[aprssig] TH-D7 and Megellan Meridian Color...

[Jason D. Triolo]

I'm a D7 owner with the Sportrak Pro from Magellan, which is a Meridian 
without color or removable memory, and in a smaller package. All of the 
core functions are the same.

I have the GPS on the v2.1 GSA setting, although I recall having success 
with the other settings as well.

It is possible to have success with running the GPS at 9600--the D7 (at 
least my model) can handle it. However, for compatibility reasons, run 
it at 4800. This is crucial if you want to share a single COM port with 
the radio and a GPS receiver (UI-View, for example).

In the "Waypoint" menu of the D7, be sure it is set to "6digits MGN" so 
that inbound data is properly stored as waypoints on the Meridian.

There should be no reason to run any gender changers between the radio 
and the GPS. If it's there, my suggestion is to get rid of it. Once the 
three wires are connected properly, and once the GPS has a signal, it 
should come to life.

Color-coding should be as follows:
Magellan Pin 2 (Orange) to White
Magellan Pin 3 (Yellow) to Red
Magellan Pin 5 (Black) to Ground
Magellan Red is used for power only, and has no use in data transfer.

If you can get your hands on an extra Magellan cable, just remove the 
serial plug altogether and directly splice the wires between the two 
devices. Doiong so will also make the cable more compact for travel.

Fear not...the radio and the GPS are compatible. You may just learn some 
new expletives on the journey (be sure the radio is off during this 
discovery phase), but it can be done.

Hope this helps. Drop me a line if you need more info.


73 de Jason KD4ACG


Jeffrey P. Nast wrote:
> After our local club meeting last week I had a gent ask me to help him 
> set up his GPS to work on his D7. I tried some combinations of the setup 
> to no avail. I didn't spend too much time on it because it was snowing 
> that evening and I wanted to get home before it got worse. I told him 
> I'd do some further research, but I'm not coming up with much. Perhaps 
> there is someone else out there with this setup:
> 
> * Kenwood TH-D7
>    - NMEA96
> * Megellan Meridian Color GPS
>    - NMEA Options:
>       o v1.5 APA
>       o v1.5 XTE
>       o v2.1 GSA
>    - Speed
>       o 9600
> 
> Which one of the NMEA should I use? Since he is using a gender bender 
> between the radio and GPS, I'm not sure if his serial cable is correct 
> either. I'm hoping to be able to at least have the correct options 
> selected before looking at his serial cable. Or is this GPS incompatible 
> with the D7?
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> -Jeff Nast
> KC0MKS
> 
> 
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