NMEA 0183, 2000 or SeaTalk?

[Robillard]

How can I tell which standard (NMEA 0183, 2000 or SeaTalk, or even SeaTalk NG) is used on our 1998 330 Sundancer? AFAICT, all equipment was the Raymarine option package, but I'm not sure which network hardware and protocol it uses...

While we're at it (*grin*), I'm keen to install a WiFi bridge, so if anyone has any recommendations that would be great. So far the iMux (or iMux ST) seems like a good choice, so I'd love to hear any feedback on that unit as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Alex F]

I think it shouldn't be too hard to identify it. Start listing your electronics and look at where they plugged in (usually it's labeled). Looking at the year (providing most is original) you're running NMEA 0183 and possibly some on SeaTalk. Get under the helm and start looking and writing. That's the best I can offer since you didn't provide us with any info as to what you have.

 

[Robillard]

The electronics consist of a Raymarine C80 (chartplotter/MFD), ST6000+ autopilot, ST120 GPS, a Raydata digital combined knotmeter/depth/sea-temp/log, and Raytheon radar dome on arch.

 

[Alex F]

I'd say that my initial guess was very close. You should be running SeaTalk bus for the most of your rig and might have something on NMEA 0183. As I recall NMEA 2000 can't run on your equipment. SeaTalk will take priority and if you have some redundancy then NMEA0183 will kick in as a lower level (slower) network protocol.

 

[Henry Boyd]

It should be all seatalk with one exception. The heading sensor (part of the auto pilot) feeds the C80 two ways, one by seatalk, the other by nmea0183. With the exception of the auto pilot, that is pretty much the same package as on our 280.

As I understand, the double connection is because NMEA is faster, so the radar overlay and ap get a quick course fix from the NMEA feed, followed by data on seatalk.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Robillard]

The heading sensor (part of the auto pilot) feeds the C80 two ways, one by seatalk, the other by nmea0183.

Thanks for the info, Henry! I'm curious, do you know where your heading sensor is? I need to replace mine (boat orientation and autopilot bearing always show wrong, and by varying amounts, so it's not calibration), but cannot, for the life of me, find it...

 

[kaz911]

Thanks for the info, Henry! I'm curious, do you know where your heading sensor is? I need to replace mine (boat orientation and autopilot bearing always show wrong, and by varying amounts, so it's not calibration), but cannot, for the life of me, find it...

Wrong with varying amounts IS equal to calibration issues normally. Try a recalibration first. But the old style heading sensors (Flux Gate) are not the best and do not last forever.

But what are you trying to connect with a Wi-Fi bridge? What application do you want to run?

EDIT: For "old" marine electronics - contact http://www.maxmarineelectronics.com/ - he is great - and usually have stock of all kinds of "older" gear no one else has - including sometimes SeaTalk -> Bluetooth or SeaTalk -> Wifi - new surplus or 2nd hand. You can also check his shop on eBay - or find him on THT.

 

[Robillard]

Wrong with varying amounts IS equal to calibration issues normally. Try a recalibration first. But the old style heading sensors (Flux Gate) are not the best and do not last forever.

I have tried the re-calibration procedure, and it made absolutely no difference. By "wrong, and by varying amounts" I mean that even on the same heading the reading will change over time.

But what are you trying to connect with a Wi-Fi bridge? What application do you want to run?

iNavX, mostly, but MacENC also. And also an in-house app.

 

[kaz911]

I have tried the re-calibration procedure, and it made absolutely no difference. By "wrong, and by varying amounts" I mean that even on the same heading the reading will change over time.



iNavX, mostly, but MacENC also. And also an in-house app.

okay - if it has started drifting - it sounds like it is not to happy.

But for a versatile N0183/ST/Etc interface - check this: http://www.myboatsgear.com/DMK--WiFi-gateway?a=1&c=5082

 

[alnav]

I installed the ShipModul MiniPlex 2E for a bridge to my nav data.


This box is a multiplexer with both NMEA 0183 and Seatalk ports but it outputs ethernet to an onboard WiFi router as opposed to other boxes which have WiFi onboard. This allows me to both connect multiple devices to the navigation info stream and but also have those devices connected to the internet. WiFi-enabled boxes typically only allow one device to connect wirelessly and that device can't connect to other sources while connected to the nav data stream. My solution may be provide flexibility than you need or want so one of the other devices may be fine for you. ShipModul (http://www.shipmodul.com) offers a range of connectivity solutions in addition to the ethernet model I use including a couple of Wi-Fi-enabled boxes.

I also had a devil of a time finding my heading sensor. It turned out to be in a void under the sole in my aft cabin. Good places to look are on the centerline and low in the boat. You may also want to write to SeaRay to see if they have electronics installation drawings for your boat class on file. Those could help with finding the sensor and might also lay out in detail the connections between components.