or is there another way around this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Snotter]

Did you get a USB-to-Serial cable?

 

[windward54]

When you plug in the USB GPS dongle, you computer will assign it to a virtual port. Usually Windows will give a pop up message telling you which port was assigned to the unit. You can use the Device Manager command on the Control Panel to manually see which port was assigned. Just have to make sure your software is set to read that port.

 

[RonRelyea]

what operating system is on your laptop?

 

[Sailor Sue]

Vista Home, and No serial cable.

Device Manager does not show COM Ports.

 

[sailingdog]

When asking a question like this, it would certainly help to mention what operating system you're using, as the solution will vary, depending on the OS....It would also help if you said what computer model/make you're using.

If you're not seeing the device in Device Manager, you may be missing the driver for the unit. Have you been able to use the unit in any software program yet?? Also, I'd point out that USB drivers for GPS units often don't show up as a standard COM port, and as such, won't generally work very well for software other than manufacturer's.

I'm trying to hook up a USB GPS (Globalsat BU-353) to a laptop for charting. The instructions say to set the COM Port in "Dervice Manager". My Device Manager shows no COM Ports. Am I missing something, or is there another way around this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Sailor Sue]

I now have found COM3 in the Device Manager...

...the program, Seaclear II, is looking for COM1. I tried the otheer 2 USB slots and found COM4 and COM5 - go figure. OS is Vista Home, Laptop is Acer 4810T.

 

[Steve Dion]

Have you contacted Seaclear. These companies normally know about these issues and can help.

http://www.sping.com/seaclear/

 

[Sailor Sue]

Problem solved...

Thanks to some hints here, and on another site, I figured out what I was doing wrong. When I re-installed the driver the COM Ports showed up in Device Manager. Digging a little deeper in Seaclear II tools I was able to change to the correct COM Port. Everything seems to be working fine now. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Fairwind]

Glad you got it figured out.. My GPS unit, a tiny USB gizmo, came with a little utility program that sniffs out the Com port and verifies GPS operation. Then I open Seaclear and tell it what port to connect to..While your GPS position is acurate, don't bet your life on chart positions unless the charts are up to date and GPS ready..Down here in Mexico, while afloat in an anchorage, Seaclear plots my position 1/2 mile inland..