GPS Help with GR3

[Brandon Copic]

I just got a tom tom XL 340S and I have been trying to get it to work with XPort and to get it on GRLevel3 but it doesn't seem to be working, any help would be extremely helpful! Thanks!

 

[Connor McCrorey]

Without a better description of what's going on it's gonna be hard to tell you much, but I can say that Franson GPSGate is a program many chasers, including myself, use for all of your GPS needs.

 

[Brandon Copic]

Without a better description of what's going on it's gonna be hard to tell you much, but I can say that Franson GPSGate is a program many chasers, including myself, use for all of your GPS needs.

is GPS Gate a free program or does it cost?

 

[Mark Blue]

GPSGate will cost you if you purchase a licensed copy, but it isn't too bad. The first place to start is to determine if your Tom Tom outputs the data stream in an NMEA format that GPSGate could detect and pass along to GRL3.

 

[Brandon Copic]

GPSGate could not find the GPS itself...will this differ while streaming? As the GPS with the stream or does it operate basically the same as GR3 does?

 

[Wes Carter]

I have the XL340S also. The tethering is just to update maps, icons, and firmware. It does not output an NMEA signal.

 

[Brandon Copic]

so Wes, its not able to stream location via ChaserTV, Spotter Network, or GRLevel3?

 

[Wes Carter]

No, it won't work for that. I'm not saying that no one makes one, but none of the standalone automotive GPS units I'm familiar with are capable of doing that. However, there is a cheap way of doing it.

I have three USB GPS pucks, a Delorme unit that I will NOT recommend, a Globalsat BU-353, and a Microsoft (a re-branded Pharos PB010 IGPS-500).

If you want to save a little bit of money, you can get the Pharos unit for $20 if you buy a two year old version of Microsoft Streets and Trips.

 

[Mark Blue]

If you decide on going with a Delorme unit I would recommend staying away from the USB version and going with the Bluetooth (BT-20) model. Myself and Chris Collura run the Bluetooth unit and are both happy, or at least I remember Chris being happy once he had everything running smoothly last spring. I know of another chaser who runs their GPS over Bluetooth and they are happy as well (Stephen Locke). I cannot remember off of the top of my head the exact details with the Delorme USB unit (LT-40) other than a couple of years ago there were some folks who bought those and ended up not being able to use them with GPSGate, as the software wouldn't pick up the signal. It had something to do with the proprietary format the Delorme unit sends the GPS signal in and the serial emulator Delorme was using was not compatible with 64 bit operating systems, which are becoming more prevalent these days.

The Globalsat unit Wes spoke of seems to be a popular puck FWIW and a lot of chasers go that route. If you want to go wireless though and your laptop supports or has Bluetooth built in, I can probably dig up a discount code that I could send you to get the BT-20 bundled with the Delorme software for cheaper than what you see on their website. If you are truly interested, you will probably be able to refer to some old threads I could link you to on the installation process and getting everything to work seamlessly on the first go around. Let us know which way you are leaning if any at all.

 

[Brandon Copic]

I'd just like something cheap that I can buy that'll record my position on GR3 and streaming software if needed, as I will be using my GPS itself as well

 

[Wes Carter]

I'd just like something cheap that I can buy that'll record my position on GR3 and streaming software if needed, as I will be using my GPS itself as well

Well, if you are looking for a cheap way to do it, the last link I provided will do the trick. I use the same exact thing with GPS Gate, Spotter Network, GRLevel3, and my mapping software.

But I am curious about the way Mark Blue is doing it, and might try that unit out. I would not mind getting rid of that USB cable and freeing up a USB port.

 

[Ryan Schwartz]

You can stick with XPort, that should work with any GPS that outputs NMEA. I know GPSGate is the popular choice around here, but there are options. I use XPort with the Globalsat BU-353 GPS puck (it's hassle-free and works with 64-bit OS), but any puck-like GPS will work.

 

[Mark Blue]

I am curious about the way Mark Blue is doing it, and might try that unit out. I would not mind getting rid of that USB cable and freeing up a USB port.

Wes,

Getting rid of another cable is always a good thing! In the confines of an automobile compartment the last thing a person wants to deal with is a rat's nest of cables. I was looking through my priority codes from Delorme and I have an older one for the BT-20 unit - I just hope it hasn't expired. If you are interested in going this route let me know and I'll send it to you, but again I'm not sure if it's still valid. If it works it should net you 50% off of the overall price. The BT-20 works like a charm and even has a mini USB port on the side for charging on the fly, or if you want to run it over USB that works just fine too (I've never had any problems). GPSGate picks up the GPS signal over COM port 40, so you can split it out to your "virtual ports".

One thing I've noticed is that Sprint Smartview creates several COM ports in the lower end range, so it ends up hogging up those lower numbers. I should just uninstall Smartview as I primarily use a Cradlepoint CTR-500, I just keep Smartview on board as a backup in case my router goes south. Since most of the apps we use only have lower COM port numbers it makes it tricky to create enough virtual ports lower than 10 to use for SN, GRLX, mapping software and whatever else a person uses. I ended up disabling COM ports 8 and 9 that Smartview created for RIM (BlackBerry) purposes, so I could manually create virtual ports using those numbers with no conflicts in Device Manager (sorry I digressed). If you are interested let me know and I'll PM you one of those Delorme discount codes.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Brandon Copic]

alright so I just went online and bought this http://www.amazon.com/GPS-Receiver-Microsoft-Pharos-GPS-500/dp/B000VQGSKE/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header now will it do the job by itself since I don't have Microsoft Streets and Trips or what? How do I work it now?

 

[Mark Blue]

Brandon,

You'll have to find the drivers for the puck so that once you install the driver it will create a COM port. You can then look in Device Manager to see which port Windows assigned to your unit (Port #). Since it appears you want to stream and use GRL3 you'll also have to purchase GPSGate to split your signal out. In the interim though the drivers will be needed so you can at least get your puck up and running for use with GRL3.

Here are some detailed instructions on the Microsoft website: Instrux. The drivers for your unit are found at the bottom of the document, but are dependent on the OS you are running so that's important to double check on. Here are your drivers, just scroll and look for the appropriate one based on the operating system you are running: Drivers.

Thanks,
Mark