---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Mon 08/20/12: 9 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 10:39 AM - 24 volt inverter (Ken) 2. 02:03 PM - Recording a NMEA GPS stream (Peter Pengilly) 3. 02:44 PM - Re: Recording a NMEA GPS stream (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 4. 02:55 PM - Re: 24 volt inverter (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 5. 02:55 PM - Re: Recording a NMEA GPS stream (Peter Pengilly) 6. 03:04 PM - Re: Recording a NMEA GPS stream (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 7. 06:29 PM - Garmin 327 problem (Chris Fordham) 8. 06:49 PM - Re: Garmin 327 problem (Henry Hallam) 9. 09:45 PM - Re: Recording a NMEA GPS stream (Jeff B.) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 10:39:13 AM PST US From: Ken Subject: AeroElectric-List: 24 volt inverter There is a small 12 to 24 volt inverter suitable for running things like a Turn and Bank instrument for $2.99 on ebay. Free shipping. Adjustable output, 2 amp, 10 watt nominal or higher with cooling. Having abused one of these a fair bit, I found them surprisingly robust so I thought I'd mention them. My T&B only draws 0.06 amp when running but I needed a 2.5 amp C/B to handle the startup current. ebay item 180924154518 Ken ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 02:03:04 PM PST US From: Peter Pengilly Subject: AeroElectric-List: Recording a NMEA GPS stream Guys, Does anyone know anything about Arduino boards? Can these devices be used to monitor an NMEA datastream and record to USB stick or SD card? This may sound really basic to some, but it is a question that has been occasionally exercising my brain on and off for some years, how to record the NMEA datastream from a GPS device? About 12 years ago I was involved in re-instrumenting a glider that required the GPS to provide data to a glide computer that provided data to a PDA. I had only worked with 1553 before that and had to learn about NMEA. The PDA software vendor provided a utility that would record the datastream - which was very useful in debugging that installation. Since then I have occasionally wanted to record a NMEA datastream, but not so much that I really looked into it seriously. I have recently re-built my panel . The GPS feeds into the EFIS are not working properly so now I _need_ a datastream monitor - this device seems like it might do the trick. Does anyone have any experience using such a board or are there any resources on-line that explain how to do this? Thanks, Pete ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 02:44:01 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Recording a NMEA GPS stream At 04:01 PM 8/20/2012, you wrote: >Guys, > >Does anyone know anything about Arduino >boards? Can these devices be used to monitor an NMEA datastream and >record to USB stick or SD card? Sure. There are several add-ons to the generic Arduino boards to talk to SD cards, thumbdrives, etc. http://tinyurl.com/8m7m7sb The NMEA data stream is plain vanilla RS232 levels and formatted data streams of data delivered in a series of bytes. I'm sure you could set up a board to simply record the data as presented or you could parse the string out to record say lat, lot, gs, crs, and date-time . . . a sort of second by second logbook of where you've been and how fast you got there. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 02:55:22 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: 24 volt inverter At 12:38 PM 8/20/2012, you wrote: > >There is a small 12 to 24 volt inverter suitable for running things >like a Turn and Bank instrument for $2.99 on ebay. Free shipping. >Adjustable output, 2 amp, 10 watt nominal or higher with cooling. >Having abused one of these a fair bit, I found them surprisingly >robust so I thought I'd mention them. My T&B only draws 0.06 amp >when running but I needed a 2.5 amp C/B to handle the startup current. > >ebay item 180924154518 Good data point Ken. Thanks. I've got a little bit heftier boost supply coming to fabricate into a 19v supply for laptops in the car. Right now, Dr. Dee plugs in a 12Dc->120AC inverter, then the 120AC->19DC supply with the attendant snarl of cords. Tucking one of these boost supplies behind the glove box with appropriate connectors on the console will eliminate the spider web of wire and monkey motion black boxes to a single cord with a 5.5x2.5 connector on each end. The supply was $9 delivered to my po box. http://tinyurl.com/9djfxmr You might want to poke around the installed supply wiring with your hand-held tuned to unused channels and the squelch open. Just be aware of any potential for interference with your VHF AM hardware. Even if you do find some detectable noise, don't go on a crusade to tame it until you know if it's strong enough to be a problem. Being aware is forewarned. The hand-held sniff-test is pretty sensitive and may detect emissions that are insignificant to your installation and use of the airplane. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 02:55:22 PM PST US From: Peter Pengilly Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Recording a NMEA GPS stream Well, a little more surfing has revealed this device ArduLog Data Logger looks like what I need, and less than 15. I know this is a UK site, but similar stuff must exist in the US. I guess 5v from a GPS cigarette lighter power supply will work to power it. Pete On 20/08/2012 22:01, Peter Pengilly wrote: > Guys, > > Does anyone know anything about Arduino > boards? Can these devices be used to monitor an NMEA datastream and > record to USB stick or SD card? > > This may sound really basic to some, but it is a question that has > been occasionally exercising my brain on and off for some years, how > to record the NMEA datastream from a GPS device? About 12 years ago I > was involved in re-instrumenting a glider that required the GPS to > provide data to a glide computer that provided data to a PDA. I had > only worked with 1553 before that and had to learn about NMEA. The PDA > software vendor provided a utility that would record the datastream - > which was very useful in debugging that installation. > > Since then I have occasionally wanted to record a NMEA datastream, but > not so much that I really looked into it seriously. I have recently > re-built my panel > . The GPS feeds > into the EFIS are not working properly so now I _need_ a datastream > monitor - this device seems like it might do the trick. > > Does anyone have any experience using such a board or are there any > resources on-line that explain how to do this? > > Thanks, Pete > * > > > * ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 03:04:11 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Recording a NMEA GPS stream > The GPS feeds into the EFIS are not working properly so now I need > a datastream monitor - this device seems like it might do the trick. Hmmm . . . I missed this point the first pass through your query. For a troubleshooting monitor, you may be better served with a lap-top configured with an RS-232 to USB adapter and a utility to read data streams and put them up on the screen in real time either as a scrolling presentation . . . or parse of some interesting words and display current values in a box on the screen. I used to do this kind of stuff all the time at Beech/RAC/HBC. I could get my laptop and data acquisition system going and installed before the legacy service organizations could get their work orders approved and funded. Damn it was nice to have a dedicated budget for such things! Did all my lap-top work in compiled basic. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 06:29:23 PM PST US From: "Chris Fordham" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Garmin 327 problem Just hoping someone else has run across this problem and better still has a solution. I have a new Garmin 327 installed in a ragwing aircraft. When the Transponder is switched to Alt. the correct altitude shows up on the Garmin but the controllers can't read the altitude, the Ident function works. It's a stand alone Transcal encoder. Thanks Kit ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 06:49:17 PM PST US From: Henry Hallam Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Garmin 327 problem Probably an issue with the transponder antenna or connection between the antenna and the transponder. A marginal connection between the xpdr and antenna can give a weak return signal that is strong enough for Mode A / Ident but not strong enough for Mode C. The correct altitude readout on the Garmin 327 indicates that the encoder and encoder-transponder connection is fine. Good luck, Henry On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 6:27 PM, Chris Fordham wrote: > Just hoping someone else has run across this problem and better still has a > solution. I have a new Garmin 327 installed in a ragwing aircraft. When the > Transponder is switched to Alt. the correct altitude shows up on the Garmin > but the controllers can't read the altitude, the Ident function works. It's > a stand alone Transcal encoder. > Thanks Kit > > ________________________________ Message 9 _____________________________________ Time: 09:45:24 PM PST US Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Recording a NMEA GPS stream From: "Jeff B." If you're really interested in embedded programming and you want to avoid the laptop, the Arduinos probably will fit the bill. However, if you just want to troubleshoot NMEA, then a laptop with serial port (or USB adapter) and software would be fastest. You can probably tap off the GPS' TxD pin to your laptop's RxD pin. A Google search turns up a few programs, none of which I have experience with, but all look useful of some sort. http://www.visualgps.net/visualgps/ http://homepage2.nifty.com/k8/gps/ http://www.aviadesign.com/Monitor/ -Jeff- On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 4:00 PM, Robert L. Nuckolls, III < nuckolls.bob@aeroelectric.com> wrote: > The GPS feeds into the EFIS are not working properly so now I *need* a > datastream monitor - this device seems like it might do the trick. > > > Hmmm . . . I missed this point the first pass through > your query. For a troubleshooting monitor, you may > be better served with a lap-top configured with an > RS-232 to USB adapter and a utility to read data > streams and put them up on the screen in real time > either as a scrolling presentation . . . or parse > of some interesting words and display current values > in a box on the screen. > > I used to do this kind of stuff all the time at > Beech/RAC/HBC. I could get my laptop and data acquisition > system going and installed before the legacy service > organizations could get their work orders approved > and funded. Damn it was nice to have a dedicated > budget for such things! > > Did all my lap-top work in compiled basic. > > > ** > > ** Bob . . . > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message aeroelectric-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/AeroElectric-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/aeroelectric-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/aeroelectric-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.