pilot wrote:

I have a laptop with a USb-Bluetooth connected to it. I am using a
Bluetooth GPS for navigation (Garmin 10). I also have a software to
read AIS messages from an AIS receiver.

I'm curious and have some questions. This is more from self
enlightenment than my being able to answer your questions.

What is the application being used for navigation? And are you using
more than one application?

Is the GPS 10 configured to transmit both NMEA standard sentences? Or
Garmin protocol sentences? Or Both?

What is the make or model of the AIS receiver?
And does it have a NMEA output? As Bluetooth? Or Serial?

I want to combine both. The software is ready: I could double check
position from the GPS, and from the AIS of the ship (I am a maritime
pilot).

What software? And will it handle multiple serial inputs?

If you want to combine NMEA sentences from two or more sources and send
it to a serial port (USB or RS-232), you could use a multiplexer to
combine the NMEA data strings. This is a piece of hardware (typical
ones are at http://www.shipmodul.com/en/). Sending the combined data to
one port will allow one application to use it, a single serial port
can't be shared as far as I know.

If the data is being received via one serial port (USB or RS-232) and
needs to be used by two or more applications running simultaneously, you
could use a virtual port software to put the same data on more (virtual)
serial ports and each application could use one of them.

Are you trying to display the AIS data on the same application that is
being used for navigation? If so, what is the output from the AIS
receiver? It is NMEA serial data?

Is there a solution to this? Do I need 2 USB-Bluetooth connectors?
Anything existing to manage the 2 inputs entering at the same time ?

I'm trying to visualize this. You have your navigation track going, is
a track also kept for each AIS vessel? Or are they location markers?

Meindert will be along shortly and I'll bet he has all the answers.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)