GPS

[Hank Kivett]

I recently installed a new Standard Horzion 1600 vhf and my plans were to hook up the chart plotter to it so i could use the MMSI; however, I have no way to hook it up due to lack of wire space. Now my back up plan is to buy a cheap maybe used GPS unit that i can wire up directly to the radio and also wire it's own 12 volt power source. I do have a Garmin 12 but they do not make a power/data cable for it to transfer data. So does anyone know of a cheap unit available...I looked on ebay and came up short....All i am interested in is lat and lon to be sent to the redio...

[smac999]

a cheap one? no... the ray 125 would work but they are like $400.

some of the new radios have gps built in.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Hank Kivett

(...) I have no way to hook it up due to lack of wire space. (...)

What do you mean by 'lack of wire space'. How is this a limiting factor?

If you want a GPS unit to send NMEA to other units, and if you want it to use same power source as other units then most Garmin handhelds will do (e.g. 72). There is also a choice of 12 Volt / data out / screenless GPS units to chose from. e.g. Garmin 17.

b.

[CaptTom]

Would something like this work? It says it does serial out, but you'd need to know the power requirements, you probably couldn't just hook it to a 12V supply.

I might need something like this, my old GPS, which I'd like to keep as a backup, has an external GPS antenna that's connected via a thin coax. Neither the receiver nor the wire look like they have a lot of life left in them, so I'd like to replace them. Or at least have a plan for when I need to.

[barnakiel]

I am not sure. This one will need a driver (it is for use with a PC).

I think OP wants something that works as a standalone GPS data generator (NMEA out) with 12V power in.

b.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

Would something like this work?

Actually, I suspect that unit starts barking out serial data as soon as it's powered, which means it's a possible solution to the OP's problem. Drivers are only required by any computer you connect to. Some custom voltage conversion and signal level changing/buffering might be required.

I have a Lowrance handheld GPS I got for $5 - works great and outputs NMEA0183, but you have to remember to turn it ON, which makes it a poor candidate for supplying GPS data to the VHF.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Actually, I suspect that unit starts barking out serial data as soon as it's powered, which means it's a possible solution to the OP's problem. Drivers are only required by any computer you connect to. Some custom voltage conversion and signal level changing/buffering might be required.
(...)

Doh. I must try this out. I always wondered but never tested.

Voltage 5V right? (then one can use a cigarete to tablet/ipod step down plug!).

And I feed it via a serial to USB (my BU is USB) cable, right? Then collect my serial data from there too ...

THX for sharing.

b.