The best application for splitting ports is GPSgate from Franson Software.
This utility can split the incoming data stream from either a physical
serial port or a virtual com port created by a USB-to-serial dongle into
almost any number of virtual com ports that other programs can then use.
It can also convert to/from TCP/IP so that a com port source can be
distributed over a LAN via TCP/IP. On other PCs on the lan, copies of
GPSgate can then convert TCP/IP back to virtual com ports.
In addition, GPSgate can convert Garmin proprietary binary format coming
in on USB, to standard ASCII NMEA on multiple virtual com ports! This
allows you to use just about any Garmin GPS, even those without NMEA
and/or serial outputs, with almost any program that can use standard
serial NMEA data.
GPSgate is available in two versions. A lite "Express" version that
spits a single input, real or virtual, into just two virtual outputs is
USD $13. The "Standard" version that can split multiple source ports
into any number of outputs is USD $40. If you "split" a virtual
comport into just one new port, you can create the equivalent of the
1-port-to-1-port bridge utilities described in 1) above.
You can run multiple instances of GPSgate Standard on a single machine.
For example, you could have one instance splitting a GPS from a physical
port for use with multiple mapping programs. At the same time, a second
instance could be joining a soundcard soft TNC to an APRS application
like UIview or APRSplus.
Real world applications that I have used:
I routinely split the single physical COM port on my Panasonic Toughbook
mobile laptop to feed GPS data into UIview, Visual GPS, MapPoint,
Delorme Topo USA, and Precision Mapping at the same time. GPSgate is
set to load automatically each time the computer boots.
Using a second instance of GPSgate on the same laptop, I have
intercepted one output of the first instance and converted to TCP/IP. I
then distributed the IP NMEA stream via ad-hoc WiFi to a second copy of
GPSgate running on a second laptop in the back seat of the car, where
several more mapping apps were running.
--
Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com
EchoLink Node: 14400 [Think bottom of the 2M band]
Home Page: http://wa8lmf.com --OR-- http://wa8lmf.net
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