GPSOUT.dll

[fjr]

Hello,

We are working with the GPSOut.dll to pump GPS info to a iPaq from MS Flight Simulator. Works great! Thanks!

My question is, could the serial port be shared so I can capture the GPS stream with another application on the PC? I want to store the GPS data into a database on my PC, but I don't want to interupt the flow to the handheld.

Thanks in Advance,

[Pete Dowson]

My question is, could the serial port be shared so I can capture the GPS stream with another application on the PC? I want to store the GPS data into a database on my PC, but I don't want to interupt the flow to the handheld.

Hmm. Not sure how you'd do that. The transfer is unidirectional -- that is, it only uses the TX wire from the FS PC to the RX on the recipient device, plus the common or ground. So presumably you could take another lead off that to another input. But I suspect that would drag the signal level or voltage down so making the stuff unreliable, or possibly even taking excess current and damaging one end or the other -- I know that to be a possibility with parallel ports (I've blown up a couple that way!).

There are probably ways of splitting an RS232 signal correctly and safely, but it is not an area I know anything about I'm afraid. Perhaps a search on the web may strike lucky? Or posting questions on a hardware forum?

Regards,

Pete

[fjr]

Thank you.

[Pete Dowson]

Thank you.

I did think of two other method. If you are writing the program to capture the data, you could EITHER:

1. Write the program as a monitor (advanced programming for windows!), like the PortMon utility freely available from http://www.systeminternals.com, just capturing the output inside the PC as it goes out, OR

2. Write the program to read the data on one COM port and send it out on another. You'd be using three COM ports altogether -- one for GPSout to the first one for your utility, then the output from that to the other device.

COM ports can be added via USB easily enough, you just need a serial port USB adapter.

Of course, if all you want is a database of the values, you could write a program to read them from FS via FSUIPC and not use GPSout at all for that part.

Regards,

Pete