Feature request for GPSOut

[dfournie]

Pete,

I'm sure this really isn't of high importance to many GPSOut users but I was wondering about a future addition to allow simultaneous output to multiple COM ports with different sentences. Something like RMC, GGA, etc.. to COM 1 (or 2, 3, ....), and AV400, etc.. to COM 2 (or 3, 4, ...) simultaneously. Would this be difficult to achieve? Would you feel this to be a useful addition?

[Pete Dowson]

I'm sure this really isn't of high importance to many GPSOut users but I was wondering about a future addition to allow simultaneous output to multiple COM ports with different sentences. Something like RMC, GGA, etc.. to COM 1 (or 2, 3, ....), and AV400, etc.. to COM 2 (or 3, 4, ...) simultaneously. Would this be difficult to achieve? Would you feel this to be a useful addition?

Sounds pretty awful to me. What's the application? Considering the intended and main use of GPSout (and the best in my opinion) is to feed position to a moving map program on another PC, and that this can best be done via WideFS rather than COM ports, I wouldnt have thought any expansion of direct COM port connections would be worthwhile at all.

Regards

Pete

[dfournie]

I've never actually used the WideFS feature as I'm sending the MSFS position output to real equipment over RS-232. With as advanced as real aircraft avionics are getting, manufacturers still use plain old DB-9 RS-232 to do most of the mudane configuration chores using Hyperterm etc.., and in one case as an actual avionics data bus to transmit non-critical information between boxes. I have found an external program called GPSGate which takes in one virtual Com port and redirects it to as many physical com ports as you want. The only problem I'm having is that GPSOut has to basically send out every sentence it's capable of generating to this one virtual port, and I'm finding that when the data gets to the physical Com ports, each receiving system has to disregard the sentences it can't use. It's just a lot of un-needed data going to the Com ports.

[Pete Dowson]

It's just a lot of un-needed data going to the Com ports.

Yes, but it shouldn't be as much overhead for them as for the FS PC running GPSout which still has to send all those sentences out, and manage queues and interrupts on two or more serial ports at the same time. I'm certain I'd know where I'd rather the overheads be! With GPS devices only needing a frame rate or 1 or maybe a very few per second -- try flying FS at such speeds! ;-)

Regards

Pete

[ftse]

take a look at franson gpsgate ;)