+Hambone Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 I have recently "procured" a copy of Mapsource and uploaded it to my laptop. I was wanting to use a feature in Mapsource that allows real time tracking of the movements by hooking a cable to my Garmin Vista to the laptop. However, the cable supplied with the Vista has a female serial port. There is not a serial port on the laptop. I got a male serial to male parallel adapter from Radio Shack to hook up to the laptop and it did not work. Radio Shack also sells a serial port to USB converter cable but it is $42.00. This a lot of money to spend for it not to work. I realize I can return it but thats a hassle I want to avoid. My first question is...can this be done. It works on my desktop computer while sitting in the house (I actually get satellites in the house). But that is because the desktop has a male serial port on it. My second question is, if it can be done, what kind of cable or adapter is needed to do this? Any assistance is appreciated. Quote Link to comment
+Olar Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Ham Bone try doing a search on serial to USB in these forums. There have been numerous posts on the subject over the past 2 years. Names of various adapters have been discussed and recommended. I don't recall reading anything about serial to parallel being used at all though. Good Luck, Olar Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 There almost certainly isn't REALLY a serial to parallel converter (frequently used when doing things like running a printer that only has a parallel printer to a remote site such as via a stat mux) involved in this picture. The OP probably means a DB-25 to DB-9 adapter. OP does indeed need to "procure" something other than what he has. Quote Link to comment
+Absolut&KittyKat Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 I bought a Belkin brand USB-Serial adapter @ Circuit City for about $15 IIRC Works like a charm. No drivers needed for XP or 2K either. Quote Link to comment
+Blaidd-Drwg Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 I suspect the connector you are seeing on your laptop is a video out connector. Changing the gender and connecting your GPSr there will not work, if it is indeed a video out. If this is a fairly new laptop, go with the USB to Serial adapter cable. Radio Shack sells them, as well as other places. On my laptop, when I use the adapter cable, my GPSr is seen as being on COM5. Quote Link to comment
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