GPS

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 10:58:19 GMT, Dave Head wrote:

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 00:33:06 -0400, Rodney Myrvaagnes
wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 23:33:24 -0000, Jeremy Nixon
wrote:

Prometheus wrote:

N.B. A GPS receiver without a serial port is not NEMA compliant, a
laptop without a serial port is not NEMA compliant.

Why would I care about NEMA compliance? I just want it to work.

If I wanted to use a laptop with a GPS receiver I would buy one that has
a serial port, in fact I would want a serial port anyway.

People don't buy laptops to work with GPS receivers; quite the opposite.

If they are buying the GPS receiver to work with the laptop, they can
get a PC-card GPS. No serial or USB port needed. These have been
available for years under $150.

Not very useful in your pocket out in the woods, tho. I buy a GPS like a
Garmin GPS III 'cuz I can take it canoeing in the wilderness too, as well as
hook it up to the laptop in the car for navigation.

Face it, you're just wrong on this.

Not wrong, just answering someone else's problem. I don't use a card
GPSR myself, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a

"Religious wisdom is to wisdom as military music is to music."

Ron Hunter writes:

Bruce Murphy wrote:
Then find a GPS with that feature as well. What you don't want is a
crippled consumer GPS that /only/ has such a crap interface that
requirees drivers and specific OS support and god knows what else.

You are seeing the issue from a completely different viewpoint.
That's true, the sensible one.

Is it sensible to buy a device that has features that I will never
use? Is it sensible to buy a device that lacks features I want? What
I want is a consumer GPS. I don't WANT to connect it to a bunch of
devices in a ship, or track a fleet of cabs. I want to know where I
am, what direction I am going, and how fast. And, I would like to be
able to display that information on a scrolling map.
Do I tell you that because you need something else you aren't
sensible? Do I call your interface 'crap'? An RS232 serial interface
just isn't the appropriate interface for transmission of megabytes of
data in the time a consumer would be willing to allocate to it. USB
is.

USB is also the interface of hideous problems with drivers and getting
software support that particular week. It's a real **** to get devices
to talk to that aren't windows XPhomeFOOBLE2017, or whatever single
thing is supported.

Thanks to an email from Chris Hartley, I now have a few Garmin models
to check out. They are a bit pricey yet, but have the features I
want.
And, yes, they also have serial ports, but I don't have to use them.

But, as you implied above, it isn't sensible to buy a GPS that has
features you'll never use, remember?

B

Ron Hunter writes:

Bruce Murphy wrote:
Then find a GPS with that feature as well. What you don't want is a
crippled consumer GPS that /only/ has such a crap interface that
requirees drivers and specific OS support and god knows what else.

You are seeing the issue from a completely different viewpoint.
That's true, the sensible one.

Is it sensible to buy a device that has features that I will never
use? Is it sensible to buy a device that lacks features I want? What
I want is a consumer GPS. I don't WANT to connect it to a bunch of
devices in a ship, or track a fleet of cabs. I want to know where I
am, what direction I am going, and how fast. And, I would like to be
able to display that information on a scrolling map.
Do I tell you that because you need something else you aren't
sensible? Do I call your interface 'crap'? An RS232 serial interface
just isn't the appropriate interface for transmission of megabytes of
data in the time a consumer would be willing to allocate to it. USB
is.

USB is also the interface of hideous problems with drivers and getting
software support that particular week. It's a real **** to get devices
to talk to that aren't windows XPhomeFOOBLE2017, or whatever single
thing is supported.

Thanks to an email from Chris Hartley, I now have a few Garmin models
to check out. They are a bit pricey yet, but have the features I
want.
And, yes, they also have serial ports, but I don't have to use them.

But, as you implied above, it isn't sensible to buy a GPS that has
features you'll never use, remember?

B

Prometheus wrote:
In article , Ron Hunter
writes

And one usually needs a screwdriver to install a serial port
connector. Or a pair of pliers to loosen the knurled nobs tightened by
Arnold S...


Whereas the USB connector just brakes right off.

Never had that happen. Perhaps you need to change suppliers. But I
HAVE had some of the tiny wires in the RS232 connectors break, or worse,
short.

Prometheus wrote:
In article , Ron Hunter
writes

And one usually needs a screwdriver to install a serial port
connector. Or a pair of pliers to loosen the knurled nobs tightened by
Arnold S...


Whereas the USB connector just brakes right off.

Never had that happen. Perhaps you need to change suppliers. But I
HAVE had some of the tiny wires in the RS232 connectors break, or worse,
short.

Prometheus wrote:

In article , Ron Hunter
writes

And having wired those connectors for many years, I am not retired and
I ain't gonna do that kind of tedious gruntwork any more.


In the case of GPS
YOU
DO
NO
HAVE
TO
WIRE
THEM
!!!!

how many more times must you be told that?

No, you buy a cable that may, or may not match the size and gender on
your computer, then you either wire another connector, or spend several
bucks on the right adaptor.

Prometheus wrote:

In article , Ron Hunter
writes

And having wired those connectors for many years, I am not retired and
I ain't gonna do that kind of tedious gruntwork any more.


In the case of GPS
YOU
DO
NO
HAVE
TO
WIRE
THEM
!!!!

how many more times must you be told that?

No, you buy a cable that may, or may not match the size and gender on
your computer, then you either wire another connector, or spend several
bucks on the right adaptor.

Bruce Murphy wrote:

Ron Hunter writes:


Bruce Murphy wrote:

Then find a GPS with that feature as well. What you don't want is a
crippled consumer GPS that /only/ has such a crap interface that
requirees drivers and specific OS support and god knows what else.


You are seeing the issue from a completely different viewpoint.

That's true, the sensible one.


Is it sensible to buy a device that has features that I will never
use? Is it sensible to buy a device that lacks features I want? What
I want is a consumer GPS. I don't WANT to connect it to a bunch of
devices in a ship, or track a fleet of cabs. I want to know where I
am, what direction I am going, and how fast. And, I would like to be
able to display that information on a scrolling map.
Do I tell you that because you need something else you aren't
sensible? Do I call your interface 'crap'? An RS232 serial interface
just isn't the appropriate interface for transmission of megabytes of
data in the time a consumer would be willing to allocate to it. USB
is.


USB is also the interface of hideous problems with drivers and getting
software support that particular week. It's a real **** to get devices
to talk to that aren't windows XPhomeFOOBLE2017, or whatever single
thing is supported.


Thanks to an email from Chris Hartley, I now have a few Garmin models
to check out. They are a bit pricey yet, but have the features I
want.
And, yes, they also have serial ports, but I don't have to use them.


But, as you implied above, it isn't sensible to buy a GPS that has
features you'll never use, remember?

B
No, I said that it was not reasonable to use a device that had only an
interfact that is not appropriate to the use, specifically, transfering
map data from the computer. There are MANY functions, even on my old
GP315 I don't use.

Bruce Murphy wrote:

Ron Hunter writes:


Bruce Murphy wrote:

Then find a GPS with that feature as well. What you don't want is a
crippled consumer GPS that /only/ has such a crap interface that
requirees drivers and specific OS support and god knows what else.


You are seeing the issue from a completely different viewpoint.

That's true, the sensible one.


Is it sensible to buy a device that has features that I will never
use? Is it sensible to buy a device that lacks features I want? What
I want is a consumer GPS. I don't WANT to connect it to a bunch of
devices in a ship, or track a fleet of cabs. I want to know where I
am, what direction I am going, and how fast. And, I would like to be
able to display that information on a scrolling map.
Do I tell you that because you need something else you aren't
sensible? Do I call your interface 'crap'? An RS232 serial interface
just isn't the appropriate interface for transmission of megabytes of
data in the time a consumer would be willing to allocate to it. USB
is.


USB is also the interface of hideous problems with drivers and getting
software support that particular week. It's a real **** to get devices
to talk to that aren't windows XPhomeFOOBLE2017, or whatever single
thing is supported.


Thanks to an email from Chris Hartley, I now have a few Garmin models
to check out. They are a bit pricey yet, but have the features I
want.
And, yes, they also have serial ports, but I don't have to use them.


But, as you implied above, it isn't sensible to buy a GPS that has
features you'll never use, remember?

B
No, I said that it was not reasonable to use a device that had only an
interfact that is not appropriate to the use, specifically, transfering
map data from the computer. There are MANY functions, even on my old
GP315 I don't use.

Ron Hunter writes:

Dave Martindale wrote:

Ron Hunter writes:

Ahh, yes, that simple, easy to use connector. If you only knew how
many of them I have connected (after wiring them myself) over the
years. And THAT is one reason that I will never use one again.
Shoot yourself in the foot if you like. A serial connection from a
GPSr
to a PC uses exactly 3 pins (2 if you only want position tracking and
not data exchange). One would think that wiring 2 or 3 pins in a
connector would not be difficult for someone with your experience.
Besides, look at the standardization advantages: a serial connection
can
deliver data to a PC, a Mac, a Sun, a PDA, or just about anything else
without special drivers. A USB-interface GPSr is going to require
drivers specific to each operating system.
Dave
No, UBS is a standard. Macs, PCs, and even palmtops use it. You
gotta get out more.

USB is a standard, but what you completely fail to realise is just
having a USB device that talks USB and a machine with USB ports *isn't
enough to get data between them*. I also need to have *additional
driver crap* that can actually recognise that particular type of
device on the USB bus and deal with it appropriately.

Writing this driver crap is actually a real pain, and has to be done
at the OS level, rather than just having an application that can talk
out a serial port.

And having wired those connectors for many years, I am not retired and
I ain't gonna do that kind of tedious gruntwork any more.

Good, you can waste your time grovelling around trying to find drivers
for windows/etc

B