Mapping and GIS Solutions Community

Hi

I've been trying to use a DA2 Catalyst as a GPS for bathymetric purposes. I can pair the DA2 with a computer via Bluetooth, which creates two serial ports. In the hydrographic software I do a device test of one of ports created and I can see the DA2 is sending data. However, this data sent is not represented as coordinates or a position in the hydrographic software. 

Some of the configuration parameters for the GPS in the hydrographic software are Speed (i don't know it) Data Bits (8 is default) Stop Bits (1 is default) Parity (None is default) Flow Control (None is fault). I tried without success all the speeds available, which are between 300 and 921600.

I spoke to the hydrographic software support about this issue and they told me maybe the DA2 is not sending the correct sentences. They say it should send GGA and VTG. I've tried to search a way to modify the sentences of the DA2 but haven't found how to. Any ideas or possible solutions?

Thanks

------------------------------
Felipe Lopez
------------------------------

Hi,

I'll start with the bad news right away - this will not work the way you'd like it.

The messages the hydrographic software support is referring to are NMEA messages - GGA for the position and VTG for velocity and heading typically.
Trimble DA2 does not support NMEA directly because there is no web service running compared to other Trimble receivers like a Trimble R2.
So a Trimble R2 for example allows to output NMEA messages on a virtual COM port - this feature is tightly coupled to a web service running on the receiver which allows to configure NMEA, show the position, do firmware update etc. 
In contrast the DA2 has a pure binary interface given its simpler build - meaning it can only talk the Trimble native language.
To output NMEA you would need an application running e.g. on Android that receives the messages from DA2 and then outputs them in NMEA-GGA format. While this is technically more or less easy the next problem with this approach would be the hydrographic software - because I doubt they can connect to an Android phone... Default software packages support virtual COM ports - which do not exists in Android... 

The easiest solution for you would be using a receiver with build-in NMEA capabilities. A Trimble R2 would be an option - or something in that ballpark.

Sorry for the bad news
Nico

------------------------------
Nico Becke
------------------------------