Garmin GPS76 PC/Interface HELP

Chuck Creel · Jun 14, 2010

most computers do not have serial ports anymore. thus you would need a UBS to serial adapter, readily available at Radio shack, best buy, office depot , etc.

Then you will need to configure that port com:1 , com;2 etc to match the gps interface.

you will find this info in your garmin manual or menu to set up communications port.

If you want to build a data cable,, get a D-B9 female connector for abt 3 bucks and use pin 2 as + or data in and pin 5 for ground.

Good luck

jdgrnt66 · Jun 14, 2010

gps interface help

hey. i have a garmin colorado that runs PGS76 sofware. I use this as a redundant back up. is your cable a usb cable or pc interface cable. if the the new gps came with a cd, you will have to run the disk to get the new driver, or can be downloaded from garmin.com. i use mine with my maptech program and works flawlessly.
let me know if i can be of any help. the driver and the cable are key.

jeff

AXEL said:
I have the Garmin GPS76. It comes with a PC Interface cable that I believe plugs into a serial port on the PC. The PC doesn't not recognize the GPS when it's turned on. Do I need any special driver or software? No info in the manual or on the website. I will "try" and get them on the phone today. Anyone have any experience with this?

Last season the GPS crapped out and Garmin sent me a replacement. I will have to re-enter all my stored waypoints ( I have them written down). I'd rather use my PC keyboard if possible. Any help is appreciated.

Snotter · Jun 14, 2010

I would think that the only driver you would need is to run the usb to serial cable. The gps should be speaking NMEA which the gps-to-serial cable and driver should be able to interpret straight from the com port.

Roger Long · Jun 14, 2010

You'll have better luck with the USB connector which your unit should have if it is a 76C. Take it to a computer store or place like Best Buy and they should be able to match the connector for you.

Go to Menu - Setup - Interface and set the menu type to "Garmin". You'll need to set it back to "NEMA" if you want it to talk to your DSC radio or other devices.

If you don't have a USB port, the computer store should be able to sell you the converter mentioned above that will plug into a cable you can get from a marine store if you don't have one. The serial port data transfer is about 1/100 the speed of the the USB however.

Scotian · Jun 14, 2010

Had same problem year ago when replaced PC.. Good old E bay at a much cheaper price than Garmin original. Made off shore but works perfect..
Last night was downloading "stuff" from my 76S and had to remember what to do.. Have you got Mapsource on your PC? I downloaded a much updated version LY from Garmin? (I think it was from them..) Once you have the cable and Mapsource.. Go to Transfer TO or FROM the 76S and away you go..
Tried to open the USB port without using Mapsource and there was no way..

RonRelyea · Jun 14, 2010

I've got a Garmin GPSMap 172c ... also have the serial interface cable to my laptop ... using SeaClear II, I can get a location signal from the GPS to the my SeaClear map. Using Mapsource, I get the error message that Mapsource can't find the GPS device. Sounds kind of like the same problem?? If anyone knows a solution of getting Mapsource to recognize the serial device, I'd appreciate it!

RonRelyea · Jun 14, 2010

I was just looking through my 172C manual and noticed that the "Comm" for Port 1 needs to be set for "Garmin data" .... if I recall, mine was set up as NMEA ... this may be my problem ... I'll check tonite and respond here.

kenn · Jun 14, 2010

AXEL said:
Jeff, I have the PC interface cable that came with the GPS76. It's a serial port connector, I have a serial port on my PC. I have searched the Garmin website but can not find any info about drivers for this GPS. No CD was included with the GPS. If anyone can point me to the website where the drivers are located that would be great.

The required serial driver is built into Windows. Serial ports usually have to be manually configured; in other words the PC application (eg SeaClear) needs to be set to the COM port that the GPS cable is plugged into. On a PC that does have a serial port, this is usually COM1 or COM2. You then have to make sure that the GPS and the application are set to the same protocol (Garmin, NMEA) and the same baud rate (eg 4800, 9600,19200, etc). Check the manuals for the GPS and the application to see all the possible settings and how to set them.

If you're using a serial-to USB adaptor, these usually ship with drivers on CD. Note that this driver is just for the interface, it establishes a virtual COM port via USB (refer to the docs on the adaptor's CD). You will still have to set the GPS and application settings as above.

Window's Device Manager panel can show you what COM ports are active, and you can use a serial terminal client to check COM ports for the GPS data stream.

Newer GPS units usually have only a USB cable, and come with drivers where necessary, which makes life easier.

Mats ODay · Jun 14, 2010

Try e-mailing Garmin

AXEL said:
I have the Garmin GPS76. It comes with a PC Interface cable that I believe plugs into a serial port on the PC. The PC doesn't not recognize the GPS when it's turned on. Do I need any special driver or software? No info in the manual or on the website. I will "try" and get them on the phone today. Anyone have any experience with this?

Last season the GPS crapped out and Garmin sent me a replacement. I will have to re-enter all my stored waypoints ( I have them written down). I'd rather use my PC keyboard if possible. Any help is appreciated.

Try e-mailing Garmin. I had a similar problem with a serial-to USB cable. They should know what driver is required for your situation. I needed a driver for my cable. Unfortunately, the drivers Garmin gave me didn't work. I went to the firm in my little town, and they found a driver on the net that worked. You may have better luck with Garmin, though.

Don12364 · Jun 14, 2010

Gardown

You need "Gardown" which comes as GardownB.exe, GardownC.exe or GardownD.exe - they all do the same job and you can edit the waypoints and upload them. I suggest creating a couple of waypoints longhand in the GPS. Then download these to your computer, add more and edit as you see fit. Then just upload again.
Beware to note the length of each field as it will ignore excess characters.
I used GardownD often to upload and download waypoints and routes etc to various Garmin GPS sets, both mine and my friends.
It is a DOS program so one needs to be familiar with this.
Can be used on current machines by going 'Start', 'Programs', 'Accessories', 'Command Prompt'.
In all cases the unit settings are Garmin, Garmin.
The transfer is in packets and slow by today's standards. Just be patient as it can take quite a few seconds to get under way.

Your present connector lead is just fine and I do not recommend messing with USB converters as these only complicate matters. The Garmin website actually gives the connections, but you do not need to know these if you already have the lead.
The program is a freebie and was on Peter Bennett's website but I have looked and all traces appear to have been meticulously cleaned off.
Alternatively you could try one of those on Garmin32.zip or Gardown11 or Garnix but I have not used them.
See:- http://vancouver-webpages.com/pub/peter/idx_garmin.html

If you are familiar with DOS and have no luck with the others (and are desperate) I can e-mail you GardownD.exe.
Just let me know through this site.

kenn · Jun 14, 2010

AXEL said:
I plugged the GPS into the serial port last night and turned in on, went to MY COMPUTER and did not see any new devices connected.

... and you never will. COM (serial) ports are not self-identifying & self-configuring like USB ports are. That's why I said that you have to configure these yourself. I'm sorry I wasn't clearer about this.

As I mentioned, you need to bring up your Device Manager window, and look for COM ports there. Once you know what com ports you have, you can then select from the available ports in the software you intend to use.

AXEL said:
I was told by Garmin this morning that the GPS needs some sort of software to talk to, it won't just link to the PC. There was no mention of configuring ports. As mentioned, I was told Mapsource might be compatable. If not I will buy the Garmin Trip & Way Point Mananger which I'm sure has the drivers.

Can I assume that you aren't familiar with the COM ports on a PC, and that you never had to configure internal or external modems? (You lucky, lucky person.) If so, then this COM port stuff is going to prove very frustrating, and it might be faster if you can enlist a friend to guide you through the steps.

Or you can buy a serial to USB adaptor (very inexpensive - under $10 just about anywhere) which might be simpler for you to configure.

Joe · Jun 15, 2010

mapsource will work......... that's the cd that came with the original gps 76 and related units, it's just a route planning program and poi database, no charts.