charosenz
Well Known Member
I came across a very inexpensive and easy solution to provide GPS data for my ACK E-04 ELT.
While there are many different ways to do this, one easy way is to purchase a BR355S4 GPS, which can be purchased on Amazon and Ebay for $35.00 new. They are often for sale used for $17.00 which is how much I paid for mine. The nice aspect of this particular GPS puck, is that it TX the GPS coordinates on a serial data line which can easily be connected to the ELT.
Be careful to not buy the BU353S4 GPS. They look identical but that one does not have a serial data line out.
The E-04 takes serial GPS data in a variety of different baud rates by simply applying a jumper on pins on the PC Board to match the baud rate of your GPS. The BR355S4 GPS comes standard with a 4800 rate, but if for some reason do not want to apply jumpers to the ELT to match the GPS you can also change the rate of this GPS in the device manager of a PC to match the ELT.
Connections:
1) The GPS needs 5v. Step down 12v to 5v converters are readily available on Ebay for about $20.00.
2) Identify the serial data line on the BR355S4 and connect that to the GPS data line on the ELT. The GPS manual which is readily available on line has the wiring pin outs on the 6 pin mini din. I chose to cut off the 6 pin Mini Din connector off the GPS and solder a line directly to the ELT input line. If you are not adept at working with very thin wires (like 28-30 ga) it can be a challenge. If you do not want the challenge of working with those very thin wires, you can also buy a female mini din and connect it directly to the GPS plug and of course wire it up as necessary.
Optional.
You can hook up an LED so you can see that it is getting a GPS signal.
1) Connect the Test line on the ELT to an LED. The instructions are spelled out well in the ACK ELT manual. You can buy panel mounted 12v or 5v LED of various sizes like this on Ebay, Amason or of course Mouser or Digikey.
The ELT manual shows a diagram using a single LED and a resistor. I chose to by a 12v panel mounted LED and with these units you do not need a resistor, unless of course you want to dim the brightness of the LED....
I am mounting a single panel LED on the bulk head in the baggage area facing forward so I can easily see it is working at a glance. Even though the flash is quite low, I did not want to see it on the panel. I am not concerned about the flash at night. While I rarely fly at night, I can easily dim it was a resistor. You could even put a switch on it to just check it occasionally if desired.
If others have other solutions besides the obvious Garmin/Dynon solutions feel free to post on this thread.
Good flying to you all.
While there are many different ways to do this, one easy way is to purchase a BR355S4 GPS, which can be purchased on Amazon and Ebay for $35.00 new. They are often for sale used for $17.00 which is how much I paid for mine. The nice aspect of this particular GPS puck, is that it TX the GPS coordinates on a serial data line which can easily be connected to the ELT.
Be careful to not buy the BU353S4 GPS. They look identical but that one does not have a serial data line out.
The E-04 takes serial GPS data in a variety of different baud rates by simply applying a jumper on pins on the PC Board to match the baud rate of your GPS. The BR355S4 GPS comes standard with a 4800 rate, but if for some reason do not want to apply jumpers to the ELT to match the GPS you can also change the rate of this GPS in the device manager of a PC to match the ELT.
Connections:
1) The GPS needs 5v. Step down 12v to 5v converters are readily available on Ebay for about $20.00.
2) Identify the serial data line on the BR355S4 and connect that to the GPS data line on the ELT. The GPS manual which is readily available on line has the wiring pin outs on the 6 pin mini din. I chose to cut off the 6 pin Mini Din connector off the GPS and solder a line directly to the ELT input line. If you are not adept at working with very thin wires (like 28-30 ga) it can be a challenge. If you do not want the challenge of working with those very thin wires, you can also buy a female mini din and connect it directly to the GPS plug and of course wire it up as necessary.
Optional.
You can hook up an LED so you can see that it is getting a GPS signal.
1) Connect the Test line on the ELT to an LED. The instructions are spelled out well in the ACK ELT manual. You can buy panel mounted 12v or 5v LED of various sizes like this on Ebay, Amason or of course Mouser or Digikey.
The ELT manual shows a diagram using a single LED and a resistor. I chose to by a 12v panel mounted LED and with these units you do not need a resistor, unless of course you want to dim the brightness of the LED....
I am mounting a single panel LED on the bulk head in the baggage area facing forward so I can easily see it is working at a glance. Even though the flash is quite low, I did not want to see it on the panel. I am not concerned about the flash at night. While I rarely fly at night, I can easily dim it was a resistor. You could even put a switch on it to just check it occasionally if desired.
If others have other solutions besides the obvious Garmin/Dynon solutions feel free to post on this thread.
Good flying to you all.
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