Physical protocol

RS232 protocol with 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. Binary value 0 is +5V. Binary value 1 is 0V

Note: The RS232 specification says that a voltage between 3V and 25V is logical 0 and a voltage between -25V and
-3V is logical 1. A voltage of 0V is therefore just in the middle of the undetermined region! But the serial port cir-
cuitry of a standard PC indeed interprets 0V as 1 and the GARMIN is not damaged by the high voltages from the
PC!

Garmin protocol

Every message has the structure:

• Start of message ($10)

• Type of message
• Number of data bytes
• Data bytes
• Check sum
• End of message ($1003)

Example:

10 22 0D 40 CD 59 23 00 19 53 06 E8 E8 81 1C 01 68 10 03
 Table 1:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
22 Type of message ($22 - Track point)
0D Number of data bytes
40 Data byte 1
CD Data byte 2
59 Data byte 3
23 Data byte 4
00 Data byte 5
19 Data byte 6
53 Data byte 7
06 Data byte 8
E8 Data byte 9
E8 Data byte 10
81 Data byte 11
1C Data byte 12
01 Data byte 13
 Table 1:

HEX value Meaning

68 Check sum
22+0D+40+CD+59+23+00+19+53+06+E8+E8+81+1C+01+68 = 500
(The least significant byte is zero)
1003 End of message

“Stuffing” of the $10 delimiter is applied starting with byte 3 (Number of data bytes) and ending with the check-
sum. This means that any $10 appearing here is duplicated. Such an additional $10 is not included in the “Number
of data bytes” value or in the checksum.

Example:

Instead of
Table 2:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
22 Type of message ($22 - Track point)
0D Number of data bytes
10 Data byte 1
CD Data byte 2
59 Data byte 3
 Table 2:

HEX value Meaning

23 Data byte 4
10 Data byte 5
10 Data byte 6
53 Data byte 7
06 Data byte 8
E8 Data byte 9
E8 Data byte 10
81 Data byte 11
1C Data byte 12
01 Data byte 13
91 Check sum
22+0D+10+CD+59+23+10+10+53+06+E8+E8+81+1C+01+91 = 500
1003 End of message

one would have

Table 3:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
 Table 3:

HEX value Meaning

22 Type of message ($22 - Track point)

0D Number of data bytes
10 Data byte 1
10 Data byte 1 repeated
CD Data byte 2
59 Data byte 3
23 Data byte 4
10 Data byte 5
10 Data byte 5 repeated
10 Data byte 6
10 Data byte 6 repeated
53 Data byte 7
06 Data byte 8
E8 Data byte 9
E8 Data byte 10
81 Data byte 11
1C Data byte 12
01 Data byte 13
 Table 3:

HEX value Meaning

91 Check sum
22+0D+10+CD+59+23+10+10+53+06+E8+E8+81+1C+01+91 = 500
1003 End of message

As no message type has 16 data bytes this “stuffing” can in reality only occur for a data byte or for the check sum.

Each message received should be acknowledged by sending a message of type $06. Each such “acknowledge mes-
sage” has 2 data bytes, i.e. it has the form:
Table 4:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
06 Type of message ($06 - acknowledge)
02 Number of data bytes
?? Data byte 1
00 Data byte 2, always zero
?? Check sum
1003 End of message
The acknowledgement of a message of type 22 (as above) is consequently:
Table 5:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
06 Type of message ($06 - acknowledge)
02 Number of data bytes
22 Data byte 1
00 Data byte 2, always zero
D6 Check sum (06+02+22+00+D6 = 100)
1003 End of message

Some different message types:

Table 6:

Number of
Code1 Code2
data bytes Type of data
(HEX) (HEX)
(DEC)

0A n.a. 2 Request that the other GARMIN sends data of a certain type
0C n.a. 2 Confirmation that all data messages have been sent
1B n.a. 2 Specification of how many messages with data that will be sent
06 n.a. 2 Message properly received, please send next message (“Acknowl-
edge”)
 Table 6:

Number of
Code1 Code2
data bytes Type of data
(HEX) (HEX)
(DEC)

21 n.a. 2 Message not properly received, please repeat message ("Not

acknowledge")
1F 01 43 Almanac data
13 03 62 Proximity point data
1E 04 21 Route data
22 06 13 Track data
23 07 58 Way point data
3D 18 Configuration data

Code1 is the number put in byte 2 of each message. Code2 is used in the first of the two “Data bytes” of messages
0A and 0C.

The “Not acknowledge” message (21) will in practise never be sent!

If the data transfer is initiated by the GARMIN that should send the data the dialogue starts with a message of type
1B. For this message “Number of data bytes” is 02 and the two data bytes specifies the number of messages that will
follow with the least significant byte first.

Example:
10 1B 02 4D 00 96
 Table 7:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
1B Type of message ($1B - Specification of how many messages that will follow)
02 Number of data bytes
4D Number of messages that will follow, least significant byte
00 Number of messages that will follow, most significant byte
96 Check sum (1B + 02 + 4D + 00 + 96 = 100)
1003 End of message

The standard acknowledge must be given to this message, i.e.

Table 8:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
06 Type of message ($06 - acknowledge)
02 Number of data bytes
1B Data byte 1 should be the type of message to acknowledge
00 Data byte 2, always zero
 Table 8:

HEX value Meaning

DD Check sum (06+02+1B+00+DD = 100)
1003 End of message

Then follows the specified number of messages, in the example $4D, which all will be of the same type (Alma-
nac,..,Configuration). The code number for these data types is in byte 2 in each of the messages in agreement with
the general GARMIN message standard. Each message must be acknowledged by the receiver with a message of the
“06” type, otherwise the sender will (after having waited a certain time) repeat the last message instead of sending a
new message.

Finally, when all data has been transmitted an “end of data” message of type $0C is sent. The number of data bytes
for this message is 2. The first of these data bytes contains “Code2” for the type of data that was sent and the second
data byte is always zero. Also this last message (like all messages) should be acknowledged with a message of $06
type. This then terminates the dialogue. If the data transfer instead is initiated by the GARMIN that should receive
data a message of type $0A is sent to specify what type of data that is wanted. The number of data bytes for this
message is 2. The first of these data bytes contains “Code2” for the type of data that is desired and the second data
byte is always zero.

The request from one GARMIN to get the track from the other GARMIN is consequently
Table 9:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
 Table 9:

HEX value Meaning

0A Type of message ($0A - Request for data)
02 Number of data bytes
06 Track wanted
00 Data byte 2, always zero
EE Check sum (0A+02+06+00+EE = 100)
1003 End of message

After having sent this message requesting data (that must be acknowledged by a $06 message like all messages) the
other GARMIN is the talker and the dialogue continues as above with the GARMIN that was requesting data listen-
ing only sending “acknowledge” (a “06” message) after each data message received and after having received the
“End message” (message code 0C).

Data encoding

GARMIN encodes the longitudes in the range -180 deg +180 deg and the latitudes in the range -90 deg +90 deg as
32 bits signed integers such that -180 deg corresponds to $80000000 (smallest possible number) and +180 deg cor-
responds to $7FFFFFFF (largest possible number). Dates are (unsigned) integers giving the number of second since
31 Dec 1989 at 00:00:00.

The 4 bytes of such a 32 bit integer are given in reverse order. The example above:

10 22 0D 40 CD 59 23 00 19 53 06 E8 E8 81 1C 01 68 10 03
is a track point message

Track point message

Table 10:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
22 Type of message ($22 - Track point)
0D Number of data bytes
40 Data byte 1 (latitude 1)
CD Data byte 2 (latitude 2)
59 Data byte 3 (latitude 3)
23 Data byte 4 (latitude 4)
00 Data byte 5 (longitude 1)
19 Data byte 6 (longitude 2)
53 Data byte 7 (longitude 3)
06 Data byte 8 (longitude 4)
E8 Data byte 9 (epoch 1)
E8 Data byte 10 (epoch 2)
81 Data byte 11 (epoch 3)
 Table 10:

HEX value Meaning

1C Data byte 12 (epoch 4)

01 Data byte 13 (switch, either 0 or 1)
68 Check sum
22+0D+40+CD+59+23+00+19+53+06+E8+E8+81+1C+01+68 = 500
1003 End of message

The meaning is:

latitude: $2359CD40 = 593087808 => 180/2147483647 * 593087808 deg = 49.712045 deg

longitude: $06531900 = 106109184 => 180/2147483647 * 106109184 deg = 8.893969 deg
epoch: $1C81E8E8 = 478275816 => 478275816 - 315619200 sec = 162656616 sec after 1 Jan 2000 00:00:00
UTC which is 2005/02/25 14:23:36

Data byte 13 is either 01 or 00. It is used to indicate the continuity of the track
Way point message

Table 11:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
23 Type of message ($23 - Waypoint)
3A Number of data bytes
42 Data byte 1 (Name symbol 1)
49 Data byte 2 (Name symbol 2)
4C Data byte 3 (Name symbol 3)
31 Data byte 4 (Name symbol 4)
20 Data byte 5 (Name symbol 5)
20 Data byte 6 (Name symbol 6)
C0 Data byte 7 (latitude 1)
10 Data byte 8 (latitude 2)
5A Data byte 9 (latitude 3)
23 Data byte 10 (latitude 4)
40 Data byte 11 (longitude 1)
1F Data byte 12 (longitude 2)
53 Data byte 13 (longitude 3)
06 Data byte 14 (longitude 4)
 Table 11:

HEX value Meaning

00 Data byte 15 (Always zero)

00 Data byte 16 (Always zero)
00 Data byte 17 (Always zero)
00 Data byte 18 (Always zero)
32 Data byte 19 (Byte 1 of comment)
35 Data byte 20 (Byte 2 of comment)
2D Data byte 21 (Byte 3 of comment)
46 Data byte 22 (Byte 4 of comment)
45 Data byte 23 (Byte 5 of comment)
42 Data byte 24 (Byte 6 of comment)
2D Data byte 25 (Byte 7 of comment)
30 Data byte 26 (Byte 8 of comment)
35 Data byte 27 (Byte 9 of comment)
20 Data byte 28 (Byte 10 of comment)
31 Data byte 29 (Byte 11 of comment)
34 Data byte 30 (Byte 12 of comment)
3A Data byte 31 (Byte 13 of comment)
32 Data byte 32 (Byte 14 of comment)
30 Data byte 33 (Byte 15 of comment)
 Table 11:

HEX value Meaning

00 Data byte 34 (Byte 16 of comment)

20 Data byte 35 (Byte 17 of comment)
.........etc........
20 Data byte 58 (Byte 40 of comment)
42 Check sum
1003 End of message

The meaning is:

Name: $42494C312020 - “BIL1” (ASCII)

Latitude: $235A10C0 = 593105088 => 180/2147483647 * 593105088 deg = 49.713494 deg
Longitude: $06531F40 = 106109184 => 180/2147483647 * 106109184 deg = 8.894103 deg
Comment: $32352D4645422D30352031343A3230 - “25-FEB-05 14:20” (ASCII)

Route message

Table 12:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
1D Type of message ($1D - Route)
 Table 12:

HEX value Meaning

15 Number of data bytes

00 Data byte 1 (Route number)
57 Data byte 2 (Byte 1 of ASCII comment)
.........etc........
20 Data byte 21 (Byte 20 of ASCII comment)
42 Check sum
1003 End of message

Proximity point message

This message is identical to waypoint message except that a 4 byte floating point value specifying the critical
distance is added at the end. The type is $13.

Table 13:

HEX value Meaning

10 Start of message
13 Type of message ($13 - Proximity point)
 Table 13:

HEX value Meaning

3E Number of data bytes

42 Data byte 1 (Name symbol 1)
45 Data byte 2 (Name symbol 2)
41 Data byte 3 (Name symbol 3)
52 Data byte 4 (Name symbol 4)
20 Data byte 5 (Name symbol 5)
20 Data byte 6 (Name symbol 6)
80 Data byte 7 (latitude 1)
FE Data byte 8 (latitude 2)
57 Data byte 9 (latitude 3)
23 Data byte 10 (latitude 4)
BF Data byte 11 (longitude 1)
25 Data byte 12 (longitude 2)
55 Data byte 13 (longitude 3)
06 Data byte 14 (longitude 4)
00 Data byte 15 (Always zero)
00 Data byte 16 (Always zero)
00 Data byte 17 (Always zero)
00 Data byte 18 (Always zero)
 Table 13:

HEX value Meaning

32 Data byte 19 (Byte 1 of comment)

.........etc.......
20 Data byte 58 (Byte 40 of comment)
00 Data byte 59 (Distance 1)
00 Data byte 60 (Distance 2)
C8 Data byte 61 (Distance 3)
43 Data byte 62 (Distance 4)
E0 Check sum
1003 End of message

The meaning is:

Name: $424541522020 => “BEAR” (ASCII)

Latitude: $2357FE80 = 592969344 => 180/2147483647 * 592969344 deg = 49.702116 deg
Longitude: $065525BF = 106243519 => 180/2147483647 * 106243519 deg = 8.905229 deg
Distance: $43C80000 => 400 (Distance in meter, IEEE floating point representation)

Software consideration
The most obvious use/need for this interface is to dump the track points to a PC . The simplest and most straightfor-
ward way to do this is to initiate this transfer of track (or any other data) from the GARMIN and to program the PC
to simply send “acknowledge” at the appropriate times. For any message the GARMIN sends byte 2 is the type and
byte 3 is the number of data bytes. From the latter one computes the number of bytes in the message (6 + “the num-
ber of data bytes“) and when the full message has been sent an 8 byte acknowledge message is sent to the
GARMIN. The type of the message that was recieved (byte 2) shall be inserted as byte 4 of the acknowledge mes-
sage and the resulting check sum should be put in byte 6. The other 6 bytes of this acknowledge message are fixed
(Table 4). When this 8 byte “Acknowlege” message has been received by the GARMIN it continues to send the next
message