Integrating Furuno Chartplotter GPS w Icom VHF

[n8kraft]

I wired my Furuno GPS/Radar/Chartplotter to my Icom VHF Radio. It was a pretty easy project because I used extra stuff I had around from other projects. It just took a bit of wire and some connector pins.


It all started when I turned on the Furuno RDP-149 NavNet VX2 chartplotter and Icom 504 VHF radio for the first time. I noticed the radio said “No Position No Time” and it was right next to the chartplotter that gets its position and time from its GPS antenna. I want our location to be inputted in to VHF radio so if I need to press the distress button an automatic call can go out to the Coast Guard and our position will be automatically transmitted. It’s also nice that our position will be displayed on the radio so it’s easy to tell buddy boats where we are, or for a less emergent situation like a Securite or Pan Pan call.



The whole story is on my blog:Adding NMEA GPS Location to a VHF Radio