September 16, 2009 14:14
My experience either first person or from dozens of customer reports is the majority of USB GPS will work with GPSNavX and MacENC for real-time position plotting, but they do require the requisite OS X driver be installed. Most use the Prolific driver and some use the FTDI driver. These drivers are linked in the GPSNavX and MacENC help.
It is true that currently GPSNavX and MacENC do not support Garmin's proprietary data transfer for real-time plotting as such one must use their PC adapter cable and a Keyspan adapter to extract NMEA-0183 data from them. It is something that may be supported in a future release. Their proprietary format is a bit lacking. For example it does not include Satellite info or active waypoint info. Ideally we would like to see Garmin offer their spanner software on Mac. They have it for PC. What it does is convert their proprietary data into NMEA-0183 data sentences and create a virtual serial port. If they did that then GPSNavX and MacENC could continue to work in the NMEA data world and communicate with autopilots and other marine instrumentation.
We have sold a couple thousand BU-353's and have heard of less then a handful of failures. They work well even below deck and have a 1Hz update rate (certainly adequate for boating use).
Which model Garmin manual were you quoting?
It is true that currently GPSNavX and MacENC do not support Garmin's proprietary data transfer for real-time plotting as such one must use their PC adapter cable and a Keyspan adapter to extract NMEA-0183 data from them. It is something that may be supported in a future release. Their proprietary format is a bit lacking. For example it does not include Satellite info or active waypoint info. Ideally we would like to see Garmin offer their spanner software on Mac. They have it for PC. What it does is convert their proprietary data into NMEA-0183 data sentences and create a virtual serial port. If they did that then GPSNavX and MacENC could continue to work in the NMEA data world and communicate with autopilots and other marine instrumentation.
We have sold a couple thousand BU-353's and have heard of less then a handful of failures. They work well even below deck and have a 1Hz update rate (certainly adequate for boating use).
Which model Garmin manual were you quoting?
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA