Getting started with Franson GpsGate 2.0

Transcription

1 Franson GpsGate Franson Technology AB, All rights reserved User's Guide Franson GpsGate v2.0 for Pocket PC Getting started with Franson GpsGate 2.0 How you install GpsGate. And how you setup GpsGate using the Wizard. In most cases this is all you need to read. License Key How to enter the license key. GPS status information How to see if everything is working. GPS simulator and Logger GPS Simulator How to simulate a GPS for presentations, development and similar indoor activites. GPS/NMEA Logger GPS/NMEA Logger. How to record and replay data from your GPS. Manual configuration of GpsGate Using a Bluetooth GPS as input How to connect a Bluetooth GPS to GpsGate. Using a (NMEA) GPS as input How to connect a NMEA GPS to GpsGate. Connect a GPS application to GpsGate How to connect a GPS application to GpsGate. Advanced usage of GpsGate Sharing GPS data over a network and between computers How to share GPS data using TCP/IP, UDP, Bluetooth or COM ports. NMEA MUX - combine multiple inputs How to merge and split several NMEA channels. Some more advanced features in GpsGate How to run multiple instances of GpsGate, close input when no output is used, block writing and reading, and more... Click here for the GpsGate 1.10 user's guide Click here for the GpsGate 1.03 user's guide (1 of 21) :56:07

2 Technical support can be found in the user forum. We will constantly monitor and answer questions in the forum. The forum also includes frequently asked question (FAQ). FAQ for GpsGate Browse the Technical support forum! Search the Technical support forum! Getting started with GpsGate The main purpose of GpsGate is to share one GPS between several GPS applications running at the same time. In its simplest form GpsGate is very easy to install and setup for a novice user. For the more advanced user there are many other uses as well, like GPS simulator, Logger, protocol translation, sharing over ActiveSync and network sharing to just mention a few, the options for configuration and usage are endless. Install GpsGate for Windows GpsGate 2.0 can be installed on the same computer as GpsGate 1.1 For more information on how to upgrade from GpsGate 1.1 to GpsGate 2.0, please read this: How to upgrade from GpsGate Download GpsGate. 2. Run GpsGatePPC.exe and go through the installation steps. Run GpsGate You can launch GpsGate under "Start->Programs->Franson GpsGate 2.0". The first time GpsGate is run a setup Wizard will start. The Wizard will help you to find your GPS and tell you how to connect your GPS applications to GpsGate. If you have had GpsGate 1.1 installed before the settings from 1.1 will be used in 2.0, and the Wizard will not run. Running the setup Wizard Make sure you turn your GPS on, and connect it to your computer, if it is a wireless Bluetooth GPS simply turn it on. To speed up the search you can uncheck the types of GPS receivers you do not want to search for. If you are unsure, keep all options checked. After this is done, click "Next" and the Wizard will scan your computer for a connected GPS. If you are an advanced user, click "Manual" for a setup process where you have complete control. You can always run the Wizard again from the Settings Dialog. (2 of 21) :56:07

3 Click Next. The Wizard will now start searching for a GPS. This can take some time. When the Wizard finds a GPS, a message dialog is displayed. Click "Yes" to accept the found GPS as input. If you have several GPS receivers connected, click "No" until GpsGate finds the receiver you want to use. (3 of 21) :56:07

4 If GpsGate won't find your GPS, you need to use "Advanced Setup..." Select Output and click "Next". If you are unsure, simply click "Next". The next screen displays a summary. It is importaint to save this summary. You can save it to a file and print it. You can also find the this information later in the Settings dialog (from the Tray menu). You connect Garmin applications like nroute to the first port in the list, and other NMEA applications to the (4 of 21) :56:07

5 remaining ports. You can only connect one application to one port at a time. If you need to create more ports you can do that from the Settings Dialog at any time. Now you can start your GPS applications and connect them to the ports created by GpsGate in the last step above. You can run all the GPS applications at the same time! When GpsGate is running it is displayed as a Tray Icon. By clicking on this icon you can access its functions. You can re-run the Wizard at any time by selecting clicking "Setup Wizard.." in the Settings dialog. Tray icon colors and shapes The tray icon always indicates the status of GpsGate. Here is a list of the possible displayed tray icons: No GPS or NMEA data is detected by GpsGate. Valid GPS data has been detected at the selected input, but the GPS data has no fix, that is it cannot determine its position (yet). A valid GPS position (fix) has been detected at the selected input. (5 of 21) :56:07

6 If the tray icon is not green your GPS application will not display/use a correct position. Install license key If you after 14 days trial want to continue using GpsGate you need to buy a license. If you have purchased a GpsGate Express license, please make sure you have GpsGate 1.10 (or later) installed. 1. First you need to purchase a license key. You will have the key delivered to you by directly after the purchase. You can make the purchase here. 2. Start GpsGate. If your trial period has expired you will have the dialog below displayed to you. If your trial period has not expired, select License Key from the GpsGate tray menu. 3. Enter the license key you received by after your purchase. Then press OK. A common error users do when entering the license key is to mix up "1" (one) with "l" (the letter l as in language). 4. The license key is now installed! GpsGate status Tray icon colors and shapes The tray icon always indicates the status of GpsGate. The status icon is also displayed in the Input tab of the (6 of 21) :56:07

7 Settings dialog. Here is a list of the possible displayed tray icons: No GPS or NMEA data is detected by GpsGate. Valid GPS data has been detected at the selected input, but the GPS data has no fix, that is it cannot determine its position (yet). A valid GPS position (fix) has been detected at the selected input. If the tray icon is not green your GPS application will not display/use a correct position. Detailed status for Input Open the Settings dialog from the Tray menu. In the Input tab, you can read out the status of the Input (GPS). At the status icon you can read out which kind of data is flowing through GpsGate, and the current status. Detailed status for Outputs Open the Output tab in the Settings dialog. By clicking on each item in the list of active Outputs, you can see its status, marked with red arrow in the picture below. Any error message will be shown here or any other useful status information. Here one GPS application is connected to Virtual COM4. (7 of 21) :56:07

8 GPS simulator License GpsGate Standard Version GpsGate 1.00 (and later) GPS Simulator To show the simulator window select "Simulator" from the GpsGate tray menu. NOTE! On Pocket PC you need to go to the Today screen to see the tray icon. You do that by selecting "Start- >Today" (8 of 21) :56:07

9 Use the Insert, Edit and Delete buttons to edit the list of waypoints. The simulator will act as a GPS traveling between the waypoints in the selected speed. NOTE! The waypoints should be entered in decimal degrees. You can use CoordTrans to convert coordinates from other coordinate systems. Use the File menu to save the waypoints to a file. The file can later be reloaded using "Open" (9 of 21) :56:07

10 To start the simulator click Start. NMEA data will now be sent out the virtual serial ports you defined under Settings. To stop the simulator click Stop Use the settings under "Advanced..." to control exactly which NMEA sentences will be used and in what paste they will be sent. If you don't know, just leave it at the default settings. License GpsGate Standard Version GpsGate 1.0 (and later) NMEA Logger The NMEA Logger can be used to record data from a GPS source (selected in the Settings window). And use it for later play back (or other custom use). Standard NMEA sentences are stored in the log file. Record data To start recording data from the GPS, you need to add a "File Recorder" to GpsGate's Output. Open the Settings dialog from the Tray menu and click on the "Output" tab. Then select "File Recorder / NMEA (10 of 21) :56:07

11 Filter" from the drop down, and click "Add". A dialog will open where you can select a file to save the GPS data to. A name derived from the current date and time will be suggested for you. By default log files are saved under "My Documents\GpsGate\GpsLog". Simply click "OK" if you are happy with the preselected file name. You can also select if you want a new log file to be created in a specified interval. GpsGate will in that case save the log files in the selected folder, and name them "Log YYYY-MM-DD HHMMSS.nmea". When you are happy with your settings, click "OK". (11 of 21) :56:07

12 Filter recorded data In the next step you can select how much of the data from the GPS you want to be saved. If you want all data to be saved, simply click "OK". If you have some knowledge of the NMEA format you can specify filters that blocks specific sentences and stores data in intervals, this will save disk space needed by your log files. Playback recorded data (12 of 21) :56:07

13 Open the "NMEA Logger" window from the Tray menu or from the Settings dialogs Input tab. To play back a log file. Click "Play" in the NMEA Logger window and select the log file to play back. If you check "Reset time" GpsGate will change the time stamp of the NMEA data to the current (UTC) time. "Repeat" will make GpsGate automatically restart the log file when it has reached its end. Use "Rewind" and "Forward" to change the playback speed. And use "+/- min" and "+/- hour" to browse back and forward in the log file. License GpsGate Express Version GpsGate 2.0 (and later) Bluetooth GPS This feature enables you to make a direct connection to a Bluetooth GPS, without the need to configure any Bluetooth (virtual) COM ports. This will make configuration much easier, and operation much more stable. For this to be possible you must either Bluetooth hardware that support the MIcrosoft or WidComm/BroadCom stacks. (GpsGate will automatically detect and informa you if this is the case or not.) Detection using the Wizard The easiest way to detect a Bluetooth GPS is to use the Setup Wizard. If you have already run the Wizard you can do it again by opening the Settings dialog and click "Setup Wizard..." More info on the Setup Wizard here. Manual detection Open the Settings dialog from the Tray manu. Select "Bluetooth GPS" from the drop down. Click "Open". (13 of 21) :56:07

14 A dialog now opens which you can use to select your Bluetooth GPS. If the GPS is connected and everything is working, thet GpsGate icon will turn yellow or green. More info here: GPS status information Connection using Bluetooth COM ports (14 of 21) :56:07

15 If the Bluetooth hardware on your computer doesn't support the Microsoft or WidComm stacks, you will need to connect GpsGate to a Bluetooth (virtual) COM port. This port is created by the Bluetooth driver that comes with your Bluetooth hardware. Using a COM port as input. License GpsGate Express Version GpsGate 1.0 (and later) Using serial port (NMEA) GPS as input Detecting a GPS using the Wizard The easiest way to detect a NMEA GPS is to use the Setup Wizard. If you have already run the Wizard you can do it again by opening the Settings dialog and click "Setup Wizard..." More info on the Setup Wizard here. Manually detecting a GPS Open the Settings dialog from the Tray manu. Select "COM Port" from the drop down. Click "Open". A dialog now opens from which you can use to select the port your GPS is connected to. (15 of 21) :56:07

16 If the GPS is connected and everything is working, thet GpsGate icon will turn yellow or green. More info here: GPS status information License GpsGate Express Version GpsGate 1.0 (and later) Connecting a GPS application to GpsGate What is a virtual port? A virtual port is a "fake" serial port that GpsGate creates. GPS applications (and other applications as well) can connect to this port and believe it is a real serial port. The GPS application will believe it is a real GPS. By creating virtual ports, you can have several GPS applications share one GPS. Create virtual ports using the Wizard The easiest way to create some virtual ports is by using the Setup Wizard. If you have already run the Wizard you can do it again by opening the Settings dialog and click "Setup Wizard..." More info on the Setup Wizard here. Manually creating virtual ports Open the Settings dialog from the Tray manu. Select the "Output" tab. Select "Virtual Port" from the drop down. Click "Add". (16 of 21) :56:07

17 A dialog now opens were you can select a virtual port to create. This is the port you should connect your GPS application to. (17 of 21) :56:07

18 License GpsGate Standard Version GpsGate 2.0 (and later) Share GPS data over a network and between computers Franson GpsGate can be used to share one GPS connected to a Pocket PC or laptop to other computers connected to the same LAN. This can be useful if you have several computers in the same vehicle. On each computer running GpsGate you can in turn connect any number of GPS applications to GpsGate, everything running at the same time. Share GPS data over ActiveSync Select "ActiveSync" as Output on the sending computer and "ActiveSync" as Input on the receiving computer. Share GPS data over TCP/IP Select "TCP/IP Server" as Output on the sending computer and "TCP/IP Input" as Input on the receiving computer. Share GPS data over UDP Select "UDP Sender" as Output on the sending computer and "UDP Receiver" as Input on the receiving computer. Share GPS data over Bluetooth Select "Bluetooth Server" as Output on the sending computer and "Bluetoth GPS" as Input on the receiving computer. The "Bluetooth Server" will emulate a real Bluetooth GPS. You can connect any number of GPS applications to the "Bluetooth Server" over Bluetooth as it was a real GPS. Share GPS data over a COM port To share a GPS over a NULL modem between two computers. Select "COM Port" as Output on the sending computer and "COM Port" as Input on the receiving computer. (18 of 21) :56:07

19 License GpsGate Standard Version GpsGate 2.0 (and later) NMEA MUX - Using several inputs to GpsGate You need to click "Show more options..." in the Advanced tab to for all features described below. What is a NMEA MUX? This feature is useful if you have several devices that generate NMEA data, and you want to combine the data from those devices. This can for example be AIS + GPS data. GpsGate can combine NMEA input from several inputs and merge it into one stream. This stream can typically be streamed over a network using UDP or TCP/IP. And it can be received and split up again at some other computer by GpsGate. Another option is to merge a set of NMEA inputs and stream it to one virtual port to which a GPS/ NMEA application is connected that can handle the merged stream of NMEA data. The merged stream can also be saved by the GPS/NMEA Logger for later replay. Setting up the inputs Open the Input tab in the Settings dialog. Select "Use multiple inputs (MUX)". Then add all inputs you want to collect NMEA data from. Note that you can add an NMEA filter to each input. Setting up the Outputs Open the Output tab. Add all Outputs you want to forward NMEA data to. Note that some of the Output plugins like (19 of 21) :56:07

20 "Virtual Port / NMEA Filter" and "UDP Sender / NMEA Filter" has filters you can use to selectively forward certain NMEA data. Very advanced: It is possible to add an NMEA Filter to any of the plugins like TCP/IP by editing the ggxml files you find in the "Chains" folder. Advanced features in GpsGate You need to click "Show more options..." in the Advanced tab to for all features described below. Where settings files are saved By default are settings saved under "My Documents\GpsGate\Instances". This means each user account on one computer will have separate settings. If you want all users on the same computer to share the same settings, goto the Advanced tab in the Settings dialog. Click on "Show more options", and then check "Share settings for all user accounts". You need to restart GpsGate for the settings to take effect. Now the settings are saved under "\Program Files\Franson\GpsGate 2.0\Instances" which is the same directory where GpsGate 2.0 is installed. You need to configure GpsGate again if no previous settings are saved at the new location. You can run the Wizard again, configure GpsGate manually, or copy the "Instances" directory from the old location. GpsGate will never delete any settings when making this change. You must be logged in as administrator to make this change, and to configure GpsGate in shared mode. GpsGate 1.1 saved its settings in the registry. GpsGate 2.0 will try to import the GpsGate 1.1 settings if found the first time GpsGate 2.0 is started. After this first import, GpsGate 2.0 will not try this import again. (20 of 21) :56:07

21 Close input when nothing is connected to outputs To save battery on a Bluetooth GPS it can be a good thing to close the GPS input connection when no GPS application is connected to the output anyway. You can enabled this option by selecting "Close input when no outputs are opened" in the Input tab of the Settings dialog. By default it is turned off. You need to click "Show more options..." in the Advanced tab to see this option. Block data to and from Output By default all data written to an Output. For example data written back to a virtual port by an application is also written back to the Input (GPS). You can block data from a specific Output by selecting "Block data from Output" before you add the Output plugin. In a similar way you can select "Block data to Output". Multiple instances GpsGate 2.0 can be run in multiple instances. This means GpsGate can handle several GPS receivers as inputs and route its data to different places. GpsGate can also be used to route none GPS data. All Input and Output plugins that do not have a filter will pass all kind of data through. Go to the "Advanced" tab in the Settings dialog. There you can create, select, rename and delete instances. The settings for each instance will be saved under a new sub folder in the "Instances" folder. You can route data beween the different instances. The NMEA logger and GPS simulator can be used for each instance. Activate and deactivate an instance When using several instances it can be convenient to deactive and activate them. By unchecking "Active" in the "Advanced" tab an instance will be deactivated, and all its inputs and outputs will be closed until the instance is activated again, or the Input is opened manually again. GpsGate error tracking GpsGate for Developers Franson Technology AB, All rights reserved (franson.com) (21 of 21) :56:07