Revolution Reading GPS Data

Graham Samuel livfoss at mac.com
Tue Mar 4 05:45:04 EST 2008


FWIW, the GPS device I described is marketed by a European sports  
retailer, Decathlon, as KeyMaze 300 GH-601. I've found out via the  
SiRF web site (the device uses a SiRFstarIII processor) that it is  
actually a rebranded GlobalSat GH-601 - this is GlobalSat of Taiwan.  
On the SiRF site this is further described at

http://www.sirf.com/success_10.html

Annoyingly the device is not described on GlobalSat's own web site (a  
site search reveals nothing), but strangely their FAQ pages provide a  
little info about downloading firmware for it etc. I suppose this  
means that either the thing is obsolete or else my retailer Decathlon  
has made an exclusive deal to market it - they are certainly selling  
it quite vigorously. I tried emailing GlobalSat to see if they have  
any more information available, but they didn't reply. I guess they  
don't deal with consumers.

The device comes with a bit of PC software which is just about  
adequate, but I would not say that it was well-written or complete -  
its UI is crude and it doesn't even help to file all the information  
which it extracts from the device, and indeed it may be throwing away  
information (such as timestamps) which is just not visible to the user.

It looks to me as if my wish to create better software for it (on a  
Mac primarily) is pretty much a dead end - although if I can get hold  
of a serial-to-USB converter I might be able to experiment a bit.

BTW I wonder why Rev has never entered the world of USB - I don't  
know about Linux, but for PCs and Macs, USB appears to be a  
completely standard interface and one which has been mandatory on all  
models of machine for many years. There must by a USB API for these  
operating systems - is it much more of a challenge to RunRev than the  
many other things they've had to incorporate? I do believe there is  
at least some level of demand.

Graham

On Sun, 2 Mar 2008 16:49:22 -0500, Thomas McGrath III  
<3mcgrath at comcast.net> wrote:

> Graham,
>
> What is the make and model of the device?
>
> Most of the devices that I have seen (even the USB only ones) use
> serial commands or a converter to serial commands. I have come across
> a few generic USB drivers for things like the Keyspan High Speed
> Serial converter. It is a Serial to USB hardware converter. BUT it
> uses serial commands in the device, the USB driver only emulates a
> serial port on the Mac.
>
> I have also noticed that other types of devices use the same exact
> driver. I can look it up if you tell me more.
>
> So a little more info on the device will help.
>
>
> Tom McG
>
>
> On Mar 2, 2008, at 3:26 PM, Graham Samuel wrote:
>
>> This interests me also - I have a simple GPS device (a so-called
>> 'training' device) which captures trackpoints and waypoints. Its
>> current PC software is just that, i.e. it doesn't work on a Mac, and
>> more or less the only thing it can do is to create a kml file for
>> use by Google Earth. I am not at all sure that it uses the same
>> chipset as the mainstream GPS devices (the kind you can pre-
>> programme with a route, like Garmin etc), but my main problem in
>> even starting to deal with it is the lack of USB capability in Rev.
>> In order to talk to the device, I have to have a USB driver of some
>> kind and I absolutely do not know where to start. I have tried
>> emailing both the retailer and the manufacturer for advice but
>> neither has bothered to reply.
>>
>> Has anyone got any advice about cracking the USB problem?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Graham
>>




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