[Xastir] Basic configuration of Xastir with Garmin Rino 530HCx series with USB connector?

[Anthony Mascola]

Hi All,

Can anyone point me to configuration instructions for configuring Xastir
rand GPSMan to connect to a Garmin Rino 530HCx and conduct autopolling of
other Rinos in the field?  I had written the list awhile back hoping to
configure Xastir to be able to poll the location from Garmin Rinos in the
field as well as APRS enabled amateur band transceivers in the field and
display these locations on a laptop at the incident command post to support
search and rescue team operations.  With your help, especially that of Lee
Bengston, Craig Anderson and Art Botterell, I had Xastir up and running last
year and was able to see these units in the field display on the laptop.
Unfortunately I suffered a hard drive failure just before we moved and now I
am having trouble getting this up and running again despite referring to the
notes I had taken from the previous working configuration about a year ago.
I can forward these detailed configuration notes with screen shots if
necessary.

 

Hardware: Fujitsu T4210 Windows XP tablet, Garmin 530HCx transceiver (USB
connector) attached to tablet with similar Rino units in the field

Software: Oracle Virtual Box installed on Windows XP tablet, Virtual Machine
running Debian Linux, Xastir version 2.0.1 that Lee Bengston kindly built
about one year ago.  I have also installed the Oracle VM VirtualBox
Extension Pack to enable USB 2.0 support.

 

Progress to date: 

I seem to have configured the USB 2.0 support okay and can get GPSMan to
talk to the Rino consistently.  I am using the Garmin USB protocol.  I can
see waypoints from the Rino display on the map in GPSman.  The points though
do NOT consistently transfer to Xastir and display on the Xastir map.  

 

In the Xastir "File->Configure->Timing" dialog I set the option for "RINO ->
Objects Interval" for 2 minutes.  My Rinos are named with names that begin
with "APRS." These waypoints transferred once to Xastir with the usual APRS
prefix chopped off.   I see GPS man come up every two minutes as Xastir asks
for these at the interval specified under the timing menu and the Rino
screen beeps and says "transfer complete" at this interval but the waypoints
do not seem to refresh as the position of the Rino in the field changes.  I
don't see the Garmin unit attached to the Xastir machine transmit an RF
polling request either to query for the other Garmin units new position
packets at the two minute interval.  Even if I manually hit the PTT on  the
rinos in the field which transmits the new position packets to the Rino at
the basestation, the coordinates do not update to the new position and they
are shown as static waypoints on the map.

 

Finally, I can't get Xastir to read the GPS location from the attached Rino.
It keeps giving me sats/view 00 fix invalid in GPS status.  I was never able
to get this working before either.

 

I am now with Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue and have configured both
GPSMan, Xastir and the Garmin to use NAD27 CONUS datum and display UTM
coordinates as that is the local standard here.  Not sure if this may be
goofing things up somehow but that is the only difference in configuration
that I have made.  It wouldn't seem that this would be relevant.  Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Anthony Mascola