[aprssig] NMEA output GPS or compass?

Greg D ko6th.greg at gmail.com
Sat Jun 30 01:15:17 EDT 2018


One can pick up a Garmin GPS-III on eBay for about $20.  Serial
interface built-in, but with the round connector.  It includes a
magnetic compass, and switches to it when not moving, at least for the
internal display - not sure what happens to the serial data strings.

Greg  KO6TH


John Gorkos wrote:
> So, does it just want GPHDT?  Putting together a microprocessor that
> reads a 3DOF compass sensor and outputs the NMEA sentence once per
> second is an Arduino-101 project.  Hardest part would be getting the
> signal levels correct going to the back of the LD-250.  The entire thing
> would fit in an altoids tin (but shouldn't... you know... the whole
> magnetic field sensor doesn't like that).
>
> de AB0OO
>
> On 6/29/18 13:41, david vanhorn wrote:
>> The GPS really would add nothing to the system.  Their map is static.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 11:52 AM, John Gorkos <jgorkos at gmail.com
>> <mailto:jgorkos at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     I'm a little late to this, but what input is the LD-250 looking for?
>>     If it's straight NMEA with GPHDT sentences, why not just build your own
>>     little device to do that?  Seems to me, you could do the whole thing for
>>     about $80:  a $10 Atmega µProcessor like a trinket, a $15 triple-axis
>>     accelerometer board with a LSM303DLHC chip on it, and a $40 GPS board
>>     with NMEA out.  Throw in a $10 level converter to get the output signals
>>     up to "true" RS-232 levels, and put a little glue code in there to
>>     generate the GPHDT sentence and mix it with the NMEA stream from the
>>     GPS, and put it all in a nice little box with a power plug on it.
>>
>>     Heck, send me $80 and give me a week, and I'll send you the box.  I've
>>     got everything I need sitting here on my test bench.
>>
>>     John Gorkos
>>     AB0OO
>>
>>     On 6/29/18 10:27, david vanhorn wrote:
>>     > Thanks all. 
>>     >
>>     > I am going to hold off till I find a fluxgate compass.  The GPS route
>>     > would "work" but this thing has enough issues already.
>>     >
>>     > The Boltek LD-250 is " Long Range detection Designed for mobile
>>     use in a
>>     > moving vehicle with a GPS or Compass connected " (From their web site)
>>     > However..
>>     >
>>     > Their software doesn't work with any known map program.
>>     > The unit sends strike information as bearing and distance relative to
>>     > the front side of the sensor.
>>     > If you add a compass, the strikes are rotated accordingly.
>>     > The strikes are not converted to anything like an object at a
>>     coordinate
>>     > though, so if the vehicle is moving, they are "smeared" across the
>>     map.
>>     >
>>     > It's only really useful while moving if the strikes are converted to
>>     > absolute rather than relative coordinates, and then the image is
>>     rotated
>>     > and panned accordingly to the vehicle rotation and motion.
>>     > I could easily live without an actual map
>>     >
>>     > The GPS wouldn't give me workable heading data when not moving,
>>     and the
>>     > LD-250 doesn't give useful data while I am moving..
>>     >
>>     > With a compass, at least I could park in whatever direction works, and
>>     > I'd get a display rotated so that it's oriented north up.
>>     >  
>>     > It's a fixed location instrument in a mobile package.   The only
>>     plus is
>>     > that it doesn't require a full PC with PCI slot to run.
>>     >
>>     > Basically, in the 10 years since I last used it, the half-assed
>>     > implementation of their software hasn't improved at all.   I need
>>     it to
>>     > be at least 3/4 assed. :)
>>     >
>>     > It would be really cool if some working mobile app/program whatever
>>     > could be trained to hear their data and plot it on a working map.
>>     >
>>     >   $WIMLI,<ddd>,<uuu>,<bbb.b>*<cs><cr><lf>
>>     >  
>>     > <ddd> - corrected strike distance 0-300 miles
>>     >   <uuu> - uncorrected strike distance 0-300 miles
>>     > <bbb.b> - bearing to strike 000.0-359.9 degrees
>>     >        <cs> - checksum in hex
>>     >    <cr> - carriage return
>>     >    <lf> - line feed
>>     >
>>     >
>>     >
>>     > http://www.boltek.com/manual-ld-250.pdf
>>     <http://www.boltek.com/manual-ld-250.pdf>
>>     >
>>     > On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 7:25 AM, david vanhorn <kc6ete at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:kc6ete at gmail.com>
>>     > <mailto:kc6ete at gmail.com <mailto:kc6ete at gmail.com>>> wrote:
>>     > 
>>     > 
>>     >     I'm reactivating an old project, and I would like to find an NMEA
>>     >     output GPS unit like the old Garmins with their four pin connector,
>>     >     or a compass with similar output.
>>     > 
>>     >     What I've seen in compasses are crazy expensive ($500), and GPS
>>     >     units seem to all be USB output now if they have any external data
>>     >     connection at all.
>>     > 
>>     >     What I absolutely need at a minimum is a compass or GPS with an NMEA
>>     >     output. The system has NMEA+ NMEA-, +12V power to compass/GPS and
>>     >     ground.  If it's a GPS unit, I would prefer some sort of simple
>>     >     "puck" style unit rather than something with a display and buttons
>>     >     to misconfigure.
>>     > 
>>     >     Any sources coming to mind?
>>     > 
>>     > 
>>     >     -- 
>>     >     K1FZY (WA4TPW) SK  9/29/37-4/13/15
>>     > 
>>     > 
>>     > 
>>     > 
>>     > -- 
>>     > K1FZY (WA4TPW) SK  9/29/37-4/13/15
>>     > 
>>     > 
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>>
>> -- 
>> K1FZY (WA4TPW) SK  9/29/37-4/13/15
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