Using A Garmin Nuvi With A Uniden Scanner For GPS

[SB-Wi]

^^ Thank You ... That is what I had read as well.
I was referring to the Argent cable for the splice.

Zippy--I misinterpreted your first reply as using the Garmin cable.

I asked Scott Miller about adding a splitter at the GPS to separate the FMI and traffic data. His reply was "I would assume the traffic data also runs over the D+/D- lines that the GTRANS is using for serial data. I don't know how they're combined." Basically, it sounds like it's possible, but there are issues to resolve that require electronics knowledge. I think a commercially available cable or homebrew instructions would be beneficial. I also had contacted Garmin and can provide that info to anyone wanting to make an adapter.

 

[JamesPrine]

This got me started on the concept of using an old Garmin...

Connecting a Garmin GPS to the Home Patrol Scanner - YouTube

 

[ZippyZ]

Zippy--I misinterpreted your first reply as using the Garmin cable.

I asked Scott Miller about adding a splitter at the GPS to separate the FMI and traffic data. His reply was "I would assume the traffic data also runs over the D+/D- lines that the GTRANS is using for serial data. I don't know how they're combined." Basically, it sounds like it's possible, but there are issues to resolve that require electronics knowledge. I think a commercially available cable or homebrew instructions would be beneficial. I also had contacted Garmin and can provide that info to anyone wanting to make an adapter.

In the NMEA world, at least in my experience in the marine industry, you cab tie multiple sources of NMEA data into a single port as long as there are not duplicate sources of the same data. Now that said, i'm not sur,e I want to incur the headache required to figure it all out. The power cable for a garmin has the traffic mudule built into it, so it would need to be a splice into the factory cable if you'd wish to still have traffic data. I would love to have something like this because my rolling "test car" has so much stuff running at the same time it's scary. The thought of adding yet another device, such as a GPS puck is just not that appetising to me. I am giving this some casual thought.

 

[SB-Wi]

The power cable for a garmin has the traffic mudule built into it, so it would need to be a splice into the factory cable if you'd wish to still have traffic data.

I was thinking of a splitter that plugs into the GPS with a female USB port on a pigtail for the power/traffic cable, and the main cable going through the GTRANS2 to the scanner. The converter would be powered from the power cable. Scott's concern was that the USB only has 5 wires to carry power and data, so the traffic and FMI data would need to be separated somehow to send the FMI to the GTRANS2 and allow the traffic data do pass through to the GPS.

 

[ZippyZ]

I was thinking of a splitter that plugs into the GPS with a female USB port on a pigtail for the power/traffic cable, and the main cable going through the GTRANS2 to the scanner. The converter would be powered from the power cable. Scott's concern was that the USB only has 5 wires to carry power and data, so the traffic and FMI data would need to be separated somehow to send the FMI to the GTRANS2 and allow the traffic data do pass through to the GPS.

I do not want to give any opine such that I am familiar with the specific wires in a Garmin GPS cable and what purpose they serve. In the marine industry, you only need a single wire to send GPS data to another device. In most cases you may combine multiple wires all trnsmitting NMEA data into a single port (or receive port) so long as no source is supplying the same data. Baud rate plays a roll as well.

My assumption is that the factory Garmin cable suplies power (2) wires. (1) supplies the NMEA traffice data. Maybe this requires (2) wires for this service, I dunno. That leaves 1 maybe 2 wires that serve some purpose. What that is I am not sure.

We also assume that the GPS NMEA data from the Garmin has an output port. Since they supply a fleet service, my assumption is 1 of the wires is the output for that data.
I would love to know more if someone knows.

I also meant to add ..... As far as NMEA data is concerned, i see no reason to seprate the data from the perspective of the scanner. It's firmware likely has nothing to evaluate traffic data from a Garmin device or any other, so it will likely ignore it, for all intensive purposes.

 

[SB-Wi]

My assumption is that the factory Garmin cable suplies power (2) wires. (1) supplies the NMEA traffice data. Maybe this requires (2) wires for this service, I dunno. That leaves 1 maybe 2 wires that serve some purpose. What that is I am not sure.

We also assume that the GPS NMEA data from the Garmin has an output port. Since they supply a fleet service, my assumption is 1 of the wires is the output for that data.

I would love to know more if someone knows.

To be clear, the Garmin outputs serial FMI data and the GTRANS2 converts that data to NMEA. The issue might be with the GTRANS instead of the scanner. I looked at the FMI developer documents a while back but didn't know what was what.
Fleet Management - Garmin Developer

 

[ZippyZ]

That's what Garmin does, like Cisco they always use proprietary protocals instead of industry standard. I understand it from a customer capture standpoint, but unless you want their logo tattooed on your bum ... They make life difficult in these cases.

 

[SB-Wi]

Re: Help Connect GPS to Home Patrol 1

Argent is the only company I know that makes cables to convert the Garmin FMI data to NMEA. Their GTRANS2 cable might work but the traffic feature of the Garmins may not work while using the cable. Since it is custom made, you can specify the connectors to eliminate any adapters for a cleaner install. Scott Miller is very helpful and can be reached through the contact page.
https://www.argentdata.com/support/fmi.html

The quoted thread has more info on using traffic with the scanner.

 

[lawman210]

As some readers here may recall, I have posted in the past about using a Garmin Nuvi 350 with a Uniden Home Patrol HP-1 for GPS scanning. When I first started looking for a compatible GPS I checked here Uniden Scanner GPS Features - The RadioReference Wiki and saw a list of GPS receivers. But then I recalled reading that some amateur radio operators had bought an Argent GTRANS Garmin to NMEA Translator Cable GTRANS Garmin to NMEA Translator Cable (D-Sub Style) - Argent Data Systems - APRS Hardware Because I wanted to keep the number of wires in my vehicle to a minimum and the ability to use ONE GPS for BOTH navigating AND scanning, this option appealed to me greatly.

So, when I looked through the list of compatible GPS receivers from Argent Data I saw that the following supported models currently include:

Garmin Nüvi 300 Series
StreetPilot C340
StreetPilot 7000 Series
StreetPilot 2820 Series
StreetPilot 2720 Series
Zumo 400 Series
Zumo 500 Series

Having some experience with Garmin GPS in the past, I immediately ruled out the StreetPilot C340 because of the size of the unit. The StreetPilot 7000 series is larger still, so they, too, were elimiunated from consideration. I have had a StreetPilot 2730, which is quite similar to the StreetPilot 2720 and 2820, but I also ruled them out due to their size and weight. Next down the list is the Zumo 450 and 550. They have the speaker built into the cradle, rather than the GPS itself, so I ruled them out based on that feature.

By process of elimination that leaves the Garmin Nüvi 300 series. Specifically, that is the following units: Garmin Nuvi 350, 360, and 370. So, I promptly went to Ebay and picked up a used Garmin Nuvi 350. Upon arrival, I did the various firmware/software updates and configured it to my liking. It has worked quite well for the months that I have used it with the Home Patrol HP-1.

More recently I decided to pick up an additional used Garmin Nuvi for the family fleet of vehicles. This time I decided to buy a used Garmin Nuvi 360. I focused on that unit because I did a comparison of the Garmin Nuvi 350, 360, and 370 https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cat...1655&compareProduct=31943&compareProduct=8577 and noticed that the 360 and 370 have a high-sensitivity receiver, but the 350 does not. I have noticed that it seems to work even a bit better than the 350 for GPS scanning because it seems to acquire GPS signals quicker and keep them in places that the 350 would loose them.

Anyway, for the above reasons that I have noted, if you are still looking for a GPS for scanning in your vehicle, the Garmin Nuvi 360 may well be the definite choice IF you want a GPS for BOTH navigating AND GPS scanning. Also, if people here are interested in some additional tricks, tips, work arounds, hints, secrets and ideas for the Garmin Nüvi line, take a look here Garmin Nuvi GPS Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hints, Secrets and Ideas -- Page 1 because Gary has LOTS of good information about Garmin Nuvis!

Also, if anybody is looking for an itemized list of Uniden Bearcat scanners capable of GPS Scanning, this is what the Uniden website lists:

BCD396T / BCD396XT

BCD996T / BCD996XT

BC346XT

BCT15 / BCT15X

HomePatrol-1

Here are four popular Uniden scanners with GPS capability and their features compared:

http://www.uniden.com/bin/venda?ex=...e=bcd996xtg&compare=bcd396xtg&compare=bct15xg

In order to hook this to the Home Patrol u needed to buy and additional cable?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[N1JGE]

Any suggestions for a cable for C350 to a BCD996XT?

 

[SB-Wi]

Any suggestions for a cable for C350 to a BCD996XT?

I assume you mean a StreetPilot C350 which I could not find on Garmin's website or info through google. If it supports FMI, you can use an Argent GTRANS cable. Whether the original GTRANS or GTRANS2 depends on the FMI interface.