im trying to interface a Gramin usb GPS to get the coordinates in a visual basic project, but i dont have an idea how to accomplish this, anyone point me out in the right direction please?
A:
If the Garmin unit uses an RS-232 (standard serial) interface, then its USB driver probably implements a virtual serial port that you can open using the MSCOMM control.
Check that by opening the Hardware Manager and see if there's an extra port, maybe even labeled 'Garmin', while it's plugged in.
There are simple, standard text protocols used by GPS units. As long as no other app has the port open, you should be able to open it in VB and capture the output with a little experimenting for baud rate, etc. 4800,8,N,1 is a good place to start.
Jim Mack
2010-02-23 13:30:06
i couldnt find the port, so im not sure if this one works that way. how would i go about finding the port if it doesnt show up in hardware manager or maybe another solution?
Jowkar
2010-02-25 02:28:31
If the USB driver doesn't implement a serial port, then you don't have many choices in VB. You might ask Garmin if they expose an API that VB can get to.How did you determine that there's no serial port? It may just not be obvious. One way to tell is to look at the "ports" on a machine without the device, then install the software and note any change.Another would be to use HyperTerminal or similar s/w to try to open every listed port and see what you get when communicating with it.Other than that, I'm out of ideas and I hope someone else can help.
Jim Mack
2010-02-25 12:09:44