Laptop GPS help

[Bloodyaussie]

I have an old laptop kicking about and after purchasing a second house I cant afford to get the VMS unit I wanted for my 40th so I thought I would get this laptop to work.

I wanted to know if anyone first hand uses one and how to buggery do you set it up, I know I need a usb GPS unit but its the software I struggle with???

Any help much appreciated..

[MudRunnerTD]

Windows XP will be fine mate, OziExplorer is the Software you want then you can get the maps you need for your area. You might have a friend in your area that already has the maps you need ;)

Buy a Bluetooth Dongle for your Laptop if it does not support Bluetooth? it is like a USB drive but allows your Laptop to receive a Bluetooth Signal then buy a Bluetooth GPS receive and pair it with your laptop and your away.

Have a play around with the OziExplorer software and you will figure it out mate, simple enough.

[NissanGQ4.2]

I don't run this type of setup so can't offer you advise

Look at this website, it might help you understand: http://www.gpsaustralia.net/forums/showthread.php?t=16052

I'll also have a look at it later tonight and see if I can shed some light on the matter.

Cheers

Todd

[Maxhead]

^^what Mud Runner said^^^

Go with Bluetooth if your lappy supports it if not than a USB will do the job.

Get yourself OziExplorer (http://www.oziexplorer.com/)...that's what most of us use and then find some maps.
Maps can be found online ranging from $0 to around $300.

Best way to learn is use it and play with it

Good Luck with it mate

[Bloodyaussie]

I have loaded Ozi explorer and have plenty of maps for a trial but the GPS I have a Holux M1000 I cannot get it to work with the software.

It is linked up with the laptop but I cant get it to work with Ozi????

I am more of a hardware kind of guy and get frustrated by software.............

Thanks for the quick advice also it really got the ball rolling and headed in the right direction.

[Clunk]

Ozi should run on your laptop, which is just connected to you GPS through bluetooth.................... thats if they both have that facility................. if they done, then ditch them both and get a 7 or 10 inch tablet. I got a Motorola Xoom, has 10 in touch screen, built in GPS and WIFI, paid less than $400 for it....... works great, use it in the home instead of the lappy most time now as well.......... also takes photos and vids which are pretty good quality.
You can also get them which can use sim cards, so you can also use then as a phone.

That would be my pic....... one easy to use machine that can be used for lots of applications

[97_gq_lwb]

Sometimes setting up the software for the com port the gps reciever is on can be an issue are you getting a gps signal.
I usually just change it manually if it doesn't autodetect.
And if the software is a downloaded version it can be set to suit someone elses settings so i normally delete the saved config file.

[NissanGQ4.2]

I have loaded Ozi explorer and have plenty of maps for a trial but the GPS I have a Holux M1000 I cannot get it to work with the software.

It is linked up with the laptop but I cant get it to work with Ozi????

I am more of a hardware kind of guy and get frustrated by software.............

Thanks for the quick advice also it really got the ball rolling and headed in the right direction.

How do you know the gps is working??? have you checked in the system/device manager that it is working and has installed correctly?

[97_gq_lwb]

Just had a thought if it is a trial they may have disabled the gps signal check the limitations on the trial.

[NissanGQ4.2]

Just had a thought if it is a trial they may have disabled the gps signal check the limitations on the trial.

Very true, good thinkin there

[Bloodyaussie]

Ok I know the GPS works as I downloaded a program for the Holux and it picks up and sends the signal to the laptop..

You were right about the ports in Ozi but it only asks for one port allocation and the gps has 2 for ingoing and out, com 8 and 9 .

God I hate this s£$t , I so wanted a VMS but with the way things are now it is not an option and just have to make this work...

Frustrating to say the least.. as soon as I see a working example I will be sorted????

[NissanGQ4.2]

From what I have read on the net your gps does work on OziExplorer.

This is from OziExplorers website

Two versions of OziExplorer are supplied in this download a Shareware/Demo version and a Trial version - each has different feature and operational limitations, by using the 2 programs almost all the features of OziExplorer can be tested.

The Shareware/Demo version is missing many features that you get in the full purchased version click here for details
But it does allow full communication with the GPS for upload/download and moving map
Only allows maps in BMP image format to be loaded
Only loads maps in WGS84 datum

The Trial Version has almost all the features of the full version (works with all supported image formats and datums) but with these limitations
No communication with the GPS for upload/download
No saving or loading of Waypoints, Events, Tracks etc
No saving of map as an image file
Will close down after 1 hour of running (must be restarted)




So which version are you running the Trial or Shareware/Demo???

[Bloodyaussie]

Mine is a full version, too tired now and have a headache from staring at a screen for too long.

Prefer to be looking out over the distance not a foot and a half in front!!!

Will have a look at it again tomorrow when I have my head screwed on...

Thanks for the help so far guys it has helped heaps.

[GQ TANK]

I use Oziexploerer with 8 inch tablet PC's running Windows 7 at work.

I have two setups.

1. Garmin gps on a serial port.

2. Interface to a Simoco radio that has a GPS board fitted. I wrote a interface using the oziexploer OPI interface. The interface reads signal strength and GPS info from the radio and then writes the data to Oziexplorer.

If you have a paper map, you can scan and import it into OZI. You then calibrate the map.