Bluetooth GPS connection with ArcMap

[EliseSwan]

I have a Fujitsu Q550 slate computer running Windows 7 with ArcView 9.3 installed. I am having difficulties connecting my USGlobalSat BT-368i bluetooth GPS receiver in the GPS toolbar. I have an external program called GPSInfo that is able to connect to the GPS through COM6. However, In Arc the only choice I have is COM 5. I tried changing this in My Devices, but neither Arc or GPSInfo can connect to the GPS on this COM port. I have verified the Baud rate and other components. I even downloaded a USB driver off of the USGlobalSat site. But no dice. Any suggestions?

Update: Installed ArcPad 10. Everything works great. However, if there is any ideas how to get my GPS to work in ArcMap that would be great.

[JackLukehart]

The problem is the GPS standard protocol is NMEA which was designed for RS-232 serial ports where the port is connected to one device. There is no transmission/interface standard for USB GPS devices, in fact GPS devices are not even included in the USB standard.

Some manufacturers include an additional driver that makes their USB GPS device appear to other software as if it is connected to an RS-232 serial port. This enables ArcGIS to function with the device, assuming it is using the NMEA protocol. Contact the GPS manufacturer to determine if the GPS unit being used has a driver that does this.

Do a general search on the Internet for 'USB Serial port emulator'. There are a number of manufacturers of emulators that work. Another option is to purchase a USB serial cable. Make sure it includes a driver that makes the USB emulate RS-232.

If the GPS device itself supports only the USB and not the RS-232 serial, the GPS device manufacturer usually provides a driver that does the same thing as a USB-to-serial adapter.