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Garmin Foretrex 101

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arno7452(at)bellsouth.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:56 am Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Dear Listers,

 Someone on the Zenith list or RV list purchased  subject GPS from ALDI for about $60.  I drove to neighboring town and found  one at the ALDI store there for $50.  It was their last unit.

  

 It is an interesting unit and can be adapted for  flying.  It does not have airport database so routing has to be entered  manually or input by actually being on site.  I plan on trying it out by  flying to neighboring airports and entering its respective  location.

  

 My thoughts on the unit will be made in a few  months.  At the price, it has to have some value for certain  missions.

 Regards,

 Ken Arnold

 Pikeville, NC

 CH701 75% 912ULS

  

 do not archive

   [quote][b]

Hopperdhh(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Ken,

 

That would have been me.  $50 -- what a bargain!  I would be interested in 

knowing if anyone else on the list found one even for $60.  I was told that one 

guy bought out a store in central Indiana.  Maybe those will show up on ebay.  

No, it wasn't me.

 

You won't be disappointed.  As you said, you can also enter the lat/lon 

manually.  This is available online from Airnav.com, or from the Airport Directory 

book.  It will hold 500 waypoints (airports, etc.).  I am going to try to 

download waypoints into mine, but it may take me a while to do it.  

 

As a matter of interest I found on the bench that the serial port functions 

in NMEA (for driving a Navaid autopilot -- not tried yet), but you have to 

apply a voltage to data in (ring of the 2.5 mm plug) to power up the serial port.  

This voltage can be as little as 5 volts and can be either polarity.  Also, 

the battery negative is common to the ground of the jack (meaning that an 

external power supply could be substituted) and the unit draws about 60 mA at 3 

volts.  I didn't realize that AAA batteries had that much capacity -- to supply 

60 mA for 15 hours.

 

Good luck on getting the CH701 flying soon.

 

Regards,

 

Dan Hopper

RV-7A

 

do not archive

 

 

 

In a message dated 6/13/2007 3:59:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, 

arno7452(at)bellsouth.net writes:

Dear Listers,

Someone on the Zenith list or RV list purchased subject GPS from ALDI for 

about $60.  I drove to neighboring town and found one at the ALDI store there for 

$50.  It was their last unit.



It is an interesting unit and can be adapted for flying.  It does not have 

airport database so routing has to be entered manually or input by actually 

being on site.  I plan on trying it out by flying to neighboring airports and 

entering its respective location.



My thoughts on the unit will be made in a few months.  At the price, it has 

to have some value for certain missions.

Regards,

Ken Arnold

Pikeville, NC

CH701 75% 912ULS



do not archive

 

 



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

arno7452(at)bellsouth.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:13 pm Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Dan,

Per Garmin support, the software "MapSource Trip and WayPoint Manager" can 

be used to upload the Lat/Longs.  I need to find someone with software to 

ensure it will do this easily.  Then buy the software.  It costs about $30. 

The serial cable costs about $15 so for total of about $100 we may have a 

nice GPS unit.  Hope it works in my 701!



Regards,

Ken Arnold

---

dale1rv6(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

One more turned up in Atlanta. Had to dispatch my son to get it!!

Dale

Florida RV6a with quatro GPS redundancy 



--

dave(at)coltnet.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:29 pm Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Where is everyone finding the 50 dollar garmin fortrex 101?



Dave

DNA

arno7452(at)bellsouth.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:56 am Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

The ALDI stores

Ken

do not archive



---

Hopperdhh(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:52 am Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Since there seems to be some interest on the list, I'll forward an email I 

sent off-list to Ken yesterday.  I tried the software downloaded from the 2nd 

link and it seems to work with the Foretrex.  I think the Foretrex 101 and 201 

use the same software, not sure though.



A serial cable can be fabricated with off the shelf parts -- a 2.5 mm plug 

and a DE9S that fits the computer's 9 pin serial port.

Ken,



The only bad thing is that the antenna is built into the Foretrex so it is 

not very convenient for panel mounting.  The receiver is very sensitive.  I had 

it on my wrist and even without paying attention to where my hand was, it kept 

working.



You can make the serial cable yourself.  I used a plug and cable from a 

telephone headset that my wife doesn't use anymore.  (That sounds bad doesn't it?)



Anyway, a 2.5 mm stereo plug is a standard thing probably available at Radio 

Shack.  The 9 pin serial connector is also a standard item.  The tip goes to 

pin 2, the ring to pin 3, and the body to pin 5.



Here are a couple of web sites to look at also.  I haven't tried the software 

yet.



http://wa8lmf.net/ForeTrex/index.htm



http://www.gpsinformation.org/ronh/g7towin.htm



Dan



In a message dated 6/13/2007 6:15:40 PM Eastern Standard Time, 

arno7452(at)bellsouth.net writes:




Dan,

Per Garmin support, the software "MapSource Trip and WayPoint Manager" can 

be used to upload the Lat/Longs.  I need to find someone with software to 

ensure it will do this easily.  Then buy the software.  It costs about $30. 

The serial cable costs about $15 so for total of about $100 we may have a 

nice GPS unit.  Hope it works in my 701!



Regards,

Ken Arnold

---

arno7452(at)bellsouth.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:40 am Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Dan,



What does the screen(file) look like when you download from the GPS?  Does 

it look easy to generate waypoints on the PC and then upload to the GPS?



I have the software loaded on my PC but can't visualize the file format. 

Can you make a file and attach it to e-mail so I can take a look?



Many thanks, you are breaking a nice trail.



Ken





---

Hopperdhh(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:55 am Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

Ken,

 

I'm not that smart yet!  I downloaded the 6 or 8 waypoints that I have in 

mine and it shows them in a nice chart form.  You can save the files in a number 

of formats.  When I load those into Microsoft Word and look at them you can 

see the data but it is in a raw form.

 

I didn't try to upload data to the GPS.  Mapsource is one of the data 

formats.  I have the Mapsource street atlas, but I haven't gotten to the point of 

being able to make the GPS talk to it if that is possible.

 

I did use Procomm as a dumb terminal to look at the NMEA output file and that 

looks good.  I think it will drive the Smart coupler in my Navaid autopilot 

if I apply some voltage to the data in (ring) of the plug.  I have a Garmin 295 

mounted in my panel which works very well with my Navaid, so all I need to do 

is make an adapter cable to plug into the Foretrex.

 

What we need is an airport data base to download into the Foretrex.  It will 

only hold 500 airports, so the program needs some editing capability.  I have 

some ideas, but it is a pretty big project.  I'm not sure I have the time to 

get that involved!

 

Yes, keep us up to date on your progress.

 

Dan

RV-7A

 

do not archive

 

 

In a message dated 6/14/2007 8:42:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, 

arno7452(at)bellsouth.net writes:




Dan,



What does the screen(file) look like when you download from the GPS?  Does 

it look easy to generate waypoints on the PC and then upload to the GPS?



I have the software loaded on my PC but can't visualize the file format. 

Can you make a file and attach it to e-mail so I can take a look?



Many thanks, you are breaking a nice trail.



Ken

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

Hopperdhh(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:29 pm Post subject: Garmin Foretrex 101

I found that the Foretrex 101 talks to Garmin's Mapsource program just fine.  You can upload and download waypoints.

  

 do not archive



See what's free at AOL.com. 

  [quote][b]

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