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Tried to search if this was answered but the search function won't let me search for anything with less than 4 letters. Which kind of prevents me for using "usb" or "gps". But anyway, my gps unit only came with a usb cable and not a com one. So is there a way to get it to recognize it with the usb cable?

You will need a driver from your GPS manufacturer. It might be on a disk that came with the GPS, or it might be on their website.

The NMEA specification defines how GPS units talk to PCs. This explicitly says serial RS-232 - ie. a COM Port. So this is what MapPoint, etc support. Most GPS units claim to support NMEA even though they more often that not have a (modern) USB connector, so they supply a software driver that makes the USB connection look like COM port of the correct speed.


Richard

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I'm slowly learning the difficulties of doing this with a garmin gps. I'm trying some software now that is supposed to make it think the usb is a serial, but I've found nothing like that available from garmin.

Hi,

there are also hardware usb to serial converters on the market.

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rgds, Wilfried Mestdagh
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www.comfortsoftware.be
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thats true, but this is for work, so I'll have to see if I can talk my boss into it.

are there any you could recommend for a Garmin eTrex Venture HC?

Hi,

No sorry I cannot, but I think most (if not all) will do the job.

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rgds, Wilfried Mestdagh
www.mestdagh.biz
www.comfortsoftware.be
www.expertsoftware.be
MapPoint coding demo

Using MapPoints GPS Receiver Setting and scanning option, it only show COM ports. However, the manual provided with MapPoint 2006 discusses using your USB GPS receiver. How do you set it up to use a USB device?