Can I use an external mouse GPS with OSMAND+

[Neville MADDEN]

Good morning,

I have OSMAND+ on my tablet and plan to travel around India by train.  A test here in Brisbane Australia, showed that the tablet could not pick-up the GPS signal inside the electric train.  But with a Holux GR 213 mouse GPS in a laptop it works OK with the mouse stuck to the train window.

I don't want to lug a tablet and a laptop around India so I'm looking for any suggestions.

Thanks

Neville QLD Australia

[SonWon]

A different tablet may work better, some have better gps antennas.

At any moment, you have a choice, that leads you closer to God or further from God.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OsmAnd" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to osmand+un...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/osmand/0a65a9c5-1998-497e-a86d-719482a02483n%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg Troxel]

Neville MADDEN <nrmad...@gmail.com> writes:

> I have OSMAND+ on my tablet and plan to travel around India by train. A
> test here in Brisbane Australia, showed that the tablet could not pick-up
> the GPS signal inside the electric train. But with a Holux GR 213 mouse
> GPS in a laptop it works OK with the mouse stuck to the train window.

(A better tablet might be a reasonable approach. Beware that every
vehicle is different and that coatings on windows matter.)

There are two approaches: direct support in the program, and mocking.
This assumes you are using Android.

Direct support means the program can connect over bluetooth SPP, perhaps
BLE, and perhaps serial port and get an NMEA stream and use it directly.
QField can do this. I am not aware of osmand having direct external GPS
receiver support.

Mocking means enabling developer mode, and having a program that
implements direct support, and then injects the position data (NMEA?)
via a developer API so that everything else on the tablet sees the
injected data. That is intended for testing/debugging, but it is
widely used for external support.


An example program is

https://apt.izzysoft.de/ftp/repo/fdroid/index/apk/com.clearevo.bluetooth_gnss

and that does bluetooth but not clearly serial (USB is surely serial
over USB). However, if you find a program you like you can then buy an
external GNSS unit that works with it.

Note that with mocking, you may want to figure out if the tablet is
still running the internal receiver, but if it is plugged in to power
from the train, you may not care.

[Max1234Ita]

If you're going to use an external GPS receiver with Android, most probably you'll have to deal with Mock location service.

How is your mouse connected to the tablet? Bluetooth or USB?

In either case, you need an app which acts as a "bridge" or "provider" in order to pass the NMEA messages coming from the reciver to the location service in your device.

Some Bluetooth provider apps I've found working are:

• BlueGPS (very old, suitable for Android up to v. 10, available on the alternative market F-Droid) --> https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.broeuschmeul.android.gps.bluetooth.provider
• GPS Connector -->https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pilablu.gpsconnector
• QPad GPS Connector  -->https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sgligis.qpadgpsconnector
• Bluetooth GNSS --> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clearevo.bluetooth_gnss

If you're connecting through USB, instead, you might try:

• GPS Connector (the same listed above, according to the dev's claim it should work with USB Serial too)
• UsbGps4Droid, available from F-Droid -->https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.broeuschmeul.android.gps.usb.provider

Not sure the USB apps will work, I own a Bluetooth receiver (Garmin GLO v.1) and never tried a USB-wired one. Alsoo, it looks like these 2 are the only available on the stores, while there are several apps around, working with BT.

General procedure:

1. In your device, enable Developer mode. To know how to do, just look for a online tutorial, there's plenty on YouTUbe and the Internet in general (keywords: "Android enable developer mode")
   
2. Install the Bluetooth or USB provider app(s)
   
3. Open the Settings menu, enter the Developer Options menu; scroll to "Select Mock location app" and pick your favorite one from the list
   
4. Either pair your receiver with the Tablet, or connect it through USB cable
   
5. Start the mock location provider app, make sure it's communicating with the receiver
6. As soon as the app shows some updating numbers (Lat, Lon, etc.) it means that the receiver has sucessfully acquired the position and is transmitting the data to the app; Launch OsmAnd, auto-center the map and check if it's pointing the right spot.
7. If step 6 is successful, you're good to go. :-) Do some short test trip around, just to ensure that all is working fine and your location is proprly updated with no delays.
   

Hint: Unfortunately not all the apps work well with all the receivers. 

If the one you chose is not working well, i.e, device is not detected or does not communicate or the position is updated with a big delay, then just uninstall it and pick another: this means you'll have to repeat the whole procedure above...

Have a nice trip! :-)

Max

[phil...@gmail.com]

Hello,
I have been in India last February, and I neverr had problem in trains to get a good reception of the GPS signal. Even in buses. In fact I always choose to be near a window.
If that can help.
A frenchie traveler.
Have a Good trip, Indian people and country are fabulous.

-- Envoyé depuis /e/OS Mail.

[Max1234Ita]

Signal strenght when you're in a train depends essentially on how much lead is present in the window glass: the hull of the coach is made of steel, and it's a natural screen against the radio waves (especially for GPS, wich has a very low intensity), so the only way for a signal to get in is mostly through the windows.

When traveling in some old Italian trains I have almost no issue with gps, but the newer ones' windows have a stronger anti-UV treatment (--> more lead percentage in the glass composition), and my smartphone barely acquires the minimum number of satellites; Better luck with my Garmin GLO v.1 (external, Bluetooth) receiver, which has a higher sensitivity and works a little better... but it needs to be very close to the window.