Garmin GPS120

[bushtech]

Friend of mine's marine gps died by being attacked by it's nemesis: sea water.

I said I'd try and revive it ( Not much hope methinks)

One power cable has rusted off so I'd like to replace the cabling, but to do that I have to get into the multi connector on the pcb.

The question is, how do I get it off, do I have to unsolder it on the board or is this a pull off connector that has seized with rust

 

[Alec_t]

Can you see any fine lines in the plastic to suggest if it's a 2-part connector, or is it definitely a single-part plastic moulding?

 

[bushtech]

Thanks Alec_t. Definitely a one piece. I have got the one end lifted slightly and the pins soldered to the board stay put. So it looks like it like the connector slides onto pins, so I just have to break the rust (just heh heh)

 

[Alec_t]

Good luck with that. I'd be looking for a replacement connector, since the contacts are likely corroded.

 

[kellys_eye]

I'd be jacking up the number plates and changing the car......

 

[bushtech]

I love the British sense of humour kellys_eye but your comment has me stumped.

Marine gps?

 

[bushtech]

Made some progress:


Will have to replace that whole lot

What causes this to happen to a screen and can it be fixed? Screen still works afaik.

 

[Tha fios agaibh]

I love the British sense of humour kellys_eye but your comment has me stumped.
Marine gps?

We call them "license" plates. Lol

I agree its in rough shape. You may be able to clean and reflow the solder on the existing connections and make a jumper wire to repair the lost power cable.
The question should be asked though:
Do you really want to rely on this thing if your miles out?

 

[bushtech]

Ah Ok thanks Tha fios agaibh.

Agreed. Boat owner has since bought a small handheld marine gps. Works fine but small screen a pain. So will just be a bonus if I can get 120 going with it's bigger screen and separate more accurate gps antenna

 

[kellys_eye]

There are loads of cheap 8/10/12 channel GPS modules 'out there' and coupled to a hacked Kindle (or even a 'proper' LCD/LED display) you could knock up a decent working unit probably quicker than you could fix that gunged up junk!

Seriously, the level of corrosion and screen damage I doubt you'll get that working to a level worth using. If you were closer to me I'd chuck you a GPS I have lying around in my 'bin'.....

 

[kellys_eye]

I love the British sense of humour kellys_eye but your comment has me stumped.

Marine gps?

Goes back to the days when people did a lot of DIY servicing on cars and the levels of rust (guaranteed MOT failure) were such that it was easier to 'jack up the number (licence) plates and fit a new car to them' rather than fix the faults.

In the case of your GPS I'd be 'jacking up the power lead and fitting a new display'.

 

[bushtech]

Thanks kellys_eye, interesting alternative. Now would that run a (say Garmin) marine map or do you run something akin to openstreetmaps?. Don't know if you get a marine version

 

[kellys_eye]

Not sure about the map arrangement but my son came sailing with us a few years ago and used his mobile phone GPS with Google maps and it was as good as the pro stuff on the yacht.

Which reminds me that you could get a cheap mobile phone with GPS (and maps) that would give a decent result when powered externally - no need for the mobile phone contract/airtime either if you pre-loaded maps before using it. I presume your sailing is only up to a few miles offshore?

 

[bushtech]

Tried google maps on my phone, cant see seabed. Extremely difficult finding a reef 5 miles out using a bottom scanning fish finder. That's why undersea map is paramount.

 

[kellys_eye]

Google Earth has sea floor maps - if they can be downloaded and overlaid onto standard mobile phone (i.e. Android) GPS programs then you're good to go. I'm not mobile phone familiar so can't comment further.
I do have a small Android tablet that has GPS and map downloading facilities - don't see how this can be any different to any Anroid-based mobile phone solution?

 

[bushtech]

Not very good I'm afraid: https://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2016/01/new-sea-floor-map-google-earth.html

Timothy Whitehead says:
February 1, 2017 at 1:28 pm


You can often see imagery further offshore when in ‘historical imagery’ mode. However, it is overhead imagery and not imagery of the ocean floor. As far as I know, there is no easy way to gather actual imagery of the ocean floor. The current data in Google Earth is depth data obtained from a number of sources, but is generally not high resolution.

 

[kellys_eye]

Google aren't the only source for such.....

http://www.gpsnauticalcharts.com/main/marine-navigation-app-android

 

[bushtech]

Thanks for that kellys_eye