How to transfer way points from old Garmin 126 ro newer Garmin units?

[Peter Newman]

I want to buy a new Garmin GPS unit for our boat. Will probably buy a new unit with a plotter etc, but I want to transfer the 300+ way points from my old Garmin 126 to the new unit. How do I do this? Do Garmin have a service to transfer old data to new units?.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

Have you ever connected your GPS126 to a computer using an interface cable?, it looks like you can transfer waypoints to a computer using the Garmin/Garmin interface mode, here is some info. from page 44 of the user manual :-

You can contact Garmin reguarding a file transfer service, but I think it is unlikly you will be offered one, so the only other option would be to manually copy waypoint data from the screen

 

[Peter Newman]

Have you ever connected your GPS126 to a computer using an interface cable?, it looks like you can transfer waypoints to a computer using the Garmin/Garmin interface mode, here is some info. from page 44 of the user manual :-

View attachment 235

You can contact Garmin reguarding a file transfer service, but I think it is unlikly you will be offered one, so the only other option would be to manually copy waypoint data from the screen

Thanks for the advice. The issue is that I will need to find an interface cable that can also provide 12 volt power to the GPS. The 4 pin plug in the 126 unit has 2 wires for power and two for data. The two data wires will need to be fitted into a serial port then plugged into a PC, while the other two wires will need to be spliced into a 12volt power supply. I'll check around and see if there is a cable already made up that can do this.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

The user manual I downloaded for the GPS126 only shows a 7 pin plug (see picture)

Which is quite rare, the 4 pin plug is more common, it is used on GPS38, GPS12 etc. and even newer models like the GPSmap60, the 4 pin plugs used to be sold by a company called pfranc.com but that website seems to have gone, I think both 4 pin and 7 pin cables are still available from marine shops and Ebay, search on 4 pin (or 7 pin) Garmin power cable

 

[Peter Newman]

Thanks for that. You are correct the plug is a 7 pin. . . .but there are only 4 wires coming out of it. The issue is what to do with the two NMEA wires. I assume they will need to go into a PC via a serial plug (?). Serial plugs have 9 pins. . . so which pins to connect to?

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

The serial connections are :-
7 pin Garmin . . . . DB 9 female
Pin 4 NMEA in <<< pin 3 (Txd)
Pin 3 NMEA out >> pin 2 (Rxd)
Pin 2 Ground - - - - - pin 5 Gnd)

Also if your computer doesn't have a serial COM port, you can plug the 9 way D plug into a serial to USB converter

 

[Javier C]

Hope you still have the unit. I had the same problem and tried the wiring diagram to no avail. So I opened the unit and found the power and ground cable (red and black) were in other pin locations. I connected battery and ground and was able to retrieve my data.

 

[Peter Newman]

Thanks for the tip!
Since last posting I have been in contact with Garmin Australia who have generously taken my GPS, downloaded the data, emailed two sets of files/data back to me and have posted back my old GPS to me. The data files they made for me can go onto an SD card for installation into a newer GPS model. Great Customer service Garmin Australia. I'll be in the market for a new Garmin shortly!