garmin 152 inputs

BruceB · 13 July 2008, 00:19

Reading through the posts in the archive folk talk about sending waypoints to a Garmin 152.
I am still looking for a small waterproof repeater or suchlike to provide speed, heading, position and course to steer slaved off my Lowrance. I can get this with the LMF200 or LMF400 electronic gauges via the NMEA2000 network installed but have no room in the dash where it is easy to see.
I do have loads of room on top of the dash though and was considering a Garmin 152 which will provide all this in a compact waterproof package. The manual is fairly vague but my reading of it is that it only inputs on NMEA 0183 and only a few sentences like depth, temp and heading.
Is it possible to send waypoints to it via the NMEA 0183 output on the Lowrance? if I could do this or send a course to steer to it from the Lowrance then I could just use the Lowrance to store waypoints etc and use the 152 as the repeater?
Or is this beyond the capabilities of the 152?

jyasaki · 13 July 2008, 01:11

Not sure if the 152 can be used as a repeater, but I would tend to doubt it.

The signals discussed for the NMEA 0183 stuff are, I believe, outputs only, intended to go to, for instance, a DSC radio.

Glancing through the Garmin manual for the 152, I see nothing indicating the possibility of displaying inputted NMEA data.

Manual available here:
http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/GPS152_OwnersManual.pdf

jky

BruceB · 13 July 2008, 01:28

The manual is a bit vague on NMEA info as usual for Garmin but like most or all of their mrine GPS units it will accept inputs such as depth, heading and temperature. There is mention of other input devices but no info in the manual on what they are.
Ideally if I could send a waypoint or a route to it that would be enough as the unit would give a course to steer.

geoffs · 13 July 2008, 19:11

Hi, According to the manual, the 152 will accept the WPL message as an input.

WPL - Waypoint Location, Latitude and longitude of specifed waypoint.

So you should be able to send single waypoints in the form of goto's to it and show them on screen.

BruceB · 13 July 2008, 22:01

If it would accept this sentence it would ideal, however I can only find info in the manual saying it will output this sentence and nothing about accepting it as an input.
Which page has the input value saying it will take WPL?

geoffs · 13 July 2008, 23:33

Page 83 of the manual states "The GPS152 also includes NMEA input with support for the WPL sentence.........." This is about half way into the Interfacing section on that page.

Good luck.

BruceB · 14 July 2008, 13:15

Cheers geoff,
trying to confirm what "support" means before buying. if I can send waypoint location info to the Garmin from the Lowrance then its ideal!

RichardB · 14 July 2008, 14:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceB

Cheers geoff,
trying to confirm what "support" means before buying. if I can send waypoint location info to the Garmin from the Lowrance then its ideal!

Be very careful here! Does it mean that the goto waypoint in the Nmea sentence automatically becomes/displays as the current goto waypoint in the Garmin off which all its data (VMG, CMG etc) is then calculated?

I'd be quite (pleasantly) surprised if it did this.

geoffs · 14 July 2008, 18:45

No, normally any WP sent from an external source are added to the list and can be manually selected as a GOTO. The message is specifically WPL waypoint list and not APB RMB and the like. The idea of the message is to be able to backup and restore your data to a PC, also means you can use a PC program to create a database and squirt them in to the GPS for later use.

BruceB · 16 July 2008, 13:30

Sorted!
When i called jkMax to ask about the 152 he offered me a BW Lowrance plotter with mount, cable and all the network parts to use as a repeater connected into the boat network for less than the cost of a 152. So I can use it in gauge only mode for the outboard and all the relevant info rather than just a basic repeater and I will save space on the LCX-27.
And in an emergency I can put my navionics card in and use it as a plotter.
Wah-hay!

BruceB · 24 July 2008, 22:21

I got this, a Globalmap BW 5" plotter with all the various cables and network connectors that will act as a repeater for all network and engine readings.
Complete and brand new £95 delivered, cheaper and more flexible than an LMF 200 and easier to read.
Can't complain about what I got for the money, and in extremis it functions as a real plotter and GPS!