I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in NMEA
format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on RS232 to an
older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart plotter. I would like
to get the required signal to the radio - any ideas or suggestions ?
Thanks, Bob

Bob wrote:

I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in NMEA
format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on RS232 to an
older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart plotter. I would like
to get the required signal to the radio - any ideas or suggestions ?
Thanks, Bob
I do not recall if your Mapsource software requires a data in Garmin format
or not. If it does not, you can select a NEMA out on your Garmin GPSMAP76
and on your Mapsource software. Then you can do some cable surgery and
make what amounts to a serial Tee connection. The other end of the Tee
would connect to your radio. Generally you can get away with this since
most serial devices don't drag down the 5 volt signal signficantly.

NEMA offers a variety of information on postion, satellite info but does not
have the provision to handle stored waypoints. The more I think about it
the more I suspect NEMA may not be supported with your Mapsource software.

If we assume that your Mapsource can only accept Garmin data, then things
become more complicated. If you have a second serial port on your laptop,
you can install a low level driver to convert serial data in a Garmin
format to a NEMA format and output it on the second serial port. Several
years ago I saw a freeware window95 program that would do conversion in
real time but I do not know if it even exists anymore.

I think you're out of luck, but you should ask Garmin - they were prompt and
helpful to me when I was trying to get my Garmin to talk with my Furuno
radar.
My MapSource (Version 6.3) says to be sure the device's transfer mode is set
to Garmin.
An option would be to use a handheld set to NMEA with a PC cable for the
radio, and as a backup.
For my radar, I bought Furuno's cable and put a DB9 connector on the end, to
receive the DB9 connector from my Garmin.
I use my GPS 12 in a mount on the instrument panel to feed the radar, since
the PC cable has a 12 volt plug and I don't have to worry about draining the
AA batteries all the time.
I have an eTrex that I use as a backup and I have a PC cable for it, too, so
I can connect it to the radar if necessary.

"Lisa Collins" wrote in message
...
Bob wrote:

I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in NMEA
format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on RS232 to
an
older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart plotter. I would
like
to get the required signal to the radio - any ideas or suggestions ?
Thanks, Bob
I do not recall if your Mapsource software requires a data in Garmin
format
or not. If it does not, you can select a NEMA out on your Garmin GPSMAP76
and on your Mapsource software. Then you can do some cable surgery and
make what amounts to a serial Tee connection. The other end of the Tee
would connect to your radio. Generally you can get away with this since
most serial devices don't drag down the 5 volt signal signficantly.

NEMA offers a variety of information on postion, satellite info but does
not
have the provision to handle stored waypoints. The more I think about it
the more I suspect NEMA may not be supported with your Mapsource software.

If we assume that your Mapsource can only accept Garmin data, then things
become more complicated. If you have a second serial port on your laptop,
you can install a low level driver to convert serial data in a Garmin
format to a NEMA format and output it on the second serial port. Several
years ago I saw a freeware window95 program that would do conversion in
real time but I do not know if it even exists anymore.

What Lisa said originally. Forget the Mapsource bit. It has nothing to do
with the problem. Simply tee off the Data Out + , and Data Out - coming
from the Garmin. These get connected to the VHF's Data In +, and Data In -,
respectively. Make sure the Garmin protocol is set to NMEA out or In/Out .

"Bob" wrote in message
rs.com...
I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in NMEA
format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on RS232 to an
older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart plotter. I would like
to get the required signal to the radio - any ideas or suggestions ?
Thanks, Bob

Max Lynn wrote:
What Lisa said originally. Forget the Mapsource bit. It has nothing
to do with the problem. Simply tee off the Data Out + , and Data Out
- coming from the Garmin. These get connected to the VHF's Data In
+, and Data In -, respectively. Make sure the Garmin protocol is set
to NMEA out or In/Out .

"Bob" wrote in message
rs.com...
I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in
NMEA format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on
RS232 to an older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart
plotter. I would like to get the required signal to the radio - any
ideas or suggestions ? Thanks, Bob

If Mapsource requires a Garmin-Garmin setting and cannot be tweaked to
accept NMEA, it will not work with NMEA, therefore the only solution in this
case would be a second GPS, outputting to the DSC VHF. You could of course
change you Mapsource software on the laptop to something better, such as
Oziexplorer.
Remove "nospam" from return address.

MapSource is better.
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Max Lynn wrote:
What Lisa said originally. Forget the Mapsource bit. It has nothing
to do with the problem. Simply tee off the Data Out + , and Data Out
- coming from the Garmin. These get connected to the VHF's Data In
+, and Data In -, respectively. Make sure the Garmin protocol is set
to NMEA out or In/Out .

"Bob" wrote in message
rs.com...
I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in
NMEA format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on
RS232 to an older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart
plotter. I would like to get the required signal to the radio - any
ideas or suggestions ? Thanks, Bob

If Mapsource requires a Garmin-Garmin setting and cannot be tweaked to
accept NMEA, it will not work with NMEA, therefore the only solution in
this
case would be a second GPS, outputting to the DSC VHF. You could of course
change you Mapsource software on the laptop to something better, such as
Oziexplorer.
Remove "nospam" from return address.

William G. Andersen wrote:
MapSource is better.

Just because it's vector? I think not.

"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Max Lynn wrote:
What Lisa said originally. Forget the Mapsource bit. It has
nothing to do with the problem. Simply tee off the Data Out + ,
and Data Out - coming from the Garmin. These get connected to the
VHF's Data In +, and Data In -, respectively. Make sure the Garmin
protocol is set to NMEA out or In/Out .

"Bob" wrote in message
rs.com...
I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in
NMEA format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on
RS232 to an older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart
plotter. I would like to get the required signal to the radio - any
ideas or suggestions ? Thanks, Bob

If Mapsource requires a Garmin-Garmin setting and cannot be tweaked
to accept NMEA, it will not work with NMEA, therefore the only
solution in this case would be a second GPS, outputting to the DSC
VHF. You could of course change you Mapsource software on the laptop
to something better, such as Oziexplorer.
Remove "nospam" from return address.

--
Remove "nospam" from return address.

because it's so easy to use.
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
William G. Andersen wrote:
MapSource is better.

Just because it's vector? I think not.

"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Max Lynn wrote:
What Lisa said originally. Forget the Mapsource bit. It has
nothing to do with the problem. Simply tee off the Data Out + ,
and Data Out - coming from the Garmin. These get connected to the
VHF's Data In +, and Data In -, respectively. Make sure the Garmin
protocol is set to NMEA out or In/Out .

"Bob" wrote in message
rs.com...
I have a new DSC VHF marine radio with a + & - input for a GPS in
NMEA format. I have my Garmin MAP76 outputting in Garmin format on
RS232 to an older laptop running Mapsource on my boat as a chart
plotter. I would like to get the required signal to the radio - any
ideas or suggestions ? Thanks, Bob

If Mapsource requires a Garmin-Garmin setting and cannot be tweaked
to accept NMEA, it will not work with NMEA, therefore the only
solution in this case would be a second GPS, outputting to the DSC
VHF. You could of course change you Mapsource software on the laptop
to something better, such as Oziexplorer.
Remove "nospam" from return address.

--
Remove "nospam" from return address.

In article fm_Oc.8352$Xn.5399@fed1read05,
"William G. Andersen" wrote:

I think you're out of luck, but you should ask Garmin - they were prompt and
helpful to me when I was trying to get my Garmin to talk with my Furuno
radar.
My MapSource (Version 6.3) says to be sure the device's transfer mode is set
to Garmin.
An option would be to use a handheld set to NMEA with a PC cable for the
radio, and as a backup.
For my radar, I bought Furuno's cable and put a DB9 connector on the end, to
receive the DB9 connector from my Garmin.
I use my GPS 12 in a mount on the instrument panel to feed the radar, since
the PC cable has a 12 volt plug and I don't have to worry about draining the
AA batteries all the time.
I have an eTrex that I use as a backup and I have a PC cable for it, too, so
I can connect it to the radar if necessary.

Another possibility to pursure would be, to see if the Mapsource
software can "Output" a NEMA Datastream from one of the serial ports,
and use that
to drive the Radio. Some of the ChartPlotting packages can output NEMA
to drive autopilots, ect, and you can customize the output datastream.


Bruce in alaska who uses this approch for all kinds of things
--
add a 2 before @