This guide shows a possible setup to connect a Garmin GPS device to the Airconsole and from there have the NMEA data streamed to a compatible app on the iPhone.
The Garmin unit used in this example is a GPS18x LVC - please visit the Garmin support site for details of the electrical characteristics of the device including wiring diagrams (http://support.garmin.com/support/manuals/manuals.htm?partNo=010-00321-31&language=en&country=US )
This is a picture of the physical setup:
The Garmin 18xLVC is connected to the Airconsole by means of a wiring block connected to an adapter connected to the Airconsole serial cable. The Garmin device requires external power, so this has been injected from a USB charging device via the USB male A connector. Once powered the Garmin will output RS-232 data (+/-ve voltages) along the data wires.
The Airconsole serial cable supports RS-232 voltage so no other serial converter is required. Other GPS devices may vary, so please check the documentation for your device as it is possible that your device may output TTL levels instead. Incorrect wiring can cause damage to either the Airconsole or the GPS device.
Once the Garmin device has been connected to the Airconsole and both the Airconsole and GPS unit are powered on, we manually connect to the Airconsole to check our wiring is correct and data is coming through. For this, telnet to the Airconsole IP address (by default 192.168.10.1) on port 2167.
Output from "telnet 192.168.10.1 2167"
In the picture above we can see NMEA sentences being sent from the GPS unit to the Airconsole. If you don't see anything here it is likely that you have a wiring or electrical issue. Correct this before continuing.
To stream the data to the iPhone you will need a compatible app that can connect to external GPS over WiFi. Please note: the Airconsole cannot 'override' the built-in GPS of your iPhone automatically (e.g. for CoreLocation/Maps/etc) - it requires a compatible app.
For this example we have used the free 3rd party app MID WiFi (Free) which is a trial of their fully featured app - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mid-wifi-free/id505866174?mt=8
In the settings page, configure the IP address and port of your Airconsole. An example is shown below:
The Status line shows "Connected" and the NMEA data can bee seen coming through at the bottom of the settings page.
On the main instrument display the position data can be seen:
