SeaClear II GPS

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Tontos Revenge

I've searched all through this site and can't seem to find the information I'm looking for pertaining to SeaClear II. I'm trying to find the right GPS antenna or receiver on ebay to hook up to my laptop, but I've become quite confused. Do I just need to buy a GPS antenna, or do I need an antenna and receiver? Or, do I have to buy an actual handheld GPS unit and find a way to hook it to my laptop? I don't have Bluetooth, so whatever I use has to be connected through a USB port. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Hermit Scott

Hermit Scott

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Sep 25, 2008
2,288
C30 Event Horizon Port Aransas
There was one recently. On the 5th page of posts, there is a post called 'Laptop navigation' by Ed Scheck
I think they said all you need is the hockey puck, laptop, seaclear program and charts(which are free).
 
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tsmwebb

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Jan 1, 2009
371
Atlantic 42 Honolulu
Seaclear II can use any GPS that puts out NMEA sentences. Most GPS's do that. You can use a serial GPS if you have a serial port or by uisng a serial to usb adapter. The program is not a part of your GPS system so you'll need a GPS with a built in antenna or you'll need a GPS and an external antenna. If the computer will be below decks an external antenna will help with GPS reception. A cheaper but less elegant way to improve reception is to use a long cable between the GPS and the computer and put the GPS unit out on deck or near a hatch.

I used Seaclear II and my new AIS reciever going down the California coast this year and it was very, very nice in the USA. Sadly, I don't know of any compatible charts for down here in Mexico.

--Tom.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I purchased my ant/receiver at Fry's Electronics. Don't know if you have Fry's where you live. It is just a mouse size antenna. It has a receiver built in to the antenna. The power for the unit comes from the PC USB port. Mine is an Ambicom GPS-USB. There are others out there.

Tom is correct, any GPS that has the ability to xmit NMEA-0183 data will work. I also have a Garmin GPS12 that has a port on it for power/I/O of NMEA-0183 data. It too works on my Laptop with Sea Clear II.

Good luck.
 
Ed Schenck

Ed Schenck

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Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
You have all the skinny I think. I would add that you might find an older GPS with a serial cable. My Garmin E-Trex came that way(probably from E-Bay). This laptop has no serial port but I was able to buy an adapter cable, USB to serial. My cables are long enough that I can place the GPS near a hatch and find all the satellites. No antenna required.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Just to note... my "antenna/reciever", the Ambicom, is inside the cabin. I have it stuck on the top of the coach roof under one of the curtain rods. I receive the satellites just a wee bit weaker than if it was outside. Now, if the coach roof is soaking wet, then there will be more absorption of the signal. Not much, but I might have to move the antenna outside. It was designed for car top applications, so it is waterproof.
 
T

Tontos Revenge

Thanks

Thanks for all the input...I'll check out all the sites provided and buy a "hockey puck" antenna. It's good to know I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on a hand-held. I already have two, but they will be in use elsewhere when I'm on the boat. Once again, thanks for everything!
 
Rick

Rick

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Oct 5, 2004
1,097
Hunter 420 Passage San Diego
Hang on... dont go

Here is another way... so simple to make your garmin "hockey puck" talk to seaclear on your laptop. Download spanner.exe. All you do is open spanner.exe, add com 3, and then open seaclear. It works, its simple, no cheap carboard sets with christmas lights for computer screens :) Here is the link. Just another way, not to undermine my favorite sailors!

http://www8.garmin.com/software/Spanner_21.exe

Cheers
 
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Gary_H

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Nov 5, 2007
469
Cal 2-25 Carolina Beach NC
I just got a Delorme Earthmate off of Craigs list for 20.00 and it seems to work just fine with SeaClear. It's USB so it just plugs right in to the laptop. I use it as a backup to my Si-Tex GPS. Any Puck type GPS like this should work. I would think.
 
Rick D

Rick D

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Jun 14, 2008
7,182
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
Driver

Is there any driver that we need to install or just plug it into the computer and the seaclear program will recognize it?

Yes, and mine came with a disk. I'm sure yours will too.
 
higgs

higgs

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Aug 24, 2005
3,704
Nassau 34 Olcott, NY
You will need a driver for any receiver you buy and you will have to make sure that the com ports between your driver software and Sea Clear match. I just bought a new notebook and am having problems getting my driver software to remember which port I am using.
 
sailingdog

sailingdog

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Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
Some of the USB based ones will have a problem since some of the USB drivers aren't compatible with SeaClear. That's less of a problem than it used to be however. I use a BlueTooth based GPS and have had good luck with it. They were only about $25 and are solar-powered to boot..
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Kay, hope your PC is WinXP. From the site in your link:

"Driver CD for USB driver (compatible with Windows XP/2000) x 1"

I have also found that connecting the GPS to the PC before turning the PC on helps speed up the process. After turning on the PC and starting Seaclear, the software finds and gets NMEA data from the receiver. If I start the PC and Seaclear without the GPS connected, I get a message saying there is no device found.

Good luck
 
K

kwaghorne

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Feb 21, 2009
2
2 36 Kemah, TX
Error Message - Could Not Open Communication Port 9

Hi again... Yes I ahve WinXP I loaded the driver for the hockey puck...it shows to be working and running on comport 9. I set up Clear to use Comm9 also. However, with GPS attached while I start Seaclear I immediately get a message that reads "Could Not Open Communication Port 9" Do you know what the problem could be?

Thanks,
Kay

Brian D said:
Kay, hope your PC is WinXP. From the site in your link:

"Driver CD for USB driver (compatible with Windows XP/2000) x 1"

I have also found that connecting the GPS to the PC before turning the PC on helps speed up the process. After turning on the PC and starting Seaclear, the software finds and gets NMEA data from the receiver. If I start the PC and Seaclear without the GPS connected, I get a message saying there is no device found.

Good luck
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