[time-nuts] NMEA reader?

[Hal Murray]

zygo at dakotacom.net said:
> I'm totally new to this semi-DIY gps stuff.  Can anyone recommend any
> NMEA packet reader software that will work on my old Windows 98
> laptop (using data through the RS-232 serial)?.   Searching online I
> find a lot of rather expensive software that does much more than I
> want to do.  Any shareware or cheapware that just gives a window with
> lat, long, time and the usual other stuff?

What GPS device(s) are you using?

Poke around on the web and try to find the manufacturer's documentation for 
the NMEA protocol as they support it.

It's pretty simple after you get the hang of it.  Everything is ASCII.  The 
default is 4800N1.  (I think.)

Most of the devices I've worked with have a non-standard way to tell them 
which sentences you want them to send.  The default is everything, or the 
largest subset that fits into the available time.
 
You should be able to sanity check things with your favorite terminal 
emulator setup.

It might get confused by the PPS signal which normally connects via one of 
the modem control signals.


-- 
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