Choosing a GPS to read position from VB.net 2010? Which one I should buy? - vb.net
I'm trying to build a device to read the current GPS coordinates. The device will include a small computer inside running Windows 7.
I'm looking for a usb GPS to connect it to the computer and be able to read the GPS coordinates from my VB.net 2010 program. Of course, here the most important thing is what hardware I need to accomplish that. Suggest me some GPS models.
Do I need only a GPS receptor or do I need even more hardware?
In addition to jcibar's answer:
For Bluetooth GPS or most USB devices you probably don't even have to set the classic RS232 communication settings like "baud rate". It will just work, whatever baud rate you set.
Look at the "Ports (COM & LPT)" list of the Windows Device Manager - One of the "COM" devices listed should be the GPS receiver and it many times includes a description that indicates what it is.
E.g. on my Win7 x64 notebook I have a "Sierra Wireless Gobi 2000 HS-USB NMEA 9001 (COM8)" port, which is the notebook's built-in GPS. It will just start communicating the moment I open the port:
17.09.2013 10:12:01.890 [RX] - $GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*1E<CR><LF>
$GPGSV,4,1,16,10,,,,21,,,,20,,,,32,,,*7A<CR><LF>
$GPGSV,4,2,16,31,,,,30,,,,29,,,,28,,,*78<CR><LF>
$GPGSV,4,3,16,27,,,,26,,,,25,,,,24,,,*79<CR><LF>
$GPGSV,4,4,16,23,,,,22,,,,19,,,,18,,,*7E<CR><LF>
$GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66<CR><LF>
$PQXFI,,,,,,,,,,*56<CR><LF>
$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<CR><LF>
$GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*53<CR><LF>
You can use any serial COM port / RS232 logger to test this.
You can use any GPS (USB, Bluetooth) that provides a RS232-level serial interface (serial port). The GPS will create a virtual serial port (e.g. COM13) that you can use in your VB.net program to read serial data (NMEA frames tipically at 4800 bauds).
For instance, for USB you could use something like this: Haicom HI-206USB.
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