rvator51
Well Known Member
I am trying to get my Icom to connect to my GPS so I can download the gps frequencies into it and am running into installation problems.
The ICOM has a separate submini jack next to the coax antenna connector. Icom sells a cloning cable for it, but I thought I could just plug a standard submini plug into it and wire it to my GPS. With the radio out of the tray this works great. However there are two problems I ran into when the radio is back in the tray.
1. The submini jack is recessed about 1/2 inch from the back of the tray. The standard submini plug is less than 1/2 long. To jack into the plug on the back of the radio when it is installed in the tray, you need about an inch long plug or a big hole that the plug can fit thru so it can go into the jack.
2. There is no hole on the back of the tray for the submini plug to go through at all. There is a partially countersunk depression in the back of the tray at about the right position. I think this may be the correct spot but it needs to be drilled out? Or do you get a submini plug with a short 90 adapter on it so the whole jack fits inside the tray and you can bring the wire out somewhere else?
Has anyone sucessfully connected their GPS to the Icom A-210 yet? I am wondering what has to be done to make this work?
One of the neat things about the Icom radio is that it comes with a completely different backplate that can replace the existing backplate and has a 15 pin subD connector on it instead of the molex connectors. On this backplate, there is no gps submini jack. Instead Icom runs the gps wires to pins on the subD connector. I really like this subD 15 pin connector because you dont have to make a bunch of jumper wires for ground and power like you do with the standard backplate. I thought if I swapped backplates and then wired to the 15 pin subD connector, I could just use the pins on it to go to my gps and solve my problem.
However, after playing with it tonight, I found out that the standard rack doesnt have a cutout for the 15 pin subD connector. In the Icom manual, it says this backplate with the subD connector is for 3 party compatibility. So it evidently fits a competitors rack. The Icom manual doesnt say what other racks will work with the radio, but to contact your Icom dealer for information.
I started wondering what other radios have this size and shape and the only one I could think of was the Garmin SL-40. I looked at the installation manual for the SL-40 and it uses a 15 pin subD connector in the correct location. I checked and the pin outs on the SL-40 exactly match the pin-outs on the ICOM A-210 with the compatibility backplate installed.
I am going out on a limb here, but it sort of looks like the A-210 can be a slide in replacement for the SL-40 to me.
That said, does anyone have a spare SL-40 tray they will sell me so I can get my gps input to the Icom to work?
The ICOM has a separate submini jack next to the coax antenna connector. Icom sells a cloning cable for it, but I thought I could just plug a standard submini plug into it and wire it to my GPS. With the radio out of the tray this works great. However there are two problems I ran into when the radio is back in the tray.
1. The submini jack is recessed about 1/2 inch from the back of the tray. The standard submini plug is less than 1/2 long. To jack into the plug on the back of the radio when it is installed in the tray, you need about an inch long plug or a big hole that the plug can fit thru so it can go into the jack.
2. There is no hole on the back of the tray for the submini plug to go through at all. There is a partially countersunk depression in the back of the tray at about the right position. I think this may be the correct spot but it needs to be drilled out? Or do you get a submini plug with a short 90 adapter on it so the whole jack fits inside the tray and you can bring the wire out somewhere else?
Has anyone sucessfully connected their GPS to the Icom A-210 yet? I am wondering what has to be done to make this work?
One of the neat things about the Icom radio is that it comes with a completely different backplate that can replace the existing backplate and has a 15 pin subD connector on it instead of the molex connectors. On this backplate, there is no gps submini jack. Instead Icom runs the gps wires to pins on the subD connector. I really like this subD 15 pin connector because you dont have to make a bunch of jumper wires for ground and power like you do with the standard backplate. I thought if I swapped backplates and then wired to the 15 pin subD connector, I could just use the pins on it to go to my gps and solve my problem.
However, after playing with it tonight, I found out that the standard rack doesnt have a cutout for the 15 pin subD connector. In the Icom manual, it says this backplate with the subD connector is for 3 party compatibility. So it evidently fits a competitors rack. The Icom manual doesnt say what other racks will work with the radio, but to contact your Icom dealer for information.
I started wondering what other radios have this size and shape and the only one I could think of was the Garmin SL-40. I looked at the installation manual for the SL-40 and it uses a 15 pin subD connector in the correct location. I checked and the pin outs on the SL-40 exactly match the pin-outs on the ICOM A-210 with the compatibility backplate installed.
I am going out on a limb here, but it sort of looks like the A-210 can be a slide in replacement for the SL-40 to me.
That said, does anyone have a spare SL-40 tray they will sell me so I can get my gps input to the Icom to work?
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