Can I have live Sat/nav on my main computer?

[collectors]

Hi, hope you can help. I have a situation where I would like live sat/nav on my computer which is on a boat. What I am aiming to do is set up a camera on the boat & when an image/photo is taken, I will have the facility to log the map reference at the same time. What I would like to know is?

Without buying a Sat/nav unit, can I buy a antenna/receiver that will plug in the back of my computer via the UBS socket & then some software to work just the same way as a normal Sat/nav unit would work.
I was just seeing if I could save the price of a sat/nav unit when its seem's I might be able to use a lot of what I already have.

Hope you can help.
PS. The logging of the photos against a map references is a separate issue. Unless there are any ideas on this as well.

[rickyt]

Yes you can have satnav on a PC or laptop , all you need is the software and a GPS device . My old version of Micro....Autoroute 2005 has the facility for ...real time tracking: This is what it say's on the label :
New ,Advanced GPS features for real time tracking,
Works with GPS devices to pinpoint your exact location .
Displays latitude & longitude GPS co-ordinates,speed and altitude
Re-route from here , lets you calculate a route from your location
GPS trail feature shows you where you've been .
Choose between compass view or rotate map view.

Check out the Micros.... website for more information or see e-bay for a version and information on a GPS device .HTH

[collectors]

Hi, many thanks for the reply. Have found you can get GPS cards for the computer that has an antenna socket for an external unit but am a bit limited by manufacturer’s that do this.
If I purchased a sat/nav unit, do you know if the information can be live on the computer screen.?

Thanks.

[rickyt]

Originally Posted by collectors

If I purchased a sat/nav unit, do you know if the information can be live on the computer screen.?

Thanks.

Do you mean something like TomTom one or a PDA ?
I dont think you can have the information on the Pc screen . I have 2 Pin 570 's internal GPS devices running SmartST & TT6 , I can link them to a Pc for installing & copying pruposes but the satnav info stays on the satnav , anyway you have to be outside to use them , or in a car .

[Resonance]

Originally Posted by collectors

Hi, hope you can help. I have a situation where I would like live sat/nav on my computer which is on a boat. What I am aiming to do is set up a camera on the boat & when an image/photo is taken, I will have the facility to log the map reference at the same time. What I would like to know is?

Without buying a Sat/nav unit, can I buy a antenna/receiver that will plug in the back of my computer via the UBS socket & then some software to work just the same way as a normal Sat/nav unit would work.
I was just seeing if I could save the price of a sat/nav unit when its seem's I might be able to use a lot of what I already have.

Hope you can help.
PS. The logging of the photos against a map references is a separate issue. Unless there are any ideas on this as well.

You could use a bluetooth GPS receiver (and a separate USB bluetooth device if your PC does not already have bluetooth) and then position-logging software. I found some freeware at www.gpsu.co.uk a few months ago. It sounds like it might do what you want. It looks fairly flexible and can log position, time and many other things when you click a button.

[lynx]

Originally Posted by collectors

. Have found you can get GPS cards for the computer that has an antenna socket for an external unit but am a bit limited by manufacturer’s that do this.

Plenty of GPS antennas available, either usb or serial port...
http://www.pcwb.com/catalogue/item/F...d_name=froogle

www.cpc.co.uk used to have a good selection, try calling their order number for available units.

[Autopilot]

Have a look at copilot, they do a decent enough PC sat nav package.

[hornydragon]

Originally Posted by collectors

Hi, hope you can help. I have a situation where I would like live sat/nav on my computer which is on a boat.

so its on a boat? DO you not have chart/navigation software system on the boat? MArine GPS tends to be more expensive but there oads of choice and lots of packages for the PC a trip to achandler or chandler website wil give you lots of options

[rickyt]

Yeah ,come to think of it , a sat/nav unit such as TT will only work when your on roads .So, maybe another type of software will be needed such a Fugawi .I'm trialing a new bit of software called Tracky on my PDA. I have another post about it .You simply go to the website , choose part of a Google map and load it onto your PDA .The downloaded map is co-ordinated with your GPS ,so you know where you are .It seems very good , I uploaded 2 local maps from the site to my PDA and I now have a photgraphic image of my town as oposed to the standard map .This is from the site :

TrackyPro is a great navigation utility for outdoor activities, including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, driving, sailing, as well as golf, excursions, and geocaching. Provides information about where you were, where you are, and how to get to where you want to be.

[Autopilot]

Sorry, i misread your original post.

Memory map is well worth a look if you want mapping to. I believe there are sea maps, but you can make your own if you like.

[collectors]

Hi all, very big apologies for not getting back to these posts, but I have had no emails to say there was reply’s, & it is turned on. (Strange). Looks really rude of me!
But! back to the problem. The boat is actually a canal narrow boat that will have a main PC in a tiny office on the boat. We will have the facilities of 2 cameras externally (back & front) linked to the PC. I will also have the facility of a monitor/mouse/keyboard at the rear of the boat by the steering/boat controls.
So the idea was to set the cameras up to auto take an image every 2/3’ish minutes that would be saved on a large hard drive. But also to somehow log the position of each image taken with some sort of GPS/photo logging software.

Hop this is a little clearer.

Cheers everyone.

Chris.