New ham setup

trump

Adventurist
Mark,

Garmin (I think you have a Garmin) sells data cables with bare wire ends that you can custom wire to the radio connector. Should be relatively easy to find locally. Not sure about the radio side, but HRO *should* have something for that. I have done this for my old Garmin GPS III. Not sure if the connector is the same (round connector with 4 pins), but I bought the cable at Fry's. Now that I think about it, they probably have the data cable terminated in a standard DB-9 serial port connector. That may be an easier connection to the radio. There also should be a turn-key cable available from Yaesu, no?

Yeah, it's a Garmin 478. I've got The GPS wired into the truck with the cable you mention, but I need to build the radio side and wire them together.

No, Yaesu makes the cables to download updates and add their external GPS, but no generic 'solder this wire to GPS NMEA data output' cable... unless someone else can point me to one.

I did find the RT Systems Inc USB programing cable and software. I'm really thinking about forking out the ~$50 to get it after sitting for about 2hrs in the truck with the Nifty manual trying to figure everything out today.
 

esh

Explorer
There are pin assignments in the back of the APRS manual that you might match up to your GPS.
 

trump

Adventurist
There are pin assignments in the back of the APRS manual that you might match up to your GPS.

Thanks for the reference. I did see that, but haven't got as far as buying what I need for the cable yet.
 

trump

Adventurist
What type of connector goes to the radio for GPS input? Standard or proprientary?

Standard 8-Pin Mini Din. I'm going after work today to Fry's Electronics to pick up the connector and I'll build the cable soon. If I get the chance tonight, I'll post the combined diagrams of the pin assignments for both the GPS and the radio. I feel I might be doing some trial and error still on the radio side.
 

taugust

Adventurer
Not sure, but you may need a null modem adaptor between connectors to make the connection. I recall needing that for connecting and changing gender for two of the same connectors.
 

trump

Adventurist
Picked up the Mini Din connector, some wire sleeving, and misc 22 gauge wire. Now to get these two devices talking with the below guidance. Probably try soldering it up this weekend.

PinAssignments.jpg
 

taugust

Adventurer
Whoops! My bad. You are dealing with a different animal than I thought. I was thinking the DB-9 serial connector. Good luck on the wiring.
 

mmccurdy

Adventurer
I'm really interested in how this turns out. My research told me with some certainty that the Yaesu did not output NMEA data (only raw packet data from the TNC) and hence would not be compatible with the Garmin. This was actually the only reason I wound up going with the Kenwood some time back. If you get this working, please do post results -- I'd also be interested in how it handles plotting of APRS waypoints over time within the Garmin unit.

I have a Garmin 378 and a Kenwood D710 and I'm generally really happy with the setup -- it's very cool to be able to find and monitor my wheeling buddies' positions out in the middle of nowhere.

I followed the same logic you're working with to get the garmin connector to work with the Kenwood. I wound up putting together a three-way cable to charge/power the Garmin from the vehicle electrical system at the same time.

web.jpg
 

1911

Expedition Leader
I have a Garmin 378 and a Kenwood D710 and I'm generally really happy with the setup -- it's very cool to be able to find and monitor my wheeling buddies' positions out in the middle of nowhere.

Not many of my wheeling or expo buddies have APRS yet, but my family and friends like to see where I am on a trip.

IMG_0735.jpg
 

trump

Adventurist
My research told me with some certainty that the Yaesu did not output NMEA data (only raw packet data from the TNC) and hence would not be compatible with the Garmin.

I know that it will accept the input, but as far as output; it sounds like I might be screwed. We'll see if I can come up with something. I might be stuck manually entering Lat/Long reported to the radio into the GPS. If that comes to be, I will eventually retire the Garmin to the boat and go with a unit more suited for overlanding.

mmccurdy said:
I followed the same logic you're working with to get the garmin connector to work with the Kenwood. I wound up putting together a three-way cable to charge/power the Garmin from the vehicle electrical system at the same time.

I've got mine wired for power and an external speaker right now, but it's the second cable that I've had that the audio output pin has stopped working. Are you using the Garmin cable or something aftermarket? Hopefully the data out isn't broken as well.
 

mmccurdy

Adventurer
I've got mine wired for power and an external speaker right now, but it's the second cable that I've had that the audio output pin has stopped working. Are you using the Garmin cable or something aftermarket? Hopefully the data out isn't broken as well.

Yeah, I'm using the Garmin cable that came from a vehicle charger and speaker combo that was included with my 378. It has the complete set of wires for all the pins in the diagram. I've seen other cables that only include the power leads (I think, plus maybe a couple others) but not the data leads. If you have one of those it should be obvious by opening the raw end and looking for the appropriately colored wires. I wound up retaining the speaker itself from the original unit and buried it in the rollbar padding in my Jeep so I have the turn-by-turn guidance as well.

Good luck with the build -- if you get it working I would consider switching to the Yaesu since I like the look and feel of the unit a lot more. One other thing that gives me pause about the Yaesu is that it's newer and the software is not user-upgradable like it is on the Kenwood (i.e. you need to send it back to Yaesu for upgrades and software fixes) but that concern is diminishing with time as it's been on the market for a while now.

Good luck and definitely let us know how it goes.
 

jjohnsonphx

Observer
I know that it will accept the input, but as far as output; it sounds like I might be screwed. We'll see if I can come up with something. I might be stuck manually entering Lat/Long reported to the radio into the GPS. If that comes to be, I will eventually retire the Garmin to the boat and go with a unit more suited for overlanding.

If you buy the Yaesu GPS, the radio will output NEMA from the serial port. I've tested this with my FTM-350R and it works great. I know Yeasu is proud of the GPS, because I shelled out $70+ for it.

One other thing that gives me pause about the Yaesu is that it's newer and the software is not user-upgradable like it is on the Kenwood (i.e. you need to send it back to Yaesu for upgrades and software fixes) but that concern is diminishing with time as it's been on the market for a while now.

Not true. Yeasu is now publishing the firmware updates for the FTM-350R. I'm currently running version 1.3. Each firmware update has been a breeze. I've upgraded each time they have released a new update. They are really doing quite a good job. The firmware update program work with Windows 7 also. Here is a link to the page, just click on the Files tab. FTM-350AR

Good luck on building the cable.
 
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mmccurdy

Adventurer
If you buy the Yaesu GPS, the radio will output NEMA from the serial port. I've tested this with my FTM-350R and it works great. I know Yeasu is proud of the GPS, because I shelled out $70+ for it.



Not true. Yeasu is now publishing the firmware updates for the FTM-350R. I'm currently running version 1.3. Each firmware update has been a breeze. I've upgraded each time they have released a new update. They are really doing quite a good job. The firmware update program work with Windows 7 also. Here is a link to the page, just click on the Files tab. FTM-350AR

Good luck on building the cable.

Cool, that's good info. My knowledge is over a year old at this point from when the FT-350 was brand new on the market and still having some software/GPS issues necessitating sending the units back to Yaesu. The NMEA output is also really good news. Going to have to consider a swap myself if it does turn out to work with the Garmin.
 

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