Will any USB GPS work with Home Patrol?

[K3RBP]

Getting a HP-2 soon, and have a few GPS pucks lying around. One is a GPS puck with a 3 or 4' long USB cable attached; the other is a Blue Tooth (but still has a USB port for charging the build-in batteries). I'd like to use one of these, and if not, at least some other USB GPS that would connect to the HP without a serial to USB converter/cable.

So will this work? Are there special drivers needed, or would any GPS with a USB cable work? Used the search function for "GPS" and "Which GPS" on the Uniden forums, but came up empty.

 

[UPMan]

Needs to have a serial interface. USB will not work.

See Uniden Scanner GPS Features - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[K3RBP]

Needs to have a serial interface. USB will not work.

See Uniden Scanner GPS Features - The RadioReference Wiki

Thanks for the quick reply, Paul, although not the answer I was hoping for. So you're saying the HomePatrol series scanners all have a serial port on them? I don't have one yet, but I thought they just had a USB port, and that a serial to USB adapter cable was needed, for the serial GPS unit that Uniden sells.

 

[fxdscon]

Thanks for the quick reply, Paul, although not the answer I was hoping for. So you're saying the HomePatrol series scanners all have a serial port on them? I don't have one yet, but I thought they just had a USB port, and that a serial to USB adapter cable was needed, for the serial GPS unit that Uniden sells.

USB port is for data/programming/power/connection to the PC for Sentinel Software (which includes database and firmware updates).

GPS serial port is separate (a not too common style connector), and only for GPS.

Good pic of the ports here:

Uniden Homepatrol-2 Controls

.

 

[K3RBP]

Geeze. What kink of connector is that? Never saw anything like it. So Uniden had adopted a proprietary interface for GPS, thus precluding use of anything but what they sell?

 

[fxdscon]

Geeze. What kink of connector is that? Never saw anything like it.

http://www.hirose.co.jp/cataloge_hp/e20609504.pdf

 

[UPMan]

The electrical standard is NMEA0183, which essentially dictates a RS232 (technically I believe it is RS422, but they are compatible) signal. We include the cable adapter with our GPS accessory puck. We also sell the adapter cable. Or, you can make your own using info in the forums if you are handy.

 

[Blackswan73]

http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tech-support/307752-gps-cable-mod-uniden-scanners.html

 

[Voyager]

You can use a standard programming cable for the older scanners (non-USB) on that port. Those are very common. They do require a null modem/Gender changer adapter (again, very common).

Also, the key you want to look for on a GPS is "NMEA Compliant output".

I have several non-Uniden GPSs I use with these scanners (and one Uniden model).

 

[K3RBP]

Thanks for the replies. I am familiar with NMEA serial data, but was not familiar with that connector. So I dug through the junk box (ham radio & 40 yrs as marine & avionics repair tech), and found a cable with the connector, and also a serial GPS from an old nav system.

Plugged in the GPS to power, and after a minute, it got a fix, so I'll wire it, the USB canle and 4 pin cable together, to work with the HP, and see how it goes when the HP gets here. Appreciate the help.

73