What would you check in this situation?
I have a handheld GPS mounted on my instrument panel; the Garmin NMEA cable
molded fitting is connected to the GPS. The other end of the wire has a DB9
connector, because it's intended for connection to a computer. To a mating
DB9 connector, I have the bare end of my Furuno radar NMEA cable and a pair
of wires to deliver NMEA to my radio. This has not been changed for many
months - the GPS provides NMEA data to both radar and radio. I occasionally
connect a different GPS to the radio and radar by connecting a Garmin NMEA
cable with DB9 connector to the DB9 connector of the radio and radar.
The last couple of times out, there hasn't been any NMEA indication on the
radar or radio, regardless of which GPS and GPS cable I connected to the
radio/radar DB9.
Today we checked and found continuity in the radio/radar cable and also in
the GPS cable - they both read OK.
The DB9 connectors on the GPS cables are molded and I use dielectric grease
on them (only the 2 and 5 pins are used).
We opened the DB9 connector that feeds both the radar and radio and couldn't
find a short.
We put it back together and thought we'd try again in a few days.
I verified the obvious like the GPSs are set to NMEA, turned on, and had
located our position and that the radar and radio were turned on and set to
receive NMEA. I've decided to replace the DB9 connector on the cable to the
radio.radar even though we didn't see anything wrong because that's the
cheapest thing to replace and I don't know what else it could be.
What would you check?

"William G. Andersen" wrote in message
news:1ni5e.55$lz2.38@fed1read07...
What would you check in this situation?
I have a handheld GPS mounted on my instrument panel; the Garmin NMEA
cable
molded fitting is connected to the GPS. The other end of the wire has a
DB9
connector, because it's intended for connection to a computer. To a mating
DB9 connector, I have the bare end of my Furuno radar NMEA cable and a
pair
of wires to deliver NMEA to my radio. This has not been changed for many
months - the GPS provides NMEA data to both radar and radio. I
occasionally
connect a different GPS to the radio and radar by connecting a Garmin NMEA
cable with DB9 connector to the DB9 connector of the radio and radar.
The last couple of times out, there hasn't been any NMEA indication on the
radar or radio, regardless of which GPS and GPS cable I connected to the
radio/radar DB9.
Today we checked and found continuity in the radio/radar cable and also in
the GPS cable - they both read OK.
The DB9 connectors on the GPS cables are molded and I use dielectric
grease
on them (only the 2 and 5 pins are used).
We opened the DB9 connector that feeds both the radar and radio and
couldn't
find a short.
We put it back together and thought we'd try again in a few days.
I verified the obvious like the GPSs are set to NMEA, turned on, and had
located our position and that the radar and radio were turned on and set
to
receive NMEA. I've decided to replace the DB9 connector on the cable to
the
radio.radar even though we didn't see anything wrong because that's the
cheapest thing to replace and I don't know what else it could be.
What would you check?


If one of the input ports of radio or radar is faulty or shorted out, you
may lose the signal to both.
Disconnect the radio, check if you now get a signal in the radar. Then
disconnect the radar and check the radio.
If still no luck, if you can get access to a laptop with serial port, check
with Hyperterminal (4800bps, no parity, no flow control).
Cheers,
Wout

Thanks.
We tried that, only the radar/only the radio= no NMEA to either. (There are
separate wires to the radio and the Furuno cable for the radio: they are
both connected to the same DB9.)

"Wout B" wrote in message
...

"William G. Andersen" wrote in message
news:1ni5e.55$lz2.38@fed1read07...
What would you check in this situation?
I have a handheld GPS mounted on my instrument panel; the Garmin NMEA
cable
molded fitting is connected to the GPS. The other end of the wire has a
DB9
connector, because it's intended for connection to a computer. To a
mating
DB9 connector, I have the bare end of my Furuno radar NMEA cable and a
pair
of wires to deliver NMEA to my radio. This has not been changed for many
months - the GPS provides NMEA data to both radar and radio. I
occasionally
connect a different GPS to the radio and radar by connecting a Garmin
NMEA
cable with DB9 connector to the DB9 connector of the radio and radar.
The last couple of times out, there hasn't been any NMEA indication on
the
radar or radio, regardless of which GPS and GPS cable I connected to the
radio/radar DB9.
Today we checked and found continuity in the radio/radar cable and also
in
the GPS cable - they both read OK.
The DB9 connectors on the GPS cables are molded and I use dielectric
grease
on them (only the 2 and 5 pins are used).
We opened the DB9 connector that feeds both the radar and radio and
couldn't
find a short.
We put it back together and thought we'd try again in a few days.
I verified the obvious like the GPSs are set to NMEA, turned on, and had
located our position and that the radar and radio were turned on and set
to
receive NMEA. I've decided to replace the DB9 connector on the cable to
the
radio.radar even though we didn't see anything wrong because that's the
cheapest thing to replace and I don't know what else it could be.
What would you check?


If one of the input ports of radio or radar is faulty or shorted out, you
may lose the signal to both.
Disconnect the radio, check if you now get a signal in the radar. Then
disconnect the radar and check the radio.
If still no luck, if you can get access to a laptop with serial port,
check
with Hyperterminal (4800bps, no parity, no flow control).
Cheers,
Wout

William G. Andersen wrote:
Thanks.
We tried that, only the radar/only the radio= no NMEA to either.
(There are separate wires to the radio and the Furuno cable for the
radio: they are both connected to the same DB9.)

"Wout B" wrote in message
...

"William G. Andersen" wrote in message
news:1ni5e.55$lz2.38@fed1read07...
What would you check in this situation?
I have a handheld GPS mounted on my instrument panel; the Garmin
NMEA cable molded fitting is connected to the GPS. The other end of
the wire has a DB9 connector, because it's intended for connection
to a computer. To a mating
DB9 connector, I have the bare end of my Furuno radar NMEA cable
and a pair of wires to deliver NMEA to my radio. This has not been
changed for many months - the GPS provides NMEA data to both radar
and radio. I occasionally connect a different GPS to the radio and
radar by connecting a Garmin NMEA
cable with DB9 connector to the DB9 connector of the radio and
radar. The last couple of times out, there hasn't been any NMEA
indication on the
radar or radio, regardless of which GPS and GPS cable I connected
to the radio/radar DB9.
Today we checked and found continuity in the radio/radar cable and
also in
the GPS cable - they both read OK.
The DB9 connectors on the GPS cables are molded and I use
dielectric grease on them (only the 2 and 5 pins are used).
We opened the DB9 connector that feeds both the radar and radio and
couldn't find a short.
We put it back together and thought we'd try again in a few days.
I verified the obvious like the GPSs are set to NMEA, turned on,
and had located our position and that the radar and radio were
turned on and set to receive NMEA. I've decided to replace the DB9
connector on the cable to the radio.radar even though we didn't see
anything wrong because that's the cheapest thing to replace and I
don't know what else it could be.
What would you check?


If one of the input ports of radio or radar is faulty or shorted
out, you may lose the signal to both.
Disconnect the radio, check if you now get a signal in the radar.
Then disconnect the radar and check the radio.
If still no luck, if you can get access to a laptop with serial port,
check
with Hyperterminal (4800bps, no parity, no flow control).
Cheers,
Wout

It would seem that the fault lies with the GPS, either in the moulded plug
or within the body of the GPS. Have you any means of checking the baud rate?
Connect it to a laptop as suggested and use Hyperterminal to check for data
flow.



Digital Photo-charts for all UK areas.
Remove 'nospam' to reply.

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 15:20:46 -0700, "William G. Andersen"
wrote:

What would you check in this situation?

===================================

Check the "setup" options on your GPS to ensure that the data out
function or settings have not been inadvertantly changed.

Here's my follow up, for the benefit of those of you who, like me try to
learn something from this newsgroup.
I had suspected corrosion in the DB9 connector on the end of the Furuno
radar cable, where the wires to the radio are also connected, because , even
though we checked for continuity, we thought the NMEA signal isn't strong,
and may not be getting through.
I decided to try, one more time, as long as we had the boat out last night.
I verified the GPS was set for NMEA/NMEA and lowered the BAUD rate to 4800.
Bingo!
NMEA data displayed on radar and VHF-FM radio.
I never paid any attention to the BAUD rate before. I will from now on,
because it's evident that the radio and radar don't listen to higher speeds.
How nice to have course and speed displayed on the radar again - where
almost anyone in the boat can see it. The GPS is a handheld, mounted for the
helmsman and difficult for others to read.


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 15:20:46 -0700, "William G. Andersen"
wrote:

What would you check in this situation?

===================================

Check the "setup" options on your GPS to ensure that the data out
function or settings have not been inadvertantly changed.

William G. Andersen wrote:
Here's my follow up, for the benefit of those of you who, like me try
to learn something from this newsgroup.
I had suspected corrosion in the DB9 connector on the end of the
Furuno radar cable, where the wires to the radio are also connected,
because , even though we checked for continuity, we thought the NMEA
signal isn't strong, and may not be getting through.
I decided to try, one more time, as long as we had the boat out last
night. I verified the GPS was set for NMEA/NMEA and lowered the BAUD
rate to 4800. Bingo!
NMEA data displayed on radar and VHF-FM radio.
I never paid any attention to the BAUD rate before. I will from now
on, because it's evident that the radio and radar don't listen to
higher speeds. How nice to have course and speed displayed on the
radar again - where almost anyone in the boat can see it. The GPS is
a handheld, mounted for the helmsman and difficult for others to read.


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 15:20:46 -0700, "William G. Andersen"
wrote:

What would you check in this situation?

===================================

Check the "setup" options on your GPS to ensure that the data out
function or settings have not been inadvertantly changed.

I had a similar problem with an Oziexplorer installation a couple of years
ago. It simply would not communicate on NMEA settings. The boat owner had
taken out his yacht and had changed the comms configuration in Ozi to
115,200, as he "wanted the boat to appear to go faster!". As soon as I
adjusted the baud rate back to 4800, the sentences started to flow.

Problem is, I deal with sailors to whom a laptop is "hyper-technology", and
they are trying to master the usage of same at an age when most other guys
(including myself) have retired.

--
Digital Photo-charts fo all UK areas.
Remove 'nospam' to reply.

Dennis Pogson wrote:

snip
I had a similar problem with an Oziexplorer installation a couple of years
ago. It simply would not communicate on NMEA settings. The boat owner had
taken out his yacht and had changed the comms configuration in Ozi to
115,200, as he "wanted the boat to appear to go faster!". As soon as I
adjusted the baud rate back to 4800, the sentences started to flow.

Problem is, I deal with sailors to whom a laptop is "hyper-technology", and
they are trying to master the usage of same at an age when most other guys
(including myself) have retired.

I've had similar experiences. Once I discovered the use Hyperterminal
(set to 4800/8/N/1) for NMEA testing I found I could get some kind of
data flow if the serial connection was working. If there was a
mysterious but repetitious garble, that was symptom of mismatched baud
rates.

As an aside, there is a program named tty.exe (came as part of one of
M$'s Win-CE software development kits or something like that) that can
be used in the absence of Hyperterminal on PDAs running various versions
of Win-CE. Tty.exe is mentioned on Dale DePriest's WinCE Hardware for
Navigation page: http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/P...cehardware.htm.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)