GRLevel3 - GPS

[Cstok]

Does the purchased version of GRL3 allow for support of GPS, and if so do any of you share one GPS between GRL3 and Street Atlas?

[rdale]

Yes, and the trial version does to.

Yes, with GPSGate.

[John Erwin]

Does the purchased version of GRL3 allow for support of GPS, and if so do any of you share one GPS between GRL3 and Street Atlas?

Yes it does.

Many people here use a GPS with several programs at once; however how you do so can vary somewhat. I share the GPS unit that came with MS Streets & Trips with GRlevel3, S&T2008 or SA2007 and SpotterNetwork. I personally use Xport to do the GPS data splitting between the programs, although Franson GPSgate is also very popular. If you have the Delorme GPS unit you can download the Delorme serial emulator program from them for free and make that work for you.

Be prepared to be a bit patient to get it all working as problems are common; read the documentation if you experience any diffculties.

[Steve Polley]

As others have mentioned, you can use Franson GPSGATE which runs around $40 or you can use xport.exe which is a free alternative. This will allow one gps to be split with several applications. I have mine split to 5 different programs when chasing.

[Mike Peregrine]

If you are using a DeLorme GPS, you can download their free serial emulator and it will split the GPS signal for sharing between apps too.

[Rob Herman]

Just remember to use the same USB port connection to the GPS after you get it all setup and working.

[Jason Foster]

Yes, and the trial version does to.

Yes, with GPSGate.

I'm also going to try this, so the information is helpful. I'm stuck with GR3 until I upgrade to a new laptop with graphics card that will work with GR2AE. I'm assuming (but clarify if I'm wrong) that it's basically the same situation with GR2/GR2AE.

Does the splitting affect the speed of the which the assorted programs work? Does it cause a delay, or use lots of resources? Would an older laptop (c.2005) be overwhelmed by all this splitting and processing of the GPS data?

[rdale]

GPSGate doesn't do anything to hurt processing - not sure on the free version but I would doubt it.

[Cris Schroeder]

The GPS typically updates every second or so, so there isn't any delay on the software side.

I use a handheld Garmin GPS tethered to my laptop with GR3 and Street Atlast 2009. It works just fine.

[Chris Harrell]

I'm also going to try this, so the information is helpful. I'm stuck with GR3 until I upgrade to a new laptop with graphics card that will work with GR2AE. I'm assuming (but clarify if I'm wrong) that it's basically the same situation with GR2/GR2AE.

Does the splitting affect the speed of the which the assorted programs work? Does it cause a delay, or use lots of resources? Would an older laptop (c.2005) be overwhelmed by all this splitting and processing of the GPS data?


Splitting the com port into many virtual com ports will have no affect on the processor usage/memory or speed at which the GPS communicates via USB. It's a very trivial process with no overhead, so there is no worries.

I currently use GPSGate to split my GPS com port into 4 virtual com ports and use my Magellan eXplorist 600 handheld GPS unit with Street Atlas 2007, GRLevel3, Spotter Network, and occasionally another program or two. GPSGate also has some very nice data export features which I use to send my current position to a PHP script on my web server and generate a grlevel3 placefile every X seconds.

The free version will more than likely do what you need it to do though. Just google xport gps and it will be your first result.