Gary, There are a few GPS options to connect GPS receivers to USB ports.

Please refer to this 'Offshore Navigator' Technical Document.

i have a gps with a usb connector and my offshore program does not support the usb connector therefore the program can not locate the gps because it only has serial support

Your USB GPS unit came with (or should have come with) a driver. This driver installs a 'Virtual COM Port' that appears as a regular Serial port to any Windows application (including Offshore Navigator.)

When this driver is setup, it will assign a COM port to the GPS. Set this COM port in Offshore Naviogator as a NMEA Generic GPS unit and you should be in business. Please refer to the documentation that accompanies your USB GPS for more information on its driver, and how to configure it properly.

- Ed Lecuyer
Manager, Quality Assurance and Technical Support

thanks but i knew that the drivers can set it to a com port however they don't work well so one day maptech will have their program address the usb port and i was just wondering when
thanks again

To our knowlege, there is no standard way of communicating with USB GPS units. If the manufacturer of the unit does not provide a reliable Virtual COM port driver, it is unlikely that this unit will work with any software (other than whatever software is specifically designed to work with that unit.)

So, what unit do you have (make, model number, etc.) If possible, we can look into providing a interface for that perticular unit.

- Ed Lecuyer
Manager, Quality Assurance and Technical Support

DeLorme Earthmate GPS usb cable Model 9538 V1.0 ser# X3090027988 SiRF Powered. It would be great if it would work with offshore nav. my laptops does not have a serial port.
thanks again

It is our understanding that the DeLorme USB GPS unit can be made to work with our products. I also understand, however, that their serial driver doesn't always work properly - which matches the scenario that you describe. Other mutual customers have also expressed frustration in getting assistance from DeLorme with using the DeLorme USB GPS with NMEA-compatable software.

Hopefully one of our customers reading this Forum will share their experience in getting the DeLorme driver to produce industry-standard, serial NMEA communications.

In the past, we have produced drivers for DeLorme's proprietary serial GPS units. While we will investigate this possibility with their USB model, I can say that every other USB-based GPS unit that we know of appears to work correctly with Offshore Navigator. We even offer a special deal on one (noted earlier in this thread) that we have tested in "real-world/open cockpit" conditions to deem it a quality product that we can recommend.

- Ed Lecuyer
Manager, Quality Assurance and Technical Support

I just bought the Marine Navigator, and a GPS receiver Navman e Series. This receiver comes with Randy McNally software. It works with the virtual USB com port (com4) in the Randy McNally software, but Maptech can not find the signal on Com4.
I have tried it using hyper terminal to see if I can see the signal, but it dose not detect anything from com4

If Hyperterminal does not display a series of NMEA strings coming in on a perticular COM port, there is some sort of connection issue (independent of Offshore Navigator) and Offshore Navigator will not be able to use the GPS.

You may want to first confirm that Rand McNally is communicating to the GPS on COM 4. If it is, then it may be communicating in some propretary mode that does not use NMEA strings; contact NAVMAN for assistance.

Once you can see NMEA sentances in Hyperterminal, Offshore Navigator will be able to track with that GPS.

- Ed Lecuyer
Manager, Quality Assurance and Technical Support

Thank you for prompt reply, I found a USB driver update on the Navman site, after downloading it it worked fine with Maptech, on com7
Thank's
Halli B