Topic: No depth or temperature in hyperterminal NMEA output

[adriank]

Hi All

Got a question regarding the NMEA output from a 987c SI combo. I've hooked the system up to hyperterminal and successfully saved the NMEA output. However, when I looked through the data I found there were no depth ($INDPT) or temperature ($INMTW) sentences!?! I only get sentences realted to GPS. Anyone have any idea why depth and temperature would not be output? Both depth and temperature readings were on the consol at the time, just not in the NMEA output.

Cheers

Adrian

[RGecy]

Adrian,

How do you have the GPS hooked up to the computer? Are you using the AS-PC2 cable?

Here is a link to read on How to Output Digital Depth Information

Robert

[adriank]

Hi Robert

Yes I have hooked it up with a AS-PC2 cable. I get the readouts fine from the consol but only GPS info. I also notice that all the sentences I get begin with $GP as opposed to $IN.

Cheers

Adrian

[Humminbird_Greg]

Adrian,
How do you physically have the AS-PC cable connected to the 987 unit and its GPS Receiver?  It sounds like you are connected directly to the GPS Receiver as the NMEA sentence prefix from the GPS Receiver is $GP.  If the NMEA data was being outputted by the 987 unit it should have the $IN prefix.

Did you set the NMEA Output menu on the 987 unit to “On”?  The temperature and depth information is added by the unit to the NMEA data.

[adriank]

Greg

There is only one connection for the AS-PC cable on the unit which goes directly into consol. I also sent my query to Humminbird tech support and got this reply:

The NMEA on the Humminbird unit [987c SI combo] does not output temperature or depth. If you save a waypoint and download it to Humminbird PC, the depth of the waypoint will be transferred as well as the co-ordinates. At the present time there is no way to change the sentence prefixes from the unit, I have contacted Humminbird and asked if they any plans to have varied outputs in the future.

So it looks like I'm out of luck. Thanks for the help.

Cheers

Adrian

[Humminbird_Greg]

Adrian,
Okay, now I’m confused… The AS-PC cable will only plug in and work in the NMEA-COM connector of the 987 unit.  Do you have this plugged in there and if so how is the GPS connected?
Do you instead have the AS-PC cable spliced to the 987 or GPS Receiver and if so how?
If I had to guess here I would say that you are taking the NMEA data directly from the GPS Receiver (due to the $GP prefix as stated before) as the water temperature and depth get added by the 987 after it receives the NMEA data.  The way the AS-PC should be connected is to cut off the NMEA-COM connector and wire the AS-PC cable to the GPS ‘pigtail’ wire that comes out of the GPS Receiver’s connector.




I would like to know the person’s name that replied to your query as they are quite wrong.  We have been outputting water temperature and depth in the NMEA data since before we started building the 987 units and have continued outputting these in the current units.  Here is some NMEA output data I collected from my 987 here in my office (GPS Receiver stuck inside the window blind and transducer on the floor):
$INGGA,140733,3150.9819,N,08508.7846,W,2,,1.0,330.0,M,,,,*15
$INZDA,140733,10,07,2009,-05,00*7F
$INMTW,,*49
$INDPT,0.5,0.0*42
$INRMC,140734,A,3150.9814,N,08508.7846,W,0.2,82.8,100709,5.6,W*54
$INDPT,0.5,0.0*42
$INGLL,3150.9814,N,08508.7846,W,140735,A*27
$INVTG,82.8,T,88.4,M,0.2,N,0.4,K*5E
$INMTW,,*49
$INDPT,0.5,0.0*42
$INRMC,140736,A,3150.9814,N,08508.7846,W,0.2,82.8,100709,5.6,W*56
$INDPT,0.5,0.0*42
$INGGA,140737,3150.9814,N,08508.7846,W,2,,1.0,330.0,M,,,,*1C
$INZDA,140737,10,07,2009,-05,00*7B
$INMTW,,*49

[adriank]

So the plot thickens. Thanks for persevering with this. I’ve attached a pic to explain what I’ve been doing. As yet I haven’t pigtailed my GPS Receiver and AS-PC cables.

* My first attempt was to plug the GPS into port 3 and the AS-PC cable into port 5. This resulted in only $GP GPS sentences.

* Second attempt was to plug the GPS into port 5 and the AS-PS cable into port 3. Again this resulted in $GP GPS sentences.

My confusion on my part was partly due to the instructions being somewhat confusing describing port 3 as both the Accessory Bus and Communications while port 5 as the Expansion port. I am guessing that port 3 is the COM port.

So my question is, am I supposed to pigtail the AS-PC and GPS cables (as in the diagram) and plug into port 3? Just verifying before I go cut up my cable.

RE: the reply from support; Although I sent my request through the main Humminbird website I received a reply from an Australian distributor (bla.com.au). I’ll forward this thread to them and let them know.

Cheers

Adrian

[Humminbird_Greg]

Adrian,
Hey this is news to me too as I did not think that port #5 was live at all.  I know that we use it for testing during manufacturing and there were plans to allow the user to connect up accessories to it (not sure what ever happened to that bit…) but did not think that it actually exported any data what-so-ever.

Yes, connect your AS-PC cable to the GPS ‘pigtail’ and than plug this into port #3 (COM port).  Since this connection has six pins it is used for both the accessory bus and NMEA bus (the other two pins are used for +12V for the accessory/GPS Receiver and ground).

[adriank]

Well I finally solved the problem. The pigtail worked well but ultimately it was my COM port choice on Hyperterminal. It was originally set on COM3 which apparently only gives out the $GP sentences. In a last ditch effort I re-tried some other COM ports and viola, the $IN sentences with depth were on COM1.

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers

Adrian

[Humminbird_Greg]

Adrian,
Glad to hear that it is working for you but I thought that the COM port choice in Hyperterminal only selected what physical port on the computer that you had the cable connected to.  Is anyone more versed in PC’s able to confirm this?

[RGecy]

I agree Greg.  Not sure you would be getting any data if you had the wrong COM port selected.

Robert

[adriank]

I agree with both of you re the COM port issue. I always thought the COM port was hard wired to the actual COM plug hardware in the computer. Doesn't seem to be the case with Hyperterminal. I was on COM3 originally because that's were I found some NMEA GPS output (before I had the NMEA output option turned on on the consol). I then assumed that COM3 was the COM ID to use. It was only as a last resort that I tried other COM port IDs. I didn't plug the AS-PC into any other physical port on the laptop (we're using a Panasonic Toughbook by the way). Only change was the Hyperterminal setting. It's not what I expected but it gets me the result I want, so I can't complain.

[Humminbird_Greg]

It's not what I expected but it gets me the result I want, so I can't complain.

...and that's hard to beat.  I'll have to remember this the next time someone is having a problem like this.