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Any suggestions for USB to Serial converters?


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Just wondering if anyone out there could tell me what luck they have had with the different USB-Serial converters. I want to use an eTrex with a Toshiba laptop running WinXP Home, and I have seen a number of threads with varying degrees of luck... suggestions? Thoughts? Thanks!

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QUOTE]Originally posted by tico:

I have a Xircom that I use for my Palm interface, and have tried it with my eTrex Vista, and while it worked fine, it did not speed up data transfer as I thought it might.

 

Any Comment?

 

Tico

 

AFAIK the adapter emulates a serial interface and has the same speed limitations with a max. baud rate of 115200.

(thats one of the reasons why the SD Card with Card Reader is a great feature of the Meridians)

 

Ed

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Makes sense, the same 0's and 1's end up squeezing thru the same serial port. the adapter just lets you get over a connection problem.

 

So where is the transfer speed limit? In the handheld? Even if they built a jack with a USB on one end an a connection to the handheld at one end it would still crawl?

 

tico

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I'm using a Belkin FSU409, and I can't say I'm totally happy with it. Map uploads won't work at 115K, and at 57K it's as like as not to hang up after a couple of minutes. On top of it, it can no longer be found on the Belkin website, and the existing drivers aren't XP certified.

 

I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

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quote:
Originally posted by arrowroot:

I'm using a Belkin FSU409, and I can't say I'm totally happy with it. Map uploads won't work at 115K, and at 57K it's as like as not to hang up after a couple of minutes. On top of it, it can no longer be found on the Belkin website, and the existing drivers aren't XP certified.

 

_I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know_


 

I purchased one of those things yesterday because I wanted to upgrade my Vista to the latest software. I tried everything but couldn't get it to talk to my GPS any faster than 9600 baud in either Mapsource or EasyGPS. Many times the driver crapped out and popped up a error message (same popup in EasyGPS and Mapsource so I'm assuming it's the actual driver software) and I had to reboot the GPS to get it to see it again (so I could try the upgrade over and over again).

 

This afternoon I went to Fry's and got a IOGear GUC232A. It doesn't have certified WinXP drivers but it's been working great at 115200. I even tried upgrading the software just for the hell of it. Man what a difference! No errors and it was 2 minutes instead of 22 minutes (no kidding!).

 

Plus this thing is MUCH smaller than the Belkin. I couldn't find any of the other brands - Sakar or Keyspan. I looked in the Mac section, too. No dice.

 

Opinions based on experiences with eTrex Vista...

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quote:
Originally posted by -=(GEO)=-:

I'm running Windows XP Pro. The installation of the driver went w/o any problems. Everything was up and running with my Meridian Platinum in about 3 minutes. For details go to http://www.startech.com

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/82972_1100.jpg


 

Looks very much like the Hawking and the IOGear. Almost too much like it!

 

Opinions based on experiences with eTrex Vista...

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quote:
Originally posted by wingryder:

"Larry" seems to have this problem solved.

Lots of high praise for his usb/serial converter.

http://pfranc.com/usb/usb.shtml

 

If this link doesnt work.. do a search in google for Larry's usb

wingryder


 

I read somewhere on the internet that this adaptor only supports 1 or 2 of the methods of communication.

 

The one at gpscentral smells much like this one.

 

Opinions based on experiences with eTrex Vista...

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