aera 760 Portable Unit Pin Out

I have two new aera 760 portable GPS units and just received the bare wire/data cables to go with them. I found out with aera 660's it's just as well to go ahead and buy the OEM bare data wire cables when hard wiring to other equipment.

Unlike previous aera's the 760 doesn't have a hard cable coming from the cradle as one unit. With the previous versions each cable had a whole cradle as part of it. With the 760 the cradle is separate from the cable and they connect via a 9-pin D-Sub connector. So the same cradle shipped with the unit can be used with whatever data cable is desired by the owner.

Notwithstanding the fact I have Garmin made bare wire / data cables, I started an installation where the aera 760 will be flush with the panel with the wires invisible so I can make my own harness with a standard-density female D-Sub connector so there isn't any splicing into the factory harness. If the unit is surface mounted or yoke mounted the factory cable is definitely the way to go for cosmetic reasons but when it's hidden a home-made harness works fine. If you have a GDL bare wire cable and want to interface it's wires directly into the D-Sub connector that works too.

There are no drawings or tables of the 760's D-Sub pin outs. The 760 manual only shows the factory data cable with color-coded functions, just like the older aera manuals. So I took the opportunity to do a pin out diagram of the connector on the 760 cradle so I could make my own harness. Here it is UPDATED (thanks Steve):

*** Edited - removed Jim's old image since the new one he posted above is correct with this pin-out list. ***

1 Audio Out Left
2 Audio Out Common
3 Audio Out Right
4 RS-232 RX2
5 RS-232 TX2
6 RS-232 TX1
7 Power
8 RS-232 RX1
9 Ground

Steve

Good to see Longeze 'Garmin Steve' is still hanging around to help us neophytes out
PS: when gonna trade that plastic airplane in for a real one?

Image updated to reflect correct pin assignments.

A big question in my mind is why didn't Garmin give the pin out for the new 760 dock in the installation manual? Why did I have to probe it out myself? Did the marketing weenies decide they might sell more bare wire cables by not providing this valuable information and instead providing the color-codes for the proprietary cable? Seems like pretty important (and it my dumb hands dangerous) information. Sheesh.

Jim

And it seems even more strange as the connector is so standardized that it's pretty clear the idea is for people to be able to make their own cables for built-in applications.

Are you sure it's not in the manual somewhere? I remember the bare wire cable I bought for the Aera 660 came with a single sheet of paper with the pinout diagram on it, but long after I had installed it I found the same pinout diagram buried in the manual (when I was looking for something else).

The 760 does come with a piece of paper. Alas it is not a "pin out". And the 660 cradle doesn't have pins, just a hard wire. Like the 660 the 760 drawing on the enclosed piece of paper is a "wire out" for the bare ware accessory. That's the wrong end of the cable. There is no socket pin mapping of the D-sub connector at the cradle for the 760.

jliltd said:

Image updated to reflect correct pin assignments.

A big question in my mind is why didn't Garmin give the pin out for the new 760 dock in the installation manual? Why did I have to probe it out myself? Did the marketing weenies decide they might sell more bare wire cables by not providing this valuable information and instead providing the color-codes for the proprietary cable? Seems like pretty important (and it my dumb hands dangerous) information. Sheesh.

Jim

Click to expand...

Hello Jim,

I am sure it was just an oversight that this pin-out information was not in the first version of the Aera 760 manual.

I added the pin numbers to this drawing.



Steve

Great update on the pin assignments. This is all part of the excitement of being an early adopter. I made myself look bad for a second with the pin number reversal. Pretty basic stuff ringing out a connector ��. The aera 760 is truly awesome. Great it can talk with panel mount navigators directly. I see it as a perfect unit to flush mount on the co-pilot side of the cockpit when G3X populates the pilot's side. In my Husky and RV-8 I have aera 660's hardwired in the rear seat position and it has been a hit with passengers.

Thanks for sticking around and keeping us on course. I used to have an EZ and miss it. Made the Kansas City GIG in Olathe a couple of times. Nothing ever felt more like a Buck Rogers spaceship than strapping in and flying my EZ.