Best way to feed my Link 5 VHF with GPS

[stephennoble]

I have a new Lowrance Link 5 Radio with the boat I have just acquired, along with a Garmin 120xl GPS. I see from the instructions that the Garmin will not feed the VHF. My options are a new GPS, a puck that I have heard so much about but still its not registered with my brain what it is. Any thoughts as although a nice new small chart plotter would be nice I dont need one.

 

[pvb]

I have a new Lowrance Link 5 Radio with the boat I have just acquired, along with a Garmin 120xl GPS. I see from the instructions that the Garmin will not feed the VHF.

Which instructions? The 120XL should output NMEA0183; the Link 5 should input NMEA0183.

 

[stephennoble]

I thought I could connect them but some where I read the NMEA0183 was not compatible with DSC Radio. I will just have to try it and see what happens. I have read the blue cable is NMEA out on the Garmin. However on the VHF I dont quite understand as there ia a + and - in option? Yellow or Green. If anyone understand better than me I would be interested.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Trial and error won't do any harm as long as you don't use the live feed. The two manuals should give you the nmea out from the gps and the nmea in to the plotter though.

 

[stephennoble]

Thanks for your thoughts, however my last confusion is the point I made in my last post which is ..... I dont quite understand as there is a + and - in option? Yellow or Green If any one has an opinion! :encouragement:

 

[pvb]

You connect the NMEA Out + of the GPS to the NMEA In + of the radio. You can connect the - wires similarly, but it usually isn't necessary if they share a common negative connection.

 

[prv]

Thanks for your thoughts, however my last confusion is the point I made in my last post which is ..... I dont quite understand as there is a + and - in option? Yellow or Green If any one has an opinion! :encouragement:

Connect the + to the Garmin's NMEA out, and the - to the Garmin's power supply negative (black).

Pete

 

[stephennoble]

Thanks for the info, went down to boat late morning before your most recent replies and connected the Garmin blue (NMEA OUT) to the VHF yellow (NMEA IN+) No good So should I also connect the Green VHF (NMEA IN-) to the common ground? Or any other thoughts?

 

[prv]

should I also connect the Green VHF (NMEA IN-) to the common ground?

Yes.

NMEA is just an electrical circuit, in which the power is turned on and off to send a message - much like Morse code except faster - and like any circuit it needs both a supply and a return wire. So in the basic case you'd connect the sender's +ve to the receiver's +ve and the sender's -ve to the receiver's -ve.

However, Garmin cause no end of confusion to novice installers by combining their NMEA -ve with the power supply -ve. And then people forget that they need a circuit and think that connecting only one wire will do, and then it doesn't work. You need to connect the radio's NMEA -ve to the Garmin's imaginary NMEA -ve - or rather, to its power supply -ve, the black wire.

Pete

 

[pvb]

Thanks for the info, went down to boat late morning before your most recent replies and connected the Garmin blue (NMEA OUT) to the VHF yellow (NMEA IN+) No good So should I also connect the Green VHF (NMEA IN-) to the common ground? Or any other thoughts?

You could connect the radio's NMEA In - to the common ground. However, have you configured the GPS to output NMEA data? If you look at the manual for the Garmin, you'll see it gives instructions on how to set it up to output NMEA data. You need to set it up to output NMEA0183 at 4800baud.

 

[salar]

I get asked this question so often I have created a page that describes a generic link from GPS to DSC VHF radio

http://www.boat-angling.co.uk/Hints_and_Tips/ConnectingGPStoDSC.htm

That may help

 

[stephennoble]

The thought of taking the whole control panel off again brings a smile and a sigh. However its a new boat to me so still lots of fun. I ended up sorting out all the cables today bunching them up in cable ties finding loose wires and rewired the negative bar. I will try the wiring amendment maybe tomorrow. I have set the interface at NMEA0183.2 4800baud. Lets see what tomorrow brings! I must say buying an old 1980's boat is alot of fun; so far :ambivalence:

 

[stephennoble]

Bingo, today it all works tomorrow is another day! many thanks to all those who helped me.