Handheld GPS to DSC Radio?

[TwoStroke]

Now I have bought my boat, am beginning to kit her out. The fun in buying new toys.

Does anyone know of a handheld GPS that can connect to my NASA SX35 radio? Space on the boat is limited and therfore handheld is ideal.

Any suggestions?

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>... too late now, I've bought a boat!

 

[Steve_D]

Any of the Garmin units should be ok. They all have the capability of sending out data as far as I am aware.

If you get the eTrex Legend it will come with a Points of Interest Database which has all of the Navigation marks for Europe on it and is very neat. Not as good as chart plotter but better than a straight gps IMHO. you will need a cable for the power pickup and interface or use the vehicle power/interface one if suitable (12v/rs232)

Alternatively look at the Garmin 176 or 176c a neat chartplotter for the smaller boat, I would be suprised if you could not fit it on somewhere and its more suitable for marine use, has good charts available and comes with a cable for power and interfacing and a mount for surface mounting on the cockpit dash. Its waterproof and easily removed from the boat for security.

Regards

Steve D

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[Happy1]

I must say as Steve has the 176 is a brilliant bit of kit. It comes in two models the 176 and the 176C which is colour, abiut £80 difference between them. It is more expensive than the normal handheld, although the 176 takes batteries as well and can be handheld, but gives the best of both worlds IMHO. I chose it for the space issue, I can also use it in my car which is great, very clear screen, and is like looking at a moving A - Z.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[TwoStroke]

Thanks for the info. Will have to nip down to my local shop - see these things in action.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>... too late now, I've bought a boat!

 

[Happy1]

IF you do look at the 176 which requires a chip and chart to be purchased, read a previous thread about two pages back on GPS info and the updates for charts, could save you money /forums/images/icons/wink.gif The charts are an expensive item.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[longjohnsilver]

Try
www.mesltd.co.uk

they are always very competetive on all boaty elctrical equipment, and very helpful/knowledgeable

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[Happy1]

I have seen that allgadgets are selling handhelds at what they claim is cost price, don't know what the normal prices are, but you could check out the link below :-

http://allgadgets.co.uk/ag/dept.asp?dept_id=8

Cheers,

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[Geoffs]

I've just done exactly what you are asking. I bought a Garmin 76 with Data/power lead and connected to my NASA SX35. All works OK, but you have to set up the coreect menu options on the NASA. Took me a while to work through these.

Then day/time/Lat/Long all displayed on NASA screen.

<hr width=100% size=1>Old Chinese proverb 'Man who sail boat into rice field, soon get into paddy'

 

[Happy1]

Have a look at the GPS phone being launched next week, I put details on Scuttlebutt, that may be a fun toy if it will link in, but beware of the IPX rating!

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[wakeup]

Hi Geoff,

I just bought the Nasa DSC 35 and I've got a Garmin III plus that I would like to wire up. The power data cable from Garmin comes with bare wires as does the NMEA cable into the DSC. I was just wondering how you connected these two togther? did you just solder the wires together or did you put a connector on each end?

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[Steve_D]

Personally I would recommend solder and heat shrink sleeving at best or crimping at the least.

Its strikes me that when you want this to work you REALLY want it to work!!!!

Regards

Steve D

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[jfm]

You ought to make a good joint, either decent crimp or solder imho. The nmea signal is a pulsing 3v so it will not jump a scruffy connection

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[paulineb]

My Suzie makes a good joint if you need any tips

<hr width=100% size=1>Pxx

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.paulinebeddoes.co.uk/php-cgi/gallery>The Perils of Pauline in Pics</A>

 

[wakeup]

I absolutely agree that the joint should be good Steve and JFM, just wondered if there was a standard NMEA fitting so that anyone looking at my installation don't criticise etc.

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[jfm]

No there's no standard connector. Most NMEA leads are bare at one end, and people lash it all together with terminal blocks or crimp connectors, hidden under dash. It is worth labelling with a label machine, becuase the witre colours are non standard between Garmin, Furuno, etc. Steve is right that you do not want it to go wrong at critical moment, though personally I prefer to have redundancy and duplication, eg 2 GPS NMEA talkers, maybe switchable to one plotter, or a second plotter, handheld or laptop.

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[wakeup]

Thanks JFM, i'll solder, then heat shrink then label.

I haven;t really got room for a second GPS it's only going into a 22ft sports boat so it's all a bit of over kill but I want to get licensed and qualified and experienced with DSC etc before I move on to a bigger boat. Won't be overkill though if I really need to use in an emergency.

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[Geoffs]

Been away for a few hours and everyone else has said it all. I, indeed, did solder mine, and covered with heat shrink sleeving. you basically only need two connections, apart from power, as the GPS is only a talker, ie just sending data to the radio.

You connect the GPS data out wire (Brown on my cable) to the radio receive (NMEA Rx) wire (also brown). The -ve line on the radio is red (confusing!) and connects to the black, ground, wire on the radio. There is a red power +ve wire on the GPS cable. The SX35 has separate power cables, of course.

The NASA manual is not very clear on the menu set ups, but you need to ensure the MANUAL LL option is set to OFF. That's the one that caught me out.

<hr width=100% size=1>Old Chinese proverb 'Man who sail boat into rice field, soon get into paddy'