Multiple GPS applications from one GPS

As part of a larger project I’ve come across a program that will allow multiple mapping programs to run from one GPS, it’s called GPSgate by Franson.

What it does is create virtual COM ports in your laptop and distributes the incoming GSP data to them (it has a very neat wizard to set this all up) once setup and running you can run Mappoint, Autoroute and others GPS mapping programs on your laptop, all running at the same time.

Most importantly for me is it creates a special ‘Garmin Emulator’ port specifically for Garmin nRoute, allowing me to use any GPS receiver with nRoute on my laptop, something not normally possible with nRoute.

Note:
Garmin nRoute is normally locked to a specific Garmin GSP receiver and mapping product by a 25 charter code. You still need a valid code to unlock the mapping on your laptop, but you don’t need the specific GPS receiver the 25 charter code was created to match up with as GPSgate emulates it for you.

Ebbo, yes, Franson GPS Gate is an excellent little application. I guess for many people it serves its main purpose as a GPS splitter - allowing to use one GPS receiver for more than one GPS program simultaniously. But it has various other uses, too. It makes Bluetooth connections more reliable, it can record GPS track, it can convert NMEA to Garmin protocol, and vice versa. But I was never sure how well an NMEA GPS receiver would really work with Garmin nRoute, because of nRoute needing to lock into a specific Garmin GPS unit. You explained this well. Thanks. I do intend to look at Garmin nRoute eventually, too, so this piece of info has been very useful to me!