Sometimes, posts are just for my use later. This might help someone else, though:
http://www.cooldrives.com/lib/cooldrives/vista-prolific-chip-driver-for-serial-adapters.zip
Why this link? I'm utilizing a GPS unit for my upcoming job so we can start mapping CA plots, villages, distances, areas, etc., etc. The simplest unit from Garmin is the eTrex for about $90-99 retail ... it tells me plenty and I'm not one for maps, graphics, etc., on the unit itself ... just want the data points, lat./long., and in a pinch, how far is it back to someplace that you know where you are. Durable unit, low battery use, great signal acquistion, etc.
Anyway, the eTrex lacks a USB connection (join the early 2000s, friends at Garmin), and sports instead a 9-pin serial connection ... whoo-hoo we're hooking up to the mainframe! You need to buy the serial cable (~$20) and a 9-pin serial-to-USB connector (it goes by the handle PL2303, $7-10). And then, as the fishermen bound for Newfoundland say, your troubles have just begun.
I purchased my cable from Prolific, which has something like a billion drivers out there for all manners of OS (I just got a new laptop running Windows 7-64 bit). Well, there is no plug-and-play; I downloaded the driver for WIN7-64, got nothing; went to various discussion boards ... nothing. Eventually (about 4.5 hours over two days) I managed to find a fix ... you download a driver for Vista from a non-Prolific website.
The end justifies the means though ... the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a piece of freeware (DNR Garmin) that downloads/uploads data to/from your GPS, puts it into a spreadsheet, makes .kmz, shapefiles, GPSformat, etc. We are going to put it through the paces in Western Province.
Blah-blah-blah ... I'll look this up when we're installing it remotely on the extension officers' laptops.
All for today! Off to Dublin next Saturday!
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