System Overview
EXOS GPS Station is a professional-grade Windows desktop application by RiTym Technologies that ingests real-time GNSS satellite telemetry from any source — Android smartphones over Bluetooth, USB hardware GPS pucks, or Wi-Fi TCP streams — and surfaces that data as a live dashboard, a system-wide Windows Location Sensor, and a Chrome/Edge geolocation signal for mapping applications such as Google Maps.
The application also includes a Location Override / Spoofing tool that allows you to synthetically inject any geographic coordinates into both the Windows Location API and any browser running under the built-in Chrome DevTools Protocol bridge — without needing a physical GPS signal.
Phone / USB / Wi-Fi
BT / USB / TCP
NMEA Parser + Dashboard
Live Google Maps
Native OS Geolocation API
Maps, Edge, Bing, etc.
EXOS GPS Station operates 100% offline. Internet access is only used for initial licence key validation and for world map tile display. All GPS telemetry, parsing, and spoofing works without any network connection.
Desktop UI Walkthrough
The EXOS GPS Station window is organized into five distinct zones. Understanding each zone will allow you to operate the application with confidence.
Zone 1 — Title Bar & Mission Branding
The title bar displays the application branding: E X O S G P S S T A T I O N in a NASA mission-control style monospaced typeface, followed by the sub-label RiTym Technologies · RiTym.com · Exos GPS Solutions. This bar contains no interactive controls — it is purely for identification and product branding.
Zone 2 — Control Toolbar
Immediately below the title bar is the primary connection control toolbar split into two logical rows:
- Row 1 (Hardware Connection Controls):
- Station Mode: A dropdown fixed to RECEIVER MODE (Active). This confirms the application is running in receive mode.
- GPS Device: The main source-selection dropdown. Displays all detected EXOS-compatible sources (Bluetooth, BLE, USB serial COM ports, Wi-Fi TCP emitters) found on the system.
- Rescan Ports: Scans all hardware COM ports, query cached Bluetooth SPP ports, and broadcasts DNS-SD requests for Wi-Fi receivers.
- Connect Station: Initiates connection to the selected GPS device. Once connected, it changes to Disconnect Station. If a Bluetooth connection is opening, this button changes to a Cancel Connection [15s] countdown timer to prevent app freezing.
- Row 2 (Action Buttons):
- Launch Google Maps: Opens an isolated Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser instance controlled via Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) on port 9222 to project live location telemetry.
- Native Windows Sensor Setup: Opens a guided driver configuration dialog to integrate coordinates directly with the Windows OS Location API.
- Location Override: Opens the Location Override / Spoofing dialog.
Zone 3 — Space Visualizer Canvas (Left Panel)
An animated high-tech radar canvas representing the Earth and satellite status:
- Spinning Earth Globe: Renders natural continent outlines, atmosphere glow, and night shading.
- Position Pin: Places a pin at your coordinates on the globe once a satellite fix is acquired.
- Orbiting Satellites: Real-time polar projection of satellites in view, showing actual elevation and azimuth.
- HUD Status: Text overlays showing active satellites, fixed counts, and reverse-geocoded country/ocean regions.
Zone 4 — Telemetry Dashboard (Right Panel)
A fixed 420px column displaying coordinates and telemetry metrics on high-contrast cards:
- Position: Live latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, alongside country reverse-geocoding.
- Satellites in Fix: Total satellites locked, fix quality status, and a button to launch the Satellite Inspector.
- Speed & Heading: Direct reading of velocity in knots (and km/h) and track direction in degrees from True North.
- Altitude: Current altitude in meters and feet referenced to Mean Sea Level (MSL).
Zone 5 — Live NMEA 0183 Signal Terminal Log (Bottom Panel)
A scrollable console output window displaying raw incoming NMEA sentences (e.g., $GPGGA, $GPRMC, $GPGSV). Essential for visual troubleshooting and ensuring signal integrity.
Bluetooth SPP Bridge
The Bluetooth Classic Serial Port Profile (SPP) is the primary transport channel for streaming your Android smartphone's internal GPS receiver data to your Windows PC. This connection operates over the standard Bluetooth SPP UUID: 00001101-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB.
Prerequisites & Setup
- Ensure Bluetooth is enabled on both devices.
- Pair the Android phone inside Windows Settings → Bluetooth & Devices. Confirm the matching 6-digit PIN.
- Launch the EXOS GPS Android app, switch to the Transmitter tab, select your PC name, and tap Start Transmitting.
Resilient Connection Watchdog
Windows COM ports can hang indefinitely if a Bluetooth link drops or if the receiver is opened before the transmitter starts broadcasting. EXOS GPS Station implements a dedicated background serial worker. If no NMEA sentence arrives within 15 seconds, the connection attempt is aborted. The UI provides a Cancel Connection countdown button to immediately release the port if clicked.
Bluetooth LE (BLE)
For modern hardware accessories and battery-efficient transmitters, EXOS GPS Station supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) NMEA streams. BLE devices advertise standard NMEA GATT services and are automatically detected during scans.
When connecting to a BLE source, the application initiates a GATT notification subscription. A safety watchdog monitors incoming packets: if no NMEA sentences are detected for 8 seconds, the connection is treated as dead and is torn down to prevent the app thread from stalling.
USB Serial / Hardware GPS
EXOS GPS Station is fully compatible with standard USB GPS dongles, pucks, and professional GNSS receivers (such as u-blox M8/M9, FTDI, Prolific, or Silicon Labs serial chips).
- Auto-Detection: When you connect the USB GPS receiver to a USB port, Windows assigns it a COM port. Clicking Rescan Ports lists the device as
Hardware GPS - USB - EXOS-GPS-[ID]. - Baud Rate Configuration: The receiver uses a standard serial connection. Common baud rates are 9600 (default for standard GPS) or 115200 (for high-rate 10Hz receivers). EXOS GPS Station auto-detects standard configurations.
Note: USB hardware receivers must have a clear line of sight to the sky to lock onto satellites. Under clear skies, a cold start fix typically takes between 30 to 90 seconds. Indoors, the device may stay in "Awaiting Fix" indefinitely.
Wi-Fi TCP / DNS-SD Network Streaming
To stream GPS data across local network connections, EXOS GPS supports TCP network sockets combined with Zero-Configuration Networking (Zeroconf / DNS-SD):
- DNS-SD Service Discovery: EXOS Wi-Fi hardware transmitters broadcast a service named
_exos-gps._tcp. EXOS GPS Station listens for these broadcasts. When a device is found, it appears in the device picker list automatically. - Hardware AP Mode: For field configurations, EXOS GPS hardware units can run as Wi-Fi Access Points. Connect your PC to the SSID (e.g.
EXOS-GPS-XXXX, password:exosgps1) and selectHardware GPS - Wi-Fi - Setup Mode(default address:192.168.4.1:2000). - Manual Socket Connection: You can input custom TCP endpoints by typing directly into the dropdown input field in the format:
tcp://[ip_address]:[port](e.g.tcp://192.168.1.50:2000).
Launch Google Maps
The Launch Google Maps button fires a highly integrated, remote-controlled web browser instance designed specifically for live navigation tracking.
How It Works
- The application scans your PC for installations of Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
- It launches a dedicated browser process with special debugging flags:
--remote-debugging-port=9222(enables Chrome DevTools Protocol)--load-extension=...(injects our custom browser extension)--user-data-dir=...(isolates navigation from your main browser profile)
- The browser opens directly to Google Maps, centered at your coordinates.
- EXOS GPS Station establishes a WebSocket connection to the browser on port 9222. Every second, it sends an
Emulation.setGeolocationOverridecommand to force all open tabs to use the GPS Station coordinates. - A custom javascript polyfill is injected to override
navigator.geolocationand mock Google API geolocation lookups inside the web pages.
Purpose and Utility
This feature is designed for:
• Real-time Field Monitoring: View your active movement on standard web map overlays.
• QA & Verification: Confirm that your mock or real GPS coordinates are correctly parsed and read by standard web applications.
• Fallback Mode: If Chrome or Edge are not installed, the application falls back to standard webbrowser.open(), which opens a static coordinates link in your default browser.
Native Windows Sensor Setup
The Native Windows Sensor Setup button opens a guided workflow to install the GpsDirect sensor driver. This driver exposes the incoming GPS serial stream as a native Windows system location sensor (Windows.Devices.Sensors).
Why Use the Native Sensor?
By default, Windows uses Wi-Fi access point triangulation and IP geolocation to determine your position. This is often inaccurate in rural areas or offline environments. Registering your GPS device as a native Windows Location Sensor forces the OS to use accurate satellite coordinates. This enables geolocation for all native applications, including:
• Windows Maps App: For offline vector maps and desktop routing.
• Microsoft Edge / Chrome: Native location permission prompts inside the browser will query the system sensor directly.
• Weather and Time Zone tools: To update automatically based on physical movement.
Setup Configuration Guide
During the setup utility wizard, you must choose the following options:
| Setting Name | Value to Choose | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| COM Port | The COM port assigned to your GPS device (e.g. COM5). | Tells GpsDirect where to listen for raw NMEA sentences. |
| Baud Rate | 9600 (or matching your hardware GPS spec). | Matches serial communication speeds. |
| When signal is lost | Choose Always tell Windows I have data. | Prevents Windows from immediately reverting to IP-based location during brief satellite drops. |
| Shared COM Port Opening | Check the box ☑️ | CRITICAL: Allows both EXOS GPS Station and GpsDirect to read from the COM port simultaneously without locking errors. |
Location Override (Spoofing Tool)
The Location Override tool allows you to manually mock coordinates. This feature is crucial for developers testing geolocation behaviors or verifying app reactions in different regions.
Important Constraints
Satellite Telemetry Precedence: Location Override is deactivated when a connection to a live GPS source is established. Real-time NMEA satellite telemetry from a device always takes precedence over synthetic overrides. To use Location Override, you must first disconnect the active station.
How to Spoof Coordinates
- Click Location Override (Germany/Custom).
- Select a Preset: Click any preset buttons (Berlin, Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Sydney) to instantly warp the location.
- Custom Coordinates: Enter manual Latitude and Longitude values (e.g., Lat:
37.7749, Lon:-122.4194) and click Apply Custom Location. - Verify: Click Launch Google Maps to verify the blue dot resides at the overridden position.
- Restore: To disable override, reopen the dialog and click 🟢 Restore Live Satellite GPS.
GNSS Satellite Inspector
The Satellite Inspector is a professional diagnostic utility. Open it by clicking 🔍 Inspect Satellites... on the right telemetry panel.
Technical Features
- Real-Time Table: Displays detailed information for each satellite: Tag, Constellation, PRN, Elevation, Azimuth, and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).
- Constellation Support: Decodes and displays country flags matching the satellite identity (GPS 🇺🇸, GLONASS 🇷🇺, Galileo 🇪🇺, BeiDou 🇨🇳).
- Column Sorting: Click any header (such as SNR or Elevation) to sort the table dynamically.
- Orbital Specifications: Double-click any row to view structural telemetry: Operating authority, launch vehicle, atomic clock standard, calculated slant range (km), and signal frequency bands.
NMEA 0183 & HTTP Web API Reference
EXOS GPS Station parses standard NMEA 0183 sentences. The parsed sentences are formatted into a JSON structure available to local software.
NMEA Parser Matrix
| Sentence | Type | Parameters Extracted |
|---|---|---|
$xxGGA | Fix Info | UTC Time, Latitude, Longitude, Fix Quality, Satellites in Use, Altitude (MSL) |
$xxRMC | Navigation | Position Status, Speed Over Ground (knots), Track Angle, Date |
$xxGSA | DOP & Active | Fix Selection Mode, Fix Type (2D/3D), Satellite PRNs used for triangulation |
$xxGSV | Satellites | Total sentences, Satellites in view, PRN, Elevation, Azimuth, SNR values |
Local HTTP Web API
The application runs a lightweight HTTP server on port 9001. Developers can query live coordinates via HTTP requests:
GET http://127.0.0.1:9001/location
Response Schema:
{
"lat": 52.520000,
"lon": 13.405000,
"alt": 50.0,
"speed": 0.0,
"bearing": 0.0,
"sats": 12,
"time": 1786043022.23
}
Examples & Operational Workflows
Review the standard workflows below to configure the app for your target scenario.
- Ensure your phone is paired to Windows in the OS Bluetooth Settings.
- Launch the EXOS GPS app on your phone. Tap the TRANSMITTER tab, select your PC, and tap Start Transmitting.
- Launch EXOS GPS Station on Windows. Click Rescan Ports.
- Select
Mobile GPS - Bluetooth - [Phone Name] (Recommended)from the dropdown list. - Click Connect Station. Raw NMEA data will begin scrolling in the log.
- Click Launch Google Maps. Centering updates automatically as you move.
- Plug your USB GPS receiver into a vacant USB port on your PC.
- Click Rescan Ports inside EXOS GPS Station.
- Locate
Hardware GPS - USB - EXOS-GPS-[ID]in the device dropdown list. Select it. - Click Connect Station. The log window will output incoming NMEA sentences.
- Ensure the antenna is placed near a window or outdoors. The visualizer globe will show satellite lines as the device locks.
Here is what happens when you combine overrides with hardware inputs:
- Pre-condition: The GPS Station is disconnected.
- Click Location Override and select US New York, USA.
- The UI updates. Click Launch Google Maps. The browser blue dot moves to New York.
- The Transition: Now select your USB GPS receiver (which is physically in London) and click Connect Station.
- Automatic Override Revocation: The moment a live NMEA signal connects, the Location Override mode is immediately terminated. The dashboard and Chrome browser map will instantly transition to your real GPS location.
- Follow the setup steps in the Native Windows Sensor Setup section.
- Verify that GpsDirect is configured with
Shared COM Port Openingenabled. - Click Connect Station in the EXOS desktop application.
- Open the native Windows Maps application on your desktop.
- The Maps application will immediately track your live position.
Android System Mock Location
The Android version of EXOS GPS supports Receiver Mode, which allows it to overwrite the smartphone's location provider using mock location framework. This enables you to feed external NMEA coordinates into all installed Android apps (Google Maps, Waze, etc.).
How to Configure Mock Location on Android
Enable Android Developer Options
Go to Android Settings → About Phone. Locate the Build Number and tap it seven times. Enter your device passcode if prompted.
Set Mock Location App
Go to Settings → System → Developer Options. Scroll down to find Select mock location app. Select Exos GPS Solutions.
Start Receiver Mode
Open EXOS GPS, tap the RECEIVER tab, choose your PC or hardware transmitter, and connect. The app will display MOCK LOCATION: ACTIVE.
Troubleshooting Guide
Bluetooth COM port stays on "Connecting..."
Windows can block serial openings if the phone is not transmitting yet. Click Cancel Connection on the connection button. Ensure the Android app shows "Broadcasting..." in Transmitter mode before connecting on Windows.
No satellite coordinates visible ("Awaiting Fix...")
Move your GPS receiver to a window or outdoors. The GPS unit requires a clear line of sight to the sky. Look at the satellite count: you need at least 4 satellites locked to resolve a 3D position coordinate.
GpsDirect installer fails or fails to update system location
Run the GpsDirect installer as an Administrator. Ensure that Shared COM Port Opening is checked inside the GpsDirect interface so it doesn't collide with EXOS GPS Station.
Google Maps doesn't follow my coordinates
Make sure you use the browser instance opened by the Launch Google Maps button. Standard browser windows lack the debug link. Click the target icon on the map to trigger the first sync.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does EXOS GPS require an internet connection?
No. Internet access is only needed during initial license activation. Telemetry parsing, mapping, and browser injection runs offline.
Can I share one phone's GPS with multiple computers?
Yes. The Android app's Transmitter service supports simultaneous TCP and Bluetooth client links.
What is the difference between major v1.x and future v2.x licenses?
Your license guarantees lifetime access to the v1.x series and its updates on supported operating systems. Future major versions (v2.x) may be sold separately.
Is this location override tool legal?
Yes, Location Override is designed for software debugging, testing, and validation on devices you own. Using coordinates for fraudulent activities is strictly prohibited.