Garmin eTrex Legend

[Renegade1966]

Hello. Forgive me if this has been discussed already.

 

I recently purchased the eTrex Legend and would like to connect to my PC so that I can send coordinates to the unit rather than put them in manually. This unit come with a serial cable and not a USB.

 

Can I use a serial to USB adapter and connect to a USB port and accomplish what I want to do?

 

I have tried it using the serial connection and when I do the test it says there is communication but when I try to send coordinates to it I get an error message. I thought maybe it would be differant somehow if I connect to USB.

 

Anyone have tis problem with the Legend model?

[+JohnTee]

Hello. Forgive me if this has been discussed already.

 

I recently purchased the eTrex Legend and would like to connect to my PC so that I can send coordinates to the unit rather than put them in manually. This unit come with a serial cable and not a USB.

 

Can I use a serial to USB adapter and connect to a USB port and accomplish what I want to do?

 

I have tried it using the serial connection and when I do the test it says there is communication but when I try to send coordinates to it I get an error message. I thought maybe it would be differant somehow if I connect to USB.

 

Anyone have tis problem with the Legend model?

 

Hi Renegade1966,

 

You should be able to connect your Legend to your PC with little trouble, especially if you have a serial port.

 

Yes, you can use a Serial/USB Adapter. You have to make sure you get up-to-date drivers and there may be some port configuration to look into.

 

With your serial cable, you may be able to get it running with little difficulty. Which interface mode are you using with the Garmin? MAIN MENU -> SETUP -> INTERFACE -> GARMIN or NMEA IN/NMEA OUT. The interface mode will depend on the software you are using to SEND to your Legend. If you're trying to use the geocaching.com/Garmin 'Send To GPS' from cache page descriptions, I believe you should use the GARMIN interface. Other software, you will have to check your manual.

 

Give that a shot.

 

Cache On!

 

JohnTee

[+ollave]

Hello. Forgive me if this has been discussed already.

 

I recently purchased the eTrex Legend and would like to connect to my PC so that I can send coordinates to the unit rather than put them in manually. This unit come with a serial cable and not a USB.

 

Can I use a serial to USB adapter and connect to a USB port and accomplish what I want to do?

 

I have tried it using the serial connection and when I do the test it says there is communication but when I try to send coordinates to it I get an error message. I thought maybe it would be differant somehow if I connect to USB.

 

Anyone have tis problem with the Legend model?

 

If you posted the error messages, someone might recognise what is happening.

 

In general, if your GPSr has a serial interface and your PC has a serial interface, use a serial cable. Adding a USB to serial converter just adds more complication and thus more things to go wrong.

 

Giles

[+perking812]

Hello. Forgive me if this has been discussed already.

 

I recently purchased the eTrex Legend and would like to connect to my PC so that I can send coordinates to the unit rather than put them in manually. This unit come with a serial cable and not a USB.

 

Can I use a serial to USB adapter and connect to a USB port and accomplish what I want to do?

 

I have tried it using the serial connection and when I do the test it says there is communication but when I try to send coordinates to it I get an error message. I thought maybe it would be differant somehow if I connect to USB.

 

Anyone have tis problem with the Legend model?

 

Sounds like you're having the same problem I encountered. I contacted Garmin and they told me that the problem I was having downloading waypoints to my eTrex-H from Geocaching.com was a problem with that web site. Specifically what I encountered was that when I clicked on "Send to GPS" it would search all of the USB devices and would not latch on to my eTrex. I did a work-around by unhooking all four of the USB devices from my PC and it worked like a charm. I hope this helps.

Edited January 10, 2008 by perking812

[iviountainman]

I have the Older eTrex Vista (pretty much the same as the legend), and my current computer does not have serial port. NO com no printer port. I do have a USB to RS232 adaptor and driver. I have installed it. Do you know what it takes to get the vista recognized. What port settings do i set on the port, and what communication settings do i set the vista to.

[+apersson850]

Set the Vista to Garmin mode. Communication runs at 9600-8-n-1, i.e. 9600 bits/second, no parity, 8 bit data and one stop bit.

Now you can access it from Mapsource, for example. I do the same on my PC at home. That lacks RS232 as well.

[+JohnTee]

I have the Older eTrex Vista (pretty much the same as the legend), and my current computer does not have serial port. NO com no printer port. I do have a USB to RS232 adaptor and driver. I have installed it. Do you know what it takes to get the vista recognized. What port settings do i set on the port, and what communication settings do i set the vista to.

 

Hi iviountainman,

 

Settings on your Vista will depend on what software you are trying to communicate with.

 

This link will take you to a Google search on "garmin USB to RS232 adaptor site:forums.Groundspeak.com" where you might browse to find some more answers about Com Port settings.

 

Choosing COM PORT . . . may be as easy as trying different Com Ports in whatever program you are using to interface with the Vista. When I used GSAK with my eTrex Legend, I had to experiment with the USB to RS232 adaptor, plugging it into each USB port, then choosing from two or three available Com Port settings in the GSAK, GPS Setup menu. I found that one USB Port was Com Port 4, another 5 and the last, 6.

 

On your Vista, if you are using the 'Send to GPS' function on geocaching.com, you will of course, need to download the Garmin Communicator Plug in and probably need to set the Vista interface to 'Garmin' (MAIN MENU -> SETUP -> INTERFACE -> GARMIN).

 

I [/b]think GSAK requires GARMIN interface (MAIN MENU -> SETUP -> INTERFACE -> GARMIN). You will need to make sure the “GPSr is USB” box is UNCHECKED.

 

M$ Streets and Trips requires the NMEA interface (MAIN MENU -> SETUP -> INTERFACE -> NMEA IN/NMEA OUT). You will need to check the documentation of which ever program you are using to determine the interface.

 

Hope that gets you pointed in the right direction. You can also search the forums for something like "+garmin +vista +usb + serial +adapter +com +port". If you ommit the "+" symbol, you will get results for garmin OR vista OR usb OR serial . . . . including the "+" will get you results with ALL of those keywords.

 

Cache On!

 

JohnTee

[MountainMikeJohansen]

I bought a USB cable that used the serial port (from Garmin itself, I might add) I ended up buying a USB cable to plug my eTrex legend directly to USB and I downloaded the driver from here

 

http://www.kawagebo.net/eb/manual/USBCableDrvr4ICOM.zip