Good evening guys. Has anyone used Vista to download the recievers? I can't get mine to wok, it won't recognize the cradle. If this has been polsted before, sorry. David.
I Seriously Doubt Vista Can Do Anything
I have purposely stayed with Windows XP. Will have to pick Win 7 or 8 though soon.
I also purposely bought a refurbished laptop because it had a hard wired COM and LPT1 port. COM port for my data collector, PM2 cradle and Z-12 cable. The LPT1 port for my Ashtech Solutions dongle.
A surveyor I work with has just ordered a new desktop, with a hard wired COM port.
My point is to avoid the communication problem before it begins.
Paul in PA
Are you using a real serial port or a serial to usb adapter?
If you have a desktop, the simplest solution is to buy a cheap serial card and put it in. It should be easy to set up, although you may have to go into the bios to make sure it has the correct address or change jumpers on the card to match the bios setting.
Some usb adapters work, some don't. I have one with the prolific(?) chipset, I think from IO Gear, and have had NO problems with it.
I think this has been discussed before. Try a search in this forum for 'promark' or 'serial' and see if there's already an answer.
David,
My laptop is Vista with Ashtech Solutions. Although it's been a while, I remember it was difficult to get the software to properly recognize the port using a 9-pin to USB adapter.
But it does work.
I'm shooting from the hip here, but I believe I remember not plugging the USB into the computer until the Ashtech Solutions download dialog box was open. The process had to be repeated for each receiver. There was some sort of voodoo, double clutch, control-alt swastika thing that I came up with, just can't remember zackly how right now.
It was a bee-awch, but it did work. If I can get it to work, a pre-schooler probably could, too.
USB port
I think you may have to plug the usb adapter in before picking the COM port in GNSS Solutions or the previous Ashtech software, then find out what serial port the adapter looks like.
In XP, you have to go to Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager and open Ports. If you do this before plugging in the adapter, you should see the new port appear. Or check before and afterward and see what port is new. On my computer, it comes up as COM4 or COM6 on the front panel usb ports. I assume the COM port depends on which usb port you plug into.
For some applications, using a usb adapter still means using the original cord to connect from the adapter to the hardware, aka PM2.
That Would Be A Null Modem Cable
A null modem cable has 2 pins switched from a standard serial cable. That indicates to the host computer that it is connected to another computer for information interchange.
Paul in PA
That Would Be A Null Modem Cable
The download managers from Ashtech Solutions and GNSS Solutions appear to be very similar. I don't know if this is the issue but the first thing I would check is to look at device manager to see what port the computer is assigning to your USB to Serial adapter (assuming that is your means of attempting the connection).
I have a laptop with Windows 7 and am able to connect to PM2 units using the standard cradle and serial cable through a USB adapter. If you know you have the right port selected, sometimes it is possible to get the computer's attention but moving the USB to Serial adapter to a port that you have been using with something like a USB mouse that is operating normally. Doing this will most likely result in the computer assigning a different COM port to the adapter, but sometimes it gets the computer's attention.
For the record, I have done tech support on these type of issues for about thirteen years now. I may not know the answer to your problem but I do know some things that have worked for me in the past.
That Would Be A Null Modem Cable
The PM2 cradle is set up as a "standard" serial device to connect directly to a standard computer serial port. The usb adapter looks like a standard serial port to devices plugged into it.
Were you to hook the serial end of the usb adapter to another computer or standard serial port, yes, you would need a null modem cable or adapter to reverse the send and receive pins (2 to 3 and 3 to 2) as a minimum. If you need handshaking, other lines have to be rerouted as well.