"Armond Perretta" wrote in
:

I think you both are onto the explanation. I suspected that something
was hijacking the port so I restarted the machine and did not run
Capn, but instead tried ON Lite and SeaClear separately.
Unfortunately that didn't do the trick as the port still appears to be
closed to the other software. What would happen if I used an
additional USB-to-serial converter in another USB socket? Maybe I'll
try the next time I'm at the yard.



The Cap'n driver would load and hijack the port on Windows bootup when the
drivers load, not the startup apps. The port is reserved by the driver
very early in the process....

Try this non-destructive change.

Open Device Manager....

Click the + box next to USB Controllers and look for the driver Cap'n has
its name on or some USB-to-Serial driver which may be more generic. I've
never hunted this driver down, myself.

Open any USB controller driver that looks like The Cap'n and look at the
driver's author. There is a selector to DISABLE the driver without
uninstalling The Cap'n, which would free up the port so your other software
could access the USB data coming in. You can always re-ENABLE it to make
it work again for The Cap'n.

OK your way out and remember how you got there, then try the new softwares.

--
Larry

"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...
Steve Lusardi wrote:
If one application sees your GPSs, the problem with Offshore
Navigation Light and SeaClearII is clearly not hardware. That stated,
the question is now the new applications. How did you get them? Are
they legal? Do you need an activation code? Do you need a dongle? How
about calling application tech support if you have legal copies.

SeaClear is freeware with an open license. ON Lite is essentially
freeware
that Maptech supplied (or still supplies?) with certain chart packages
that
are encrypted. It was necessary, for example, to load ON Lite to set up
my
Bermuda electronic charts. In both cases these apps are "legal" if I
understand the nature of your comment. Good point, but I am not sure this
is the issue.


--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare


You might find something in here, SeaClear Manual MMV En.pdf, part of the
SeaClear file download.

Dennis.

Larry wrote:

Open Device Manager....

Click the + box next to USB Controllers and look for the driver Cap'n
has its name on or some USB-to-Serial driver which may be more
generic. I've never hunted this driver down, myself.

Open any USB controller driver that looks like The Cap'n and look at
the driver's author. There is a selector to DISABLE the driver
without uninstalling The Cap'n, which would free up the port so your
other software could access the USB data coming in. You can always
re-ENABLE it to make it work again for The Cap'n ...

I have 2 identical laptops with Capn and the other software installed on
each. As far as is possible these are identical installations (the idea
being that a complete back-up computer is simpler than reinstalling,
reformatting, etc., in a pinch). I used these computers on a recent cruise
to southern New England and they were fine, although at that time I had not
started messing with ON Lite or SeaClear. BTW these apps were loaded mostly
out of curiosity. I may consider migrating if the support situation with
Capn remains at its current low level (and I started using Capn with its DOS
version in 1993).

On the laptop I'm using right now to type this, there is a complete Capn
install with a USB-to-serial dongle. This setup was in use recently and ran
well, including the interface with the SR162 AIS receiver. I purchased a
"Y" adapter from Milltech that allows me to feed the GPS into the AIS
receiver, which then transmits the combined GPS and AIS data at 38,000 BAUD
to the laptop via the USB-to-serial adapter. A little bit Rube Goldbergy
but it works. Believe me, it was way COOL to get targets and CPA on the
screen, especially in a breeze at night off Montauk. But that's another
subject. Here's some info on the hardware on this box.

The Capn works with the associated USB converter. However I also manage my
home alarm system with this box. The panel communicates with the DLS
software via a serial port, and in the present case I use the same
USB-to-serial converter. And it works just fine. In other words on this
computer, I can run Capn and get GPS data in the afternoon, then take the
computer home and manage the alarm that night. No port hijacking.

Puzzling(?).

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

Hi, Armond,

Others have preceded me but a couple of observations from my point of view
he

Once Cap'n (or any other) is running with the GPS found, it's using that
port. You'd need another USB puck to make them work simultaneously. I
discovered this by trying to use Capn and Maxsea together.

My setup is hardwired to a Serial port, not an adapter, so that's not the
issue...

That said, I had a S/U adapter which should have worked out of the box, but
didn't, for my Pactor modem. I had to use a Knoppix tool to discover who
made it, and from there was able to download the proper driver. Once that
was installed, it worked properly.

So, if you haven't done that, likely the adapter has specific drivers that
are needed. It may be that the Cap'n has those drivers and can make it
happen without their being native in the startup of your computer.

Another anomaly I discovered is that my HD through a powered hub won't
succeed in an Acronis backup. Run directly to a USB port it works fine.
So, even though it's a high quality hub, there's data problems, apparently,
for some applications.

HTH...

L8R

Skip, still refitting, but getting close - Sept 8 we leave with grandkids
for a sea trial to see if they want to go to the Bahamas via ocean with us
the following week (or whenever the right weather window shows up)

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
its hand
(Richard Bach)

On Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:21:22 -0400, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

Skip, still refitting, but getting close - Sept 8 we leave with grandkids
for a sea trial to see if they want to go to the Bahamas via ocean with us
the following week (or whenever the right weather window shows up)

Skip, I would *really*, *strongly* encourage you to wait for the end
of the hurricane season before going offshore. After Nov 1 is usually
a good time.

"Armond Perretta" wrote in news:-
:

Puzzling(?).



Very.

My captain didn't like the USB cord dangling off the chart table, so I
wifi'd the whole system using a Webfoot RS232 (close enough) to Ethernet
adapter on the serial port of the boat's Noland NMEA multiplexer. The
Ethernet is plugged into a Netgear wifi router which creates the boat's
hotspot for all the wifi devices in a wireless LAN, including file sharing,
etc. Webfoot comes with a virtual serial port driver that interfaces with
the wireless LAN to connect itself to the Webfoot over the network, even
across the internet if that's what you need. The virtual serial port can
be any COM port you like in the laptop it's mounted in so when the Cap'n
goes searching for NMEA data it stumbles upon COM3 with NMEA on what
appears, to The Cap'n, as a real serial port hooked to the boat's NMEA
network boxes.

You can even take the laptop to other boats or the Yacht Club nearby and
have "remote control" of the NMEA devices, up to about 200-300' away.

With a charged laptop, or better yet a WinXP netbook with a long running
battery, you can operate the boat's extensive NMEA system laid out in a
beanbag under the genoa with your favorite beverage and snack, hollering
back to the winch slaves in the cockpit, "Prepare to come about!" as you
click a new waypoint for the B&G Network Pilot to steer to on the laptop in
front of you....(c;]

How disgusting.......



--
Larry

On Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:04:35 +0000, Larry wrote:

My captain didn't like the USB cord dangling off the chart table, so I
wifi'd the whole system using a Webfoot RS232 (close enough) to Ethernet
adapter on the serial port of the boat's Noland NMEA multiplexer.

Cool. Sounds like you need 2 WebFoot adapters unless you have a
multiplexer with ethernet out? Is there a provision for multiple
listeners on the same ethernet data stream, using multiple Webfoot
adapters?

Larry wrote:
..

Open Device Manager....

Click the + box next to USB Controllers and look for the driver Cap'n
has its name on or some USB-to-Serial driver which may be more
generic. I've never hunted this driver down, myself.

Open any USB controller driver that looks like The Cap'n and look at
the driver's author. There is a selector to DISABLE the driver
without uninstalling The Cap'n, which would free up the port so your
other software could access the USB data coming in. You can always
re-ENABLE it to make it work again for The Cap'n ...

On both of the laptops I use for navigation, I was unable to find anything
in the USB section of Device Manager that was other than Microsoft-generic.
All the usual standard drivers from about 2001 for USB hubs, etc. However
under the Ports section in Device Manager I located the virtual serial port
whose driver matched the driver I loaded from software supplied by
the manufacturer. I disabled this, but was unable to see GPS data or
capture the port with either SeaClear or ON Lite. I did not yet take a
second USB-serial adapter down to the boat yard and try that angle.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

Wayne.B wrote in
news
Cool. Sounds like you need 2 WebFoot adapters unless you have a
multiplexer with ethernet out? Is there a provision for multiple
listeners on the same ethernet data stream, using multiple Webfoot
adapters?



The RS-232C port on the Noland is bidirectional. It takes and sends serial
data from the one Webfoot fine.

I don't think you can connect more than one Ethernet user to it at a time.
It's been on the boat and working so long I've forgotten but it doesn't say
that in the pdf on:

http://www.i****chdogs.com/DataSheets/WF111803.pdf

--
Larry

"Armond Perretta" wrote in
:

On both of the laptops I use for navigation, I was unable to find
anything in the USB section of Device Manager that was other than
Microsoft-generic. All the usual standard drivers from about 2001 for
USB hubs, etc. However under the Ports section in Device Manager I
located the virtual serial port whose driver matched the driver I
loaded from software supplied by the manufacturer. I disabled this,
but was unable to see GPS data or capture the port with either
SeaClear or ON Lite. I did not yet take a second USB-serial adapter
down to the boat yard and try that angle.



Let's see if there is data on the port and if we can connect to it.

Open HyperTerminal from the Windows Accessories/Communications and setup to
read the port the NMEA data USB to Serial adapter is using. If NMEA data
is on the port, it will stream across hyperterminal like mad. Turn the
virtual serial port back on to create the COM port for Hyperterminal to
connect to.....Once you get that running and data streaming, these other
programs should see it too, but only one at a time. Only one app can
connect to a serial port at a time.



--
Larry