NMEA compliant

[Dustin Klinghagen]

I have a Navigon 5100 which is middle of the line..... but it isn't NMEA compliant!!! Is their anything I can buy or do to make it NMEA compliant?

Thanks for your help!

 

[John Erwin]

I have a Navigon 5100 which is middle of the line..... but it isn't NMEA compliant!!! Is their anything I can buy or do to make it NMEA compliant?

It doesn't look like it Dustin. Most Car Navigation type GPS units these days do not output the data for use in other applications. This kind of sucks, but the vast majority of consumers that would buy these devices don't need that functionality, so the manufacturers don't build it in. You're not the first person here that's been under the impression that their "Tom Tom" or similar unit would also work for other stuff.

These days the easiest (and probably cheapest) way to get GPS data into your laptop (I assume that's what you had in mind) is to get one of the small USB type units; in some cases these come with some mapping products like Delorme Street Atlas or Microsoft Streets and Trips. Check the package because there are versions with/without the GPS unit. You can also get the GPS unit by itself online at places like e-bay and possibly other stores (I have a computer parts place near me that sells them for instance).

Other alternatives might include using a "handheld" type GPS unit often made for hiking; many of these also output NMEA data although that is often via a serial cable which your laptop might not have. Older GPS units like this though can sometimes be had for very very cheap, although I'm not sure the hassle of serial cables plus power arrangments are worth it anymore.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[Linda Kitchen]

Hi Dustin, I don't know if there is anything you can buy to make it compliant, but if not you can get the Magellan Explorist 210 for about $60.00.

 

[Donald Giuliano]

I just picked up a U.S. Globalsat mag-mount waterproof GPS receiver, and let me tell you...it is the real deal. It's only about $40, so it doesn't come with mapping software, etc., but their USB->serial driver outputs NMEA data and integrates beautifully with GPSGate. You can find it here...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E1T6I2/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

(I bought it from the seller lso_online, who shipped it to me faster than I could blink--great service.)

Anyway, to give you an idea of how this thing performs, on my latest chase it at worst locked onto 8 of 11 satellites. A significant portion of the time it locked onto all 11. Pretty cool, but get this--it wasn't on my roof, and it wasn't even on the dash--it was underneath my front seat. I put it on the roof, too, for comparison's sake, and it did (of course) get a stronger signal, but it's not like it really mattered. For the price, this thing just blows everything else I've ever seen completely out of the water. I had high expectations after reading the reviews on Amazon, which are outstanding, and have not been disappointed.

 

[Chris Gullikson]

Maybe this is a good place to get some help. I am running XP on a Gateway laptop and having problems with my Delorme Earthmate LT-20 GPS with GrLevel and Spotternetwork.
I am using DeLormes serial emulator to send NEMA to ports 2 and 3. GrLevel and Spotternetwork sees these 2 ports and they work just fine.. but only for 20 minutes or so. After that they no longer see the serial ports and I need to do a reboot. Meanwhile Delorme SA 2008 sees the LT-20 just fine and continues without issues.

I have tried GPSGate which will not detect the Earthmate without the serial emulator running. I can make it work by having GPSgate look at one port off the emulator and then sending data on other ports to GR and SN but they fail after awhile. Seems redundant to use 2 different GPS emulators anyways.
I have tried different ports, they all work for awhile then stop.
I have tried NEMA on only one port, same thing, it fails after awhile.
I thought it was maybe tied to my hardrives spinning down after 20 minutes so I left them on, same problem.

Any advice??

 

[Phil Kurimski]

I got a cheap Navibe unit online that connects to my computer via USB port. I think it only cost me $20 or something. It works great with S&T but not so well with DeLorme. I was surprised how well it worked considering I paid almost nothing for it.

 

[John Erwin]

Maybe this is a good place to get some help.

Chris; you should make a new thread for this. It's a fairly common problem that a few others here have experienced; I'm sure you'll get noticed better with a new thread and find the help you're looking for.