Argg. You track down the right cable you need. You plug one end into your GPS receiver and the other into your computer. And nothing happens. Exactly. Nothing should happen because you need to be running some type of software on your computer that enables the two devices to talk to each other. Before I discuss interface software, however, I have to lay some groundwork. The programs designed to communicate with GPS receivers have one thing in common: You need to specify certain communication parameters in both the program and the GPS receiver for the devices to successfully exchange data. If the settings aren’t correct, you may as well try to communicate with someone a thousand miles away by sending smoke signals through a telephone line. Although setting the right communications parameters isn’t that difficult, it can be a bit confusing. This section guides you through the process and also gives you some tips on smoothing out some common problems that you may encounter, beginning with ports and their settings. Setting up communications between a GPS receiver and a PC is a one-time process. After you get everything working, no worries about the next time.
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