GPS to 996 Cable

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bReed11091

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I'm interested in connecting my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx to my 996 scanner, however I cannot find the right cable. I have thought about buying it directly from garmin, but I don't feel like spending big bucks on a cable that should be less than $15. The USB connection is one of those mini ones with the wide bottom and the top is a little smaller. Looks like the bottom plug in this picture (www.amabilidade2002.com/c158.gif). I also want to know if I can find a splitter so that I can have two USB ports from my GPS so that I can have it plugged into the vehicle power and to the scanner? If this would cause problems with either product, please let me know because I don't want to damage expensive things.

Thanks,
Bronson

Note: I would have posted this in the Wanted Item section but I don't want to buy this product off of another user.
 

TedTed

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You need a GPS device that has a serial port, USB will not work and there are no converters.
 

MarkWestin

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You have the right idea already. You need the Garmin cable with adapter from the "4 pin thing in back" (4 pin round socket) to cigarette lighter plug and 9 pin serial plug. You are also correct that it is expensive. Garmin part number 010-10165-00, msrp $45.00. Real world price $33.95 (GPS City or other dealers). Here is a link to Garmin's Web Site to this cable:

http://shop.garmin.com/accessory.jsp?sku=010-10165-00

It could be possible that you might need a "Null Modem Adapter" to go with this cable, but I think that function may be built into the connector in the back of the BCD996T.

Mark
 

Thayne

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ProVantage has the GPS 18 PC-OEM for 68 bucks. It has the serial connector and cig lighter connector already attached. Just a thought
 

bReed11091

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Hmm, what you get with that garmin cable is pretty good. I'll look on Froogle to find a cheaper one. I'm assuming that this cable only powers the GPS? And why won't the USB idea work? It seems that with new technology that Uniden would have done away with serial ports, as USB is way faster and more efficient, and serial ports are slowly disappearing because of that.
 

MarkWestin

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While your GPSMap60CSx is capable of either Serial or USB, your BCD996T, and all other Uniden scanners so far, are not capable of using USB, since they only have serial port(s) (BCD396T ans BCT 15 both have two ports). It is possible to use a USB-Serial converter between your scanner and your computer, but not between your GPS and your scanner due to no way to enable the drivers.

Mark
 

K9GTJ

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bReed11091 said:
It seems that with new technology that Uniden would have done away with serial ports, as USB is way faster and more efficient, and serial ports are slowly disappearing because of that.

I have said that several times. The usual reply is some nonsense about the serial connector making is more universal but I have said that nobody spending $500 on a scanner isn't using some old PC without a USB connection.
 

Universaldecoder

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A cheap and clean way?

Does anyone know if you can take the following Garmin cable....

010-10082-00 Power/data cable

and just add a serial connector to it so you can plug it into the back of the 996T?

Does anyone know what the serial pinout would have to be for the 996T, I could not find it in the manual?

This cable is like $19, and I've got a serial connector laying around somewhere from a project that never got off the ground.
 

MarkEagleUSA

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MarkWestin said:
It is possible to use a USB-Serial converter between your scanner and your computer, but not between your GPS and your scanner due to no way to enable the drivers.
It's more than just drivers. The scanner and GPS could not connect directly to each other using USB since neither one is a "controller" device.
 

baddlord777

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Can anyone tell me something i may be missing to connect my Garmin 60csx to my 996T.

I purchased the factory serial port cable to hook up to the back of the 996t. Both connections are hooked up..and when i press gps on the uniden, it say 'No GPS input'. My gps is turned on....Uniden says that when they are connected, the scanner should say 'gps connected'. Can anyone tell me what i am missing. Cannot imput anything on set pos format in the setting on 996t ? my garmin under interface shows serial data format nmea in/nmea out baud 4800.....i dont see anything else....they are not communicating though. Tried even enabling gps in arcpro...nothing....any help would be greatly appreciated as allways. p.s even powered both off and nada..
 

UPMan

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Also, on the Garmin, make sure that it is set for NMEA output (most Garmins include and default to a non-standard "Garmin" output mode).
 

garys

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It's more than just drivers. The scanner and GPS could not connect directly to each other using USB since neither one is a "controller" device.

Stop making sense. Kokomo1 has already told us that it's nonsense.
 

baddlord777

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60csx and 996t (rcluster)

I appreciate the help Rcluster....i beleive that will work....one more question since u r the man..how can i manage to plug-in power to the gps..say forinstance at home ...maybe in a vehicle..when the factory cable plugs into the garmin that would normally be used for power. The cable goes from the round port on back of 60csx to the back of serial port on 996 ? this think will eat batteries like crazy...and when i turn on the gps and it connects now with your help...its now says..nothing to scan..however, i live very close to alot of radio traffic (town) Again, appreciate the help....Thank you
 

baddlord777

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Cluster update...i guess i should have waited....gps linked multiple sats..scanning fine....but if u have ideas on power..i'll takem...are either one of these units (60csx and 996t) capable of showing a map where radio transmission is coming from like police station or cars ? just curious..that would be cool if it worked that way....once a hit on the scanner..it would show you on the gps or google earth or what not....
 

kruser

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Cluster update...i guess i should have waited....gps linked multiple sats..scanning fine....but if u have ideas on power..i'll takem...are either one of these units (60csx and 996t) capable of showing a map where radio transmission is coming from like police station or cars ? just curious..that would be cool if it worked that way....once a hit on the scanner..it would show you on the gps or google earth or what not....

I do not recall where I read it but there was a mod that one could do to the 996T or XT and use I think pin 9 on the rear connector to send power out to the GPS for those that have a remote power supply lead in with the serial cable wires. It may have been pin 4 also but I'm not sure so try and find the article. I also do not recall if pin 9 (or 4) was unused in the 996 or if I had to cut a trace before hooking the 5 volt output from a voltage regulator to the unused pin.
It did involve soldering inside the 996 to small components and the addition of a 5 volt regulator to power the GPS.

I modded my older T model and it worked great. When I bought my XT, I removed the mod and never added it back into the XT so I'd only be guessing if I tried to tell you for sure how to do it.

There is no way to power a GPS from a 996 in its default configuration.
You may be able to find a serial adapter that breaks out the power leads (between the 996 and the GPS) to a cigarette lighter plug. The serial signals pass straight through. One of my Garmin pucks had that very cable. It also came with a cable that broke the serial cable out to a ps/2 keyboard connector so you could grab gps power from a laptop or computers PS/2 ports. Hopefully your GPS has some type of documentation so maybe you can roll your own power interface.
All of my GPS devices are old and simple so that made it rather easy for me. One did not have any connector at the end of the cable. That is the one I'd used with the 996T as it had full cable pinouts.
Most of the cigarette lighter breakout plugs have 5 volt regulators built into the cig plug. So don't cut that off and hardwire the two power wires as you will then send 12 volts to your GPS and it will fry unless it is designed for 12 volts.

Edit: No on the question about showing a map of the signal source. The GPS unit nor the 996 has no way of knowing where the signal is coming from. The 996 only knows that it is hearing a signal but it has no direction finding ability in it. And the GPS only receives from the birds in the sky which it does know their location but it has no idea that your are even listening to a scanner! You will need expensive RDF equipment if you want to try and determine a signals distance and location and then display it on a map.
Some amateur operators do use a technology called APRS that does send their location data. That type of stuff could be displayed on a map.
I'm sure many police cruisers also report postion data over a data channel but now your getting into encrypted data.
It would be the same technology that service companies and truck and car rental places use to keep track of where their vehicles are at and teh number one reason, to see how fast they are going or if they are sleeping when they call in and say they are working!!
 
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BJ_NORTON

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I bought cables from byonics I think to connect my 60csx to a tinytrack 3. I was worried about running through batteries too. They had a cable that plugged into the GPS, to a cigarette plug and a second cable coming out of the cigarette plug had the db9 serial connector.

I know there is another company out there that stocks garmin cables like this and they also sell just the connectors if you wanted to make your own.

It would be cool if the radio could send back to the GPS where nearby transmitters and cars are, but unfortunately the 996 + 60csx can't do this. I just got started with APRS on the ham bands, and it does just that, but you need a TNC between the radio and the GPS. Also, I've found that although the 60csx can recieve data in just fine and display it, if the APRS station changes position (as mobile transmitters are likely to do) the GPS can't handle it. It will try to plot the same station name on the map in different locations, and it can't handle to waypoints having the same name and quickly starts have database corruptions :(
 

rcluster

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Baddlord777: As others said, there is a cable that connects to the 60CSX, to the 996, and plugs into the 12v socket in a car to power the GPS. Garmin makes one, but there are cheaper "knockoffs" that should work just fine also. I use one that I bought new off eBay and it works perfectly. (I'm using mine with a 396XT, but all that takes is a different adapter).
Glad you're getting it sorted out. Location based scanning is a huge benefit on a trip. I drove my daughter from North Carolina home to Oregon. Created a file before I left that had all the State and County law, DOT and fire frequencies, railroads and airports along the way and entered the location info for everything. Ran my 60CSX and the 396XT all the way and the systems/sites turned themselves on and off as we went. I rarely had to even touch the scanner. Was very cool. Check out FreeScan if you haven't already. It sure made the geocoding easy.
 
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