OpenCPN 5 on Windows 10 not recognising NMEA GPS data

[Strolls]

Hello,

I have an old Palm Navigator bluetooth GPS which has paired just fine with Windows and which appears as COM ports 3, 4, 6 & 7.

The NMEA debug page shows a scrolling page of NMEA sentences, but my location is nevertheless shown as Georgetown.

The same bluetooth GPS works just fine on my MacBook running OpenCPN 4.8.6, and my location is shown correctly as Brittany in France.

Copied from GPS debug window:

<GREEN>05:26:40 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042500.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*65<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:40 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:41 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042501.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*4D<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:41 (Serial:COM7) $GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*1E<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:41 (Serial:COM7) $GPGSV,2,1,05,10,24,012,,28,11,326,,25,16,222,,32,07,313,23*72<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:41 (Serial:COM7) $GPGSV,2,2,05,01,01,008,*44<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:41 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042501.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*64<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:41 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:42 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042502.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*4E<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:42 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042502.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*67<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:42 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:43 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042503.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*4F<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:43 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042503.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*66<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:43 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:44 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042504.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*48<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:44 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042504.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*61<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:44 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:45 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042505.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*49<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:45 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042505.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*60<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:45 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:46 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042506.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*4A<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:46 (Serial:COM7) $GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*1E<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:46 (Serial:COM7) $GPGSV,2,1,05,10,24,012,,28,11,326,,25,16,222,27,32,07,313,*76<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:46 (Serial:COM7) $GPGSV,2,2,05,01,01,008,*44<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:46 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042506.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*63<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:46 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:47 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042507.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*4B<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:47 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042507.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*62<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:47 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:48 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042508.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*44<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:48 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042508.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*6D<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:48 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:49 (Serial:COM7) $GPGGA,042509.907,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,0,00,,-2.9,M,51.2,M,,0000*45<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:49 (Serial:COM7) $GPRMC,042509.907,V,4843.0206,N,00358.0212,W,,,190620,,,N*6C<0x0D><0x0A>
<GREEN>05:26:49 (Serial:COM7) $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C<0x0D><0x0A>

OpenCPN log:

________
05:33:33: 2020-06-19
05:33:33:  ------- Starting OpenCPN -------
05:33:33: 5.0.0+9065270
05:33:33: wxWidgets version: wxWidgets 3.1.2 Microsoft Windows NT 64 bit wxMSW
05:33:33: OS Version reports as:  10.0
05:33:33: MemoryStatus:  mem_total: 4020 mb,  mem_initial: 13 mb
05:33:33: SData_Locn is C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\
05:33:33: PrivateDataDir is C:\ProgramData\opencpn\
05:33:33: Using existing Config_File: C:\ProgramData\opencpn\opencpn.ini
05:33:33: Setting Ownship Lat/Lon 33.358, -79.282
05:33:33: Switch InlandEcdis mode Off
05:33:33: Styles loading from C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\uidata\styles.xml
05:33:33: No styles found at: C:\ProgramData\opencpn\
05:33:33: No styles found at: C:\ProgramData\opencpn\.opencpn\
05:33:33: Using SVG Icons
05:33:33: Detected display size (horizontal): 276 mm
05:33:33: Getting DefaultSystemLocale...
05:33:33: Found LanguageInfo for: English
05:33:33: System default Language:  en_GB
05:33:33: Config file language:  en_US
05:33:33: Adjusted App language:  en_US
5:33:33 AM: Opencpn language load for:  en_US
5:33:33 AM: Loading catalog for opencpn core.
5:33:33 AM: Getting DefaultSystemLocale...
5:33:33 AM: Found LanguageInfo for: English
5:33:33 AM: Opencpn language set to:  en_US
5:33:33 AM: Loading Configs catalog: C:\ProgramData\opencpn\Configs\configs.xml
5:33:33 AM: Creating MyFrame...size(1344, 721)  position(-9, -9)
5:33:33 AM: Creating glChartCanvas
5:33:33 AM: Metrics:  m_display_size_mm: 276     wxDisplaySize:  1920:1080   
5:33:33 AM: Loading Tide/Current data source: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\tcdata\HARMONIC.IDX
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Renderer String: Intel(R) HD Graphics 400
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Version reported:  4.4.0 - Build 20.19.15.4444
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Detected Intel renderer, disabling stencil buffer
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Texture rectangle format: de1
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Using Vertexbuffer Objects
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Using Framebuffer Objects
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Using FBO Stencil buffer
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Using Depth buffer clipping
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Not Using compression
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Minimum cartographic line width:  1.0
5:33:34 AM: OpenGL-> Minimum symbol line width:  1.0
5:33:34 AM: ChartSymbols loaded from C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\s57data\chartsymbols.xml
5:33:34 AM: Using s57data in C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\s57data
5:33:35 AM: ChartDB Cache policy:  Application target is 1024 MBytes
5:33:35 AM: Loading chart db version: V018
5:33:35 AM: Chartdb: Chart directory list follows
5:33:35 AM:   Chart directory #0: C:\Users\Andy\Documents\Charts\GSHHG
5:33:35 AM:   Chart directory #1: E:\CPN+Others_Charts
5:33:35 AM:   Chart directory #2: D:\Charts\British Columbia charts (Nobeltec, BSB)
5:33:35 AM:   Chart directory #3: D:\Charts\CM93 v2 (01.05.2013)
5:33:35 AM: GPS Watchdog Timeout is: 6 sec.
5:33:35 AM: OpenCPN Initialized in 2346 ms.
5:33:35 AM: Loading World Chart Q=0 in 0 ms.
5:33:35 AM: GSHHS World chart files have wrong version. Found -1, expected 210-220.
5:33:35 AM: Loading World Chart Q=3 in 2 ms.
5:33:37 AM: DPMM: 6.95652   ScaleFactorExp: 1
5:33:37 AM: Looking for UserIcons at C:\ProgramData\opencpn\UserIcons
5:33:37 AM: Loading navobjects from navobj.xml
5:33:37 AM: Done loading navobjects, 0 duplicate waypoints ignored
5:33:37 AM: Opening NMEA Datastream Serial:COM7
5:33:37 AM: PlugInManager: plugins loading from C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins
5:33:37 AM: PlugInManager searching for PlugIns in location C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins
5:33:37 AM: PlugInManager: Loading PlugIn: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\chartdldr_pi.dll
5:33:37 AM: PlugInManager:  C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\chartdldr_pi.dll
              API Version detected: 113
              PlugIn Version detected: 103
5:33:37 AM: chartdldr_pi: C:\Users\Andy\Documents\Charts
5:33:37 AM: chartdldr_pi: C:\Users\Andy\Documents\Charts
5:33:37 AM: PlugInManager: Loading PlugIn: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\wmm_pi.dll
5:33:37 AM: PlugInManager:  C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\wmm_pi.dll
              API Version detected: 108
              PlugIn Version detected: 101
5:33:37 AM: WMM: WMM model data loaded from file C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\wmm_pi\data\WMM.COF.
5:33:37 AM: Opencpn language load for:  en_US
5:33:37 AM: Loading catalog for:  opencpn-chartdldr_pi
5:33:37 AM: Loading catalog for:  opencpn-wmm_pi
5:33:37 AM: Loading catalog for opencpn core.
5:33:37 AM: Getting DefaultSystemLocale...
5:33:37 AM: Found LanguageInfo for: English
5:33:40 AM: options: got device count: 1
5:33:41 AM: Changing NMEA Datasource for GPGGA to Serial:COM7 (Priority: 1)
5:33:41 AM: Changing NMEA Datasource for GPRMC to Serial:COM7 (Priority: 1)
5:33:41 AM: Changing NMEA Datasource for GPVTG to Serial:COM7 (Priority: 1)
5:33:41 AM: Changing NMEA Datasource for GPGSA to Serial:COM7 (Priority: 1)
5:33:41 AM: Changing NMEA Datasource for GPGSV to Serial:COM7 (Priority: 1)
5:33:42 AM:    ***GPS Watchdog timeout at Lat:33.358   Lon: -79.282
5:33:54 AM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\chartdldr_pi.dll
5:33:54 AM: chartdldr_pi: DeInit
5:33:54 AM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\wmm_pi.dll
5:33:54 AM: opencpn::MyFrame exiting cleanly.
5:33:54 AM: Chart cache purge
5:33:54 AM: Chart cache PlugIn purge
5:33:54 AM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\chartdldr_pi.dll
5:33:54 AM: PlugInManager: Deactivating PlugIn: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\plugins\wmm_pi.dll
5:33:54 AM: Closing NMEA Datastream Serial:COM7
5:33:54 AM: Stopping Secondary Thread
5:33:55 AM: Stopped in 1 sec.
5:33:55 AM: Chart cache purge
5:33:55 AM: opencpn::MyApp starting exit.
5:33:55 AM: LOGBOOK:  2020-06-19 04:33:55 UTC OFF: Lat   33.35800 Lon  -79.28200
5:33:56 AM: UnLoading Tide/Current data source: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN\tcdata\HARMONIC.IDX
5:33:56 AM: opencpn::MyApp exiting cleanly…

Can anyone advise how to proceed, please?

Stroller.

[Hakan]

Stroller..
Your GPS sentences are read by OCPN but according to the log-file the program is closed some second(s) after the detection on COM7.
Did you try to give click "OK" in the Options window and give it some more time?

[Dsanduril]

Your NMEA data shows that the GPS is sending the fixes as "invalid", so OpenCPN is ignoring them.

In the RMC sentence, the "V" in the second field means "Void" - a valid fix should have an "A" here (active). In the GGA sentence, after the "W" for west longitude the next "0" is the validity, 0=invalid fix - generally you want a 1 or a 2 here, although the entries go up to 8.

So, short answer, OpenCPN is ignoring the data because the GPS says it is no good. Maybe a better view of the sky when connected to Mac? Or more time booting up? Or possibly OpenCPN used to ignore the validity characters?

[Strolls]

Originally Posted by Hakan

Stroller..
Your GPS sentences are read by OCPN but according to the log-file the program is closed some second(s) after the detection on COM7.
Did you try to give click "OK" in the Options window and give it some more time?

Sorry, I reopened and then closed OpenCPN to take that log, but it had been running for some time before that.

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

Your NMEA data shows that the GPS is sending the fixes as "invalid", so OpenCPN is ignoring them.

In the RMC sentence, the "V" in the second field means "Void" - a valid fix should have an "A" here (active). In the GGA sentence, after the "W" for west longitude the next "0" is the validity, 0=invalid fix - generally you want a 1 or a 2 here, although the entries go up to 8.

So, short answer, OpenCPN is ignoring the data because the GPS says it is no good. Maybe a better view of the sky when connected to Mac? Or more time booting up? Or possibly OpenCPN used to ignore the validity characters?

Thanks very much. I looked up the GPS NMEA sentence information and compared it with my previous post and I can see you're right.

So I fired up both machines, and now it's working perfectly. So I have no idea what I was doing differently before - I'm sitting in the same spot, and both laptops are beside me.

Thank you for your help, and sorry to have wasted your time.

[Dsanduril]

Can’t speak for Hakan, no waste of my time. Glad you got it working. I’d guess the GPS didn’t acquire a valid fix for some reason and just kept sending the last fix.

[Hakan]

Time can't be waste. When present is used a new time is always coming up.

Glad you got it working. All gadgets are more or less sensitive for a stop and restart action. Not only Windows.