Works with Garmin GPSmap 62s and Windows 10

[willemb2]

This is not a question, but a "works with" report.

With some tweaking I got OpenCPN 4.4.0 working with a Garmin GPSmap 62s and Windows 10 Pro x64 (on a Dell Latitude E7450) over a USB-cable.
You need Garmin Spanner software (I think it is just a driver) from here: https://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1627 There is a warning that it is not supported on Windows Vista and later and indeed the installer smells very Windows 2000, but it works for me on Windows 10 without any compatibility settings.
On the GPS you need to set: Menu > MainMenu > Setup > System > Interface: Garmin Spanner. Do this before you plug in the USB cable.
Restart the GPS and plug in the USB cable. You should get the question: "USB cable detected. Would you like to go to Mass Storage?" Select and enter No.
In OpenCPN go to Option > Connections. Add a new connection with these properties: Serial, DataPort: Garmin-USB, Baudrate 9600, Priority 1.
In my case the following was already selected and I did not change them: Protocol NMEA 0183, Control Checksum, Use Garmin (GRMN) mode for input, Accept only sentences, Transmit sentences.
The GPSmap 62s is a device for landlubbers, but even without OpenCPN it has some nice marine features like Anchor Drag Alarm.

[willemb2]

Instead of the Garmin Spanner driver you can probably use GpsGate Splitter Client:
GpsGate - GpsGate Client for Windows - GpsGate Client but I have not tested that.

[Rasbats]

Question: Were you connecting to transfer waypoints/routes from O to Garmin?

Thanks,

Mike

[willemb2]

Originally Posted by Rasbats

Question: Were you connecting to transfer waypoints/routes from O to Garmin?

"from O"? Do you mean from OpenCPN? No, I just wanted to get OpenCPN working on my laptop, with my own position and course. Initially I could not get it working with the laptops internal GPS, so I grabbed the Garmin 62s that I used for cross-country hiking in the past.
I posted my findings here because the 62s is not yet listed on GPS Devices | Official OpenCPN Homepage .