Looking for serial port splitter for Garmin Mobile PC (no GPS Gate, and no Xport)

If the PC Card GPS will work with GPS Gate, then GPS Gate will tell you which COM port the GPS signal is on. If you don't have the GPS Gate screen up, right click on the GPS Gate icon in the Notification bar (next to the clock) and choose settings.The GPS COM port is the one listed on the input tab. Make a note of that COM port.

Disable GPS Gate, and start Mobile PC. Click on the Satellite image in the top right corner of the screen. Click the Disable button and change the Radio buttons to Use Serial GPS. Select the COM port that GPS Gate identified earlier. Click the Enable button.

If it still doesn't work, make sure you have truly disabled GPS Gate. Right click its icon in the Notification bar and choose exit

Terry

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I tried one of the suggestions from an old GPS Gate forum post. It suggested you add COM ports through add /remove hardware and then match the GPS Gate virtual ports to those added. It not only didn't work, but my computer wouldn't restart. After using 'Last known good' the computer restarted but could not find the sound card. It only took 2 hours to get it working again using the onboard sound.

I think I won't try that again. I do not run GPS Gate on any of my computers right now!

Terry

Hi Charles,

In fact Garmin is the very last outfit you should expect to handle NMEA properly. Garmin has for years stuck with their own proprietary protocol rather than NMEA. It is only very recently that they have begun to provide GPS receivers that will output NMEA and software that will recognize NMEA input.

Just FYI.

...ken...

My solution: buy another receiver from Globalsat

Thanks for the quick responses - Terry, Ken, Ben.

Terry, the problem with the approaches on the GpsGate forum is that no one actually got a solution working. Your experience makes me happy I didn't try the add/remove hardware method!

Also I have tried the approach of running with GpsGate turned off and GMPC just can't find my GPS, even though I have selected the right COM port.

Ben, I just ordered a Globalsat.

Chuck

I have recently been trying to get Garmin Mobile PC to work with GPS Gate. As everyone else I was having no luck until now, It can be done.

Garmin Mobile PC will not recognize the Virtual Com ports created by GPS Gate. I first determined if Garmin Mobile PC would recognize the NEMA data stream created by GPS Gate. I installed a multi port serial card in my PC and tied two of the ports together with a Null Modem cable. I then Added an output to GPSGate and selected COM Port option (NOT Virtual Com Port it is further down the list). In this way GPS Gate acts like a NEMA GPS connected to the second of the COM ports. Starting Garmin Mobile PC it would recognize the GPS on the second of the COM ports and it worked.

The next step was to replace the multiport serial card with a Null Modem emulator. You read more about these things here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COM_port_redirector

I used a open source (free) one located at;

http://com0com.sourceforge.net/

Click on the com0com link then follow the download links and download com0com-2.1.0.0-i386-chk.zip

Install the program, the instruction make reference to configuring everything via a command line, however there is a GUI configuration utility installed in the program group. The only thing that may need changing is the COM port names.

Now set GPSGate to feed NEMA data to the higher number of the two ports at the default baud rate of 4800. The baud rates and using the higher of the two ports is what first worked for me I don't know that it is required for sure.

Run Garmin Mobile PC it should now find a GPS at the other Virtual Null modem port.

The data flow is something like this.

GPSGate->Virtual Null Modem Port 1 -> Virtual Null Modem Port 2 -> Garmin Mobile PC

The virtual COM ports created by com0com do not show up in device manager however they do show up in Garmin Mobile PC. You can see them by;

Settings -> System -> Remote GPS -> Disable

So Garmin Mobile PC will work with Virtual COM ports just not the ones created by GPSGate. I'm glad I don't have to figure out the causes of these problems.

I hope other people with this problem will also find this thread.

Thanks for all your work.

Indeed, pboom, thanks for taking the time to share with us how you managed to use the current version of Franson GPS Gate with Garmin Mobile PC. I think we should link this from Garmin Mobile PC - FAQ. At least till a future version of GPS Gate addresses the current problem.

...and to the forum, pboom!

I used serial port splitter and that worked fine. however it can't survive a hibernate! which was a bit of a ballache, and also at £69, i'm not paying for it, so when the trial runs out i had to reinstall it.

It took a while to get it to work (It is important to follow all of the instructions), but I was successful using the above method with two different devices not previously recognized.

1. A Garmin 60CSx, much nicer using the 12.1 in. screen of my HP TC4200, than the ~2 in screen of the handheld.
2. My previously broken GlobalSat BC-307. It may not look pretty being held together with epoxy and crazy glue, but it still works.

Thank you for temporarily saving me the expense of a new receiver. I am a gadget guy. I will get a new USB receiver at some point, I just cannot decide which one.

apparently xport has had a few updates and now works with GMPC
current version is 1.26

http://curioustech.home.insightbb.com/xport.html

I am using Xport with GMPC and it works well.

It's time to update even this older thread with the good news. The following quote is from another thread:

If you haven't yet updated your Garmin Mobile PC version, please read about it in Garmin Mobile PC new version 5.00.50

... The newest is v 5.00.60 now for MPC