CQ/X de NO5W GPS-Enabled Software for Mobile Contesting

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Supported GPS Devices

CQ/X interfaces to GPS devices via the standard NMEA 0183 protocol. Any GPS that supports that protocol and is either an RS-232 device or can be made to appear as a standard RS-232 device on a standard com port should work with the program. The program does not support any proprietary GPS protocols. Keep in mind that all you need for use with CQ/X is a GPS receiver. For that reason strong consideration should be given to inexpensive receivers like the Garmin GPS-18PC, the Pharos packeaged with Streets and Trips, the Delorme LT-20/40 packaged with Street Atlas, and the Canmore GT-730FL/S.

Garmin Street Pilot III - The program has been successfully tested and used for several years with the Garmin Street Pilot III.

Garmin GPS-18PC - The program has been successfully tested and used for several years with the RS-232 version of the Garmin GPS-18PC devices. It should also work with the USB version if you can make it appear on a standard com port, by, for example, using a USB-RS232 converter.

Garmin Oregon - Reently a user has reported success using this GPS with CQ/X running on Vista by placing the GPS in Spanner mode and then using GPSGate software to interface the GPS output to CQ/X. The GPSGate software was required because the Spanner software supplied by Garmin, and which would normally be used as the interface, can not be used on Vista. On XP the GPS should work with CQ/X without GPSGate using Garmin's Spanner software instead.

Pharos GPS - I have also tested the Pharos GPS that is included in the 2008 Streets and Trips package. This is a USB GPS that shows up on a COM port (COM20 on my system) and communicates via the NMEA protocol.

Delorme LT-20/40 - Delorme provides serial emulator software that will allow the LT-20, a USB GPS, to appear as a standard NMEA GPS on a com port so it should work fine with CQ/X. Similarly for the LT-40 and probably for the Bluetooth version, assuming of course that your laptop is Bluetooth-capable. Check out the Support page for information on interfacing Delorme's LT-20.

Canmore GT-730FL/S - Recently (Dec '09) I've been playing with this GPS+Logger from Canmore. In this device you've got a GPS that speaks NMEA 0183 at standard 4800 baud and shows up as a standard com port on your PC. In addition to serving as a GPS receiver it will also log your track. It's looks like a slightly overgrown memory stick being about the same length and width as a memory stick but about two memory sticks in thickness. Using the supplied software you can examine your route on Google maps, and export the logged tracks in several formats including GPX, KML, KMZ, and NMEA. It contains it's own rechargeable battery which is advertised to be capable of powering the unit for 18 hours. It's a nifty little GPS and logger and, at about $50, the price is right.

Unsupported GPS Devices

Navigon 2090S - Following a recent inquiry regarding the possibility of using the Navigon 2090S GPS with CQ/X I contacted Navigon support to find out if there is a way to configure that unit to output NMEA sentences. Unfortunately the answer was no and I assume that the answer is the same for other Navigon models.