It took a couple of weeks to arrive but my Garmin GPS18 was finally delivered. I couldn't wait to test it out, but don't have a GPS tracker yet, so had to use my laptop.
The GPS pictured below comes with a cig lighter plug and a sticker stating it will work with 8v - 30v.. I plan on removing the cig lighter plug and connecting directly to a portable power source. So I will need to run a few tests to determine what sort of battery I need. Obviously I need something that will last the duration of the flight and the recovery phase.
The serial connection will allow direct attachment to the GPS Tracker when I receive it, but for my first test it needs to connect to my laptop. As modern technology would have it my laptop doesn't have any serial ports. But this isn't a problem as I have a serial to USB adaptor which does the conversion.
Successfully downloaded the Garmin Web updater software and was able to update the firmware. So far so good. I then searched for some GPS software to test things out and found OziExplorer which I have used many years ago with a previous Garmin.
Had to set the GPS type and comm port details, as well as untick the USB GPS box, then I was in action. Had the GPS sitting inside on the window, so GPS signal was at first low, but after a few minutes the GPS updated and I had a signal fix. Phew , it works...
Will hunt for a GPS Data Logging app so that I can just log the raw data, Maybe go for a drive around with it connected to the laptop and see what it picks up.
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