• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Curious what you guys are using to split GPS signal

Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Messages
45
Location
Ankeny, Iowa
I've been using mobile ThreatNet for a while now and use streets and trips with it to show where I am on the ThreatNet map. I have recently passed the Spotter Network requirements and plan to run it this season (seems much better than the Skywarn net I used for years spotting for our local FD).

I understand I'll have to split my GPS between the two. Upon some simple research (and what I have heard from some other spotters/chasers) GPSGate is the way to go.

Also I'm looking into GR level 3 as an added tool. would I be able to split the signal 3 ways?

I just thought I'd ask on here what you guys use and any thoughts and recommendations.

Thanks in advance!
 
Thank you guys so much! Looks like I need to head on over to the Franson site. Thanks again, it's great to have you guys to point a guy in the right direction!
 
Keep in mind Matt that GPSGate Express will let you split your signal to 2 separate outputs while the full version will allow you to split your signal to any number of separate outputs (i.e. programs). A good comparison of the differences between GPSGate Express and Standard can be found here. Since you indicated you will want to share the GPS signal to 3 separate programs you will want to spring for the full version. All you have to do is download what is available on the website, then purchase a standard license and it will unlock those features that aren't available in the express version. If you need anything else let me know.
 
XPort is another program that I've used to split several GPS ports, and its free. Never had an issue with it. I used it for SN, Streets and Trips, and GRL3
 
I began my first season of chasing using Xport and used it in the same way Marcus did. But my experience differed in that the longer you used it, the flakier it became. You could drive for hours and have GPS data and then, without warning, Xport would take a dive and require the computer to be rebooted in order to recover. After that happens a few times in the middle of a chase you begin to see how great a deal "free" is. I take nothing away from the author of Xport. It's a great program for those of us needing non-critical navigation. Since positioning information is critical on so many levels when we're chasing, it makes sense to put out the dough for GPSGate.
 
Reading post above this one.....I chased this exact same problem with GPS Gate for a year, and it turned out it was unreliable power that was causing all my problems. Any tiny quick power glitch would cause the GPS Gate to drop. I've fixed the power problem, and problem solved.
 
I have had problems with both xport and GPS gate. If I had to choose I would use GPS gate.

Is there a better one that both of these?
 
Late to the game here I know, but I have been using Virtual Serial Port Emulator. It allows unlimited "copies" of the serial ports. The interface isn't very fun to begin with, but once I figured it out it was usable. It was free when I got it a couple years ago. The 64 version has nagware telling you to buy a 64bit lic though.

I use it for other things as well. Specifically 15 year old Boy Scout pinewood derby timer that has issues opening physical serial ports in windows 7 64bit. Run it through vspe and it opened just fine.

john
 
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