T&T: Serial vs USB Connections (was DeLorme Serial Emulation Driver ...)

[Elliott Bray]

In the old days you only communicated with a computer with either a
single-bit-at-a-time stream (serial) or multi-bit-at-a-time (parallel). A
BIT being the sole entity in the computer's vocabulary. You still do today.
It is an interesting process to configure the port and wire the cable.

However, the industry soon developed a much easier/faster method called
Universal Serial Bus (USB) which for the most part shields the user from
much of the effort. The computer still handles the bit-stream in much the
same way.

Many of the devices (autopilot, stand alone GPS, Fish Finder, etc) we would
interface with a computer-driven software package (for instance-Nobeltec)
use a SERIAL communications protocol.

Punch line(s).....or Gotchas as it were...
Because of the success of USB connections (and to save costs), many
manufacturers quit providing SERIAL ports on their computers. So how do you
connect an autopilot (or GPS) that only talks SERIAL to a computer that only
talks USB?.. With a USB to serial converter such as referenced below. Some
converters worked better than others.


The USB GPS units don't have serial ports, they talk directly to the USB
port on the computer.
The Delorme device that started this thread takes the single signal from the
USB GPS and 'fools' the computer into thinking it is talking to three GPSs,
all on different virtual internal serial ports. This allows three different
software packages requiring GPS input to run at the same time from the
single input.


HTH

****************
Elliott Bray
M/V Letitia - Gulfstar 44 MC
  coming out of storage in Michigan
****************

>
>
> Nobeltec has their own line of s:
> http://www.nobeltec.com/products/prod_accessories_serial.asp
>
> >
> > I've been told the earlier versions of Nobletec (mine) won't take a
> > USB input and that the USB-Serial converters won't work either.