Gps USB antenna

[youen]

Is it possible to connect an USB gps antenna to a chartplotter and if yes how? thanks

 

[Refueler]

Is this a USB puck GPS or a Handheld GPS with USB cable ?

The problem here is that the USB connector is not so easy to create adaptor for.

You can buy adaptors - but most do not work. Personally I would keep the USB GPS for your PC.

Once you have the Pin designation of the USB .... you would need to break it open to identify the very fine wire connections to the very fine contacts .........

Generally its not worth the hassle - you can buy a GPS module with basic bare wire cable with NMEA output for very small money.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Is it possible to connect an USB gps antenna to a chartplotter and if yes how? thanks

Possible but very unlikely as the normal NMEA speed is 4800 bps where as USB is much higher effective transmission speed.

As Refueler says you can get GPS mouse with an RS232 output but currently there are not as available as USB and are alot more expensive.

I have a USB GPS mouse input to my PC plotter using OpenCPN and I have an old RS232 output mouse into my VHF DSC radio. This also feed my MOB tag system.

 

[Refueler]

No need for RS232 ..... but at least with such a format - the wires are better and easily cut / remade to suit plotter input.

I have RS232 plug . sockets on my radio panel for the interface of either my eTrex HH or my Lowrance 3500 Plotter ..... to my Cobra DSC VHF .... but that will be modified to have my Beitian GPS module installed as a permanent fixture.

For most plotters though - it is better to buy the OEM brand antenna for it ...

If you wish to go the route that I am posting about for a DSC radio - with a 10 Euro GPS module ... the NMEA 0183 output is autoset and should be a fit and forget exercise EXCEPT if the NMEA required is NMEA 2000 .... then you really should go for OEM.

As I said earlier ... a USB version - is worth keeping for your PC based use .... Seaclear ... OpenCPN or whatever you choose.

 

[Norman_E]

Multiple sellers of this NMEA model at around £25, so why bother trying to modify a USB one? Marine Ship GPS Receiver Antenna Module NMEA 0183 Baud Rate 4800 Connector | eBay

 

[youen]

Multiple sellers of this NMEA model at around £25, so why bother trying to modify a USB one? Marine Ship GPS Receiver Antenna Module NMEA 0183 Baud Rate 4800 Connector | eBay

I ask this question because I try to find a solution to link aCypho 10 ais receiver on which the Nmea183 is no more working but the Rs232 is still ok

 

[Refueler]

I ask this question because I try to find a solution to link aCypho 10 ais receiver on which the Nmea183 is no more working but the Rs232 is still ok

Hang on ....

Your question asked about USB GPS .... and a plotter ..... but now you say AIS receiver ??

 

[youen]

Yes the antenna linked to the Cypho ais receiver is à combiner antenna with 2wires one for the Vhf the other one for the gps and on the receiver there is 3 exits rs232 , USB and Nmea 183 but I made a silly mistake and destroyed thé nmea output.Here is the whole story.....

 

[youen]

Sorry I sang to say combined antenna

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Is it possible to connect an USB gps antenna to a chartplotter and if yes how? thanks

The USB interface is nothing like NMEA-0183, NMEA-2000 or RS232. There is no hope of connecting a USB device to an input expecting one of the above. It's not just the data rate & voltages that are different, USB has a complex negotiating & packet framing protocol on top of the basic data transmission. Don't attempt to open up anything & connect wires, it just won't work. I don't know why refueler is suggesting this.

NMEA-0183 & RS232 however are very similar & the NMEA-0183 standard requires that a RS232 device connected to it must work if using the NMEA-0183 message format at the right data rate.

A USB device can only be connected to a USB host. Your computer running Windows or Linux or your tablet with Android is a USB host so you can connect a RS232 to USB device converter to it. An NMEA-0183 port on a plotter is not a USB host. You cannot turn round your USB to RS-232 converter & expect to connect your other device to it because that would be connecting 2 devices together with no host.

The only hope you have of connecting a USB device to your chart plotter is if it has a USB port that looks like any other that you see on laptops or phones.

 

[alan]

To answer your post #6:
How about the following from Quark Electronics: QK-AS03 NMEA Protocol Bridge - AIS receiver, Marine NMEA multiplexer,IoT solutions in UK
This will convert the RS232 from your device (which is still working) to RS422 for input to your chart plotter.

[Sometimes connecting only the NMEA0183/RS232 transmit +ve wire to the NMEA0183/RS422 input Rx +ve wire, plus a signal ground (not data -ve) will work but depends on the RS422 receiver design - best to convert properly.)

Alan.

 

[Refueler]

The USB interface is nothing like NMEA-0183, NMEA-2000 or RS232. There is no hope of connecting a USB device to an input expecting one of the above. It's not just the data rate & voltages that are different, USB has a complex negotiating & packet framing protocol on top of the basic data transmission. Don't attempt to open up anything & connect wires, it just won't work. I don't know why refueler is suggesting this.

It is true that USB is a different protocol and requires a USB host to communicate .... but remember Angus - that the USB host is using a driver tailored to the item plugged in - that driver allows data flow..... of the format required - it has been done that I personally know of ... the USB was broken open and used. But I do not recc'd destroying a perfectly good USB item.

Go back 'Angus' and read that every time I have said to save the USB item for other use and get a more easily adapted item.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

To answer your post #6:
How about the following from Quark Electronics: QK-AS03 NMEA Protocol Bridge - AIS receiver, Marine NMEA multiplexer,IoT solutions in UK
This will convert the RS232 from your device (which is still working) to RS422 for input to your chart plotter.

[Sometimes connecting only the NMEA0183/RS232 transmit +ve wire to the NMEA0183/RS422 input Rx +ve wire, plus a signal ground (not data -ve) will work but depends on the RS422 receiver design - best to convert properly.)

Alan.

According to the latest NMEA-0183 standard which describes the acceptable listener voltage levels in section 3.5.3 voltage across A & B lines between -15V & 0.5V is allowed for logical 1 & 4V to 15V for logical 0. RS232 levels fall in this range. This is because this is what the standard used prior to version 2.

What this means is that you can connect a talker compliant with RS232, RS422 or any NMEA-0183 standard to a modern NMEA-0183 listener, but you cannot safely do it the other way round (modern NMEA-0183 talker to old or RS232 listener). It warns against this in section 1.2.