Garmin Plug cutting > Discussions > Northwest Overland Society

Subject: Garmin Plug cutting

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Peter Carey

03/07/2007 10:14 AM	Alert
If I buy this for my Garmin, will it be obvious when I take it apart which is the red and which is the black cable so I can hardwire it with little problem?

Craig Miller
Title Sponsor

03/07/2007 10:28 AM	Alert
Yeah, it should be easy to tell. Just use a volt meter and this schematic

My Overland Adventure Blog

Todd Eliason
Title Sponsor

03/07/2007 10:31 AM	Alert
Check out http://www.bluehillsinnovations.com/store They have a lot of cables for Garmin and he is a great guy to work with. He can make you a custom cable as well in the lengths that you want. I believe that the cable is fairly easy to figure out. Try taking the lighter plug apart and making sure the connecting wires are appropriate for +/-. The Garmin manual has a section that shows the cable connections. If you are hard wiring it, you may consider wiring in the serial interface as well. this way you can connect it with your computer/radio easier down the road. Todd

93 LR Defender 110 05 Land Rover LR3

Todd Eliason
Title Sponsor

03/07/2007 10:53 AM	Alert
This might be a better option. http://shop.garmin.com/accessory.jsp?sku=010%2D10082%2D00 Todd

93 LR Defender 110 05 Land Rover LR3

Rick Lindgren

03/07/2007 11:22 AM	Alert
Or look here: http://www.pfranc.com/ They make lots of inexpensive and free gadgets for Garmin. I used one of their's for hardwiring my gps and putting in a serial port in the dash. That garmin one is only for power, get a pfranc one and you can rig up power and data for your gps. Rick

Finding my inner dirt again....

Peter Carey

03/07/2007 11:25 AM	Alert
Thanks guys. I just want power for now, no serial connection to the computer. When I do that, it'll be USB for simplicty. I looked at the bare wire one, but I don't need the data part.

Peter Carey

03/07/2007 11:35 AM	Alert
Ok, since it's not 3 people mentioning it What are the downsides you have seen to using the standard serial connection instead of USB on units that offer it? In the past I've had programs (Map'n'go I think) require a restart to see the GPS again after it was removed/turned off while the software was running. I've had no problems with the USB connection on my Garmin and desktop PC, which is why I'm leaning that way. And I love this cartoon linked to from the site Rick listed.

Rick Lindgren

03/07/2007 12:12 PM	Alert
I went with a serial port because back in the day when I bought my GPS and when I did the install, that was what was available. I might reconfigure things when I replace the GPS. We'll see. Lots of laptops are starting to drop serial connections so it is all a matter of evolving technology and where you are in the curve. Rick

Finding my inner dirt again....

Todd Eliason
Title Sponsor

03/07/2007 2:21 PM	Alert
If you will only be using it with a computer, I would say that the USB is the way to go. I need the serial connections for my set up with the radio for APRS, or if you ever plan to use it with a PDA/whatever. Todd

93 LR Defender 110 05 Land Rover LR3

Rick Lindgren

03/07/2007 4:05 PM	Alert
Good point on the APRS connection.

Finding my inner dirt again....

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