Replacement Electronics & Nav Package - Considerations?

[ranger58sb]

Chris...the NN3D can receive the DSC and DSE signals (you need both) so long as you have the latest 2.11 software version installed. N2k is not supported but obviously you could use a converter for that if you chose a n2k vhf that didn't also have 0183 out. I have a Std Horizon 0183 vhf that multiplexes both dsc signals with AIS receive at the high speed baud rate and my NN3D takes all this in without a problem. (My AIS transponder is independent....no need to hook it up with anything else.)

Thanks. I do have 2.11... but rats.

Our installers didn't think to hook up NMEA0183 OUT from the earlier M-604 radio to the NN3D... back in 2009...

And then when we just changed to M-605s, they still didn't hook it that way. I can maybe run an NMEA0183 cable myself, but there are some access challenges...

There's a "converter" that translates 0183 sentences into 2000 PGNs?

-Chris

 

[Codger2]

I have an expert like you describe that educates me on all electronic matters. He suggested an "all Raymarine suite" about 4 years ago which included an eS127 & a 128 plotter, an Evolution 200 A/P, a Raymarine AIS650 and Maretron SOC & fuel management systems. All viewable on the MFDs which continue to work great today!
Conclusion? Have a pro install your system.

Boating life is too short to be running with electronic problems.

 

[BrianSmith]

We chose to stay with Raymarine when we replaced most of our electronics 2 1/2 years ago. If I had it to do over again, I would probably go with Garmin. Raymarine stuff is OK - it gets us where we need to go, safely. But the Lighthouse II user interface is clumsy - you can't believe the gyrations you have to go through to modify a Route while you're following that Route, for example. The menu structure (which is shared by all of their MFDs, regardless of size, because they all run Lighthouse II) is far from intuitive. It takes me 5 minutes to find the right place to change the time zone, whenever I have to do that, for example.

The radar is the smaller, less expensive dome type. It's not great. I would probably get an open array type if I were doing it again.

 

[JDCAVE]

...you can't believe the gyrations you have to go through to modify a Route while you're following that Route, for example. The menu structure (which is shared by all of their MFDs, regardless of size, because they all run Lighthouse II) is far from intuitive. It takes me 5 minutes to find the right place to change the time zone, whenever I have to do that, for example...

Chuckle! You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to do that and in CE. You can drag waypoints anywhere or add new ones to a route by simply double clicking. Easy!

Jim.

 

[charlesryager]

I am about to replace a Robertson A300/G300 autopilot. Won't work and according to the yard is drawing too high an amperage. Question is: Which autopilot should I replace it with?


Background: My boat is a recently purchased 1990 Viking 44 motoryacht. Still has original Furuno radar, but apparently updated Garmin 3210 and 2006C chartplotters (reportedly NMEA 2000 ports). Standard Horizon radios (2). Datamarine depthsounder display, but won't know if it works until we put it in the water. Steering is Hynautic.



Repair yard is suggesting I replace the Robertson with Garmin autopilot, mainly because it is supposed to integrate easily with the other Garmin equipment.


Reading this thread, there seems to be two camps: All in the Family and Mix and Match (with exceptions). Anyone have experience with Garmin autopilot? Which models? Any reason to stay away from it?


Thanks in advance for your sage advice.

 

[sunchaser]

Chuckle! You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to do that and in CE. You can drag waypoints anywhere or add new ones to a route by simply double clicking. Easy!

Jim.

Yup, you nailed it JD. It works just as easy with our laptop based Trident.

We also plot courses on NN3 for cruising backup and radar overlay if necessary. Very cumbersome but gotta fill those 10 hour cruising days up some how! I will say that modifying courses and waypoints on NN3 indeed can be done, just more effort.

 

[dirtdoc1]

I have a 2018 Garmin Auto Pilot and it does some weird things with a plotted course. If you put the course on standby and use manual, when you go back to auto course the boat will go in crazy directions until it figures out the original course. In order to keep the boat from doing that I tried steering the boat back on to the plotted course then go back in to auto but it still will turn hard over trying to find the original plotted course, even if it's right on top of the original plotted course. It's very frustrating.

What I've ended up doing is to plot a course then follow it manually. I have to keep an eye on things that way but you should keep an eye on things anyways. Especially in the PNW with all the logs.

I hope that makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't and I'll try again. If anyone knows if I'm doing something wrong or has a better work-around please let me know.

 

[charlesryager]

I have a 2018 Garmin Auto Pilot and it does some weird things with a plotted course. If you put the course on standby and use manual, when you go back to auto course the boat will go in crazy directions until it figures out the original course. In order to keep the boat from doing that I tried steering the boat back on to the plotted course then go back in to auto but it still will turn hard over trying to find the original plotted course, even if it's right on top of the original plotted course. It's very frustrating.

What I've ended up doing is to plot a course then follow it manually. I have to keep an eye on things that way but you should keep an eye on things anyways. Especially in the PNW with all the logs.

I hope that makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't and I'll try again. If anyone knows if I'm doing something wrong or has a better work-around please let me know.

Sounds like the issue in Google Maps when you deviate from the route it has selected. It keeps trying to turn you around.


What happens if you turn off autopilot and then turn it on again?


In the past, I've always set the heading manually and then engaged autopilot.

 

[DrissZougari]

Everyone here have an opinion of a manufacturer that they have on their boat or used in the past. My 25 years of boating career, my preferred system was always the Garmin because of its ease of interface and its intuitive capabilities.

 

[ssobol]

Never been a fan of Garmin. I used Humminbird because I liked the charts from Navionics better. Now the Garmin bought Navionics, who knows what'll happen.

 

[dirtdoc1]

Sounds like the issue in Google Maps when you deviate from the route it has selected. It keeps trying to turn you around.


What happens if you turn off autopilot and then turn it on again?


In the past, I've always set the heading manually and then engaged autopilot.

Yes your Google maps description is right on.

As for your last statement - That's the way you would normally use auto pilot for a simple one point course. You manually set a course ( let's say 200 degrees). In effect you're manually steering the boat with the auto pilot. But if you resume a previously plotted course (a multi waypoint Route) the boat will turn hard over to try to get back on the plotted Route, even if the boat is on top of it. They need to do more work on their software.

Just to be clear I'm referring to a multi waypoint Route that you either set up yourself or let Garmin choose the fastest route. It shows the Route on the chart plotter. If you decide to deviate from that Route by putting the auto pilot in standby then set a new single point course. It will follow the new course just fine. Now if you steer the boat back to the previous multi point Route then tell the auto pilot to resume that Route the boat will go hard over trying to get back on the previous multi waypoint Route. Even if the boat has been brought back to that Route manually. It's very disconcerting when the boat goes hard over because it's basically panicking trying to get back on the first multi waypoint Route. Even if it's on top of it.

I'm sorry that this is getting kind of complicated and confusing. My fault. I'm probably not using the Garmin nomenclature. I think their term is a Route. You can create waypoints all the way to another destination, shown as a multi point line on the MFD and the boat will follow that Route until you either get to your destination, end it or put it in Standby.

If I was at the boat I could see the proper terms.

 

[twistedtree]

From your description you might be seeing something different, but just in case, there is a behavior in all APs that can be counter intuitive until you understand it.

If you are on an active route with AP following that route, the AP and chart plotter will be keeping the boat on the line between the last waypoint and your next waypoint. The chart plotter continually tells the AP how far off the line to the left or right the boat it. That’s called the cross track error (XTE). The pilot then nudges the boat left or right in an attempt to minimize the XTE. That’s how it follows a route.

If you manually disengage and steer off the original line, say to dodge a crab trap, you are building up a big XTE.

When you reengage the AP, things might not behave as you expect. It’s not unreasonable to expect the AP to resume along a new line pointing at the next waypoint, but that’s not how it works. The AP will instead see that there is a massive XTE because the boat is way off the original line, and it will steer the boat back to the original line, sometimes aggressively so.

Chart plotters typically have a button to “reset XTE” which establishes a new line to the waypoint based on your current position, causing XTE to go back to zero. If you are also heading at the waypoint, the APs I’ve used all resume smoothly and with no drama. If your heading is off, the AP will correct it and take you onto the new line. If you wait too long to start the AP you can drift off the new line creating a large XTE, and then when you engage you may get an aggressive turn again.

Now if I follow your description, you are manually steering the boat back to the original line between the route waypoints, bringing the boat to a heading where it’s following that line, and when you engage the AP it turns hard. The key is that you are on the original line, not a new line from your current position. If this is the case, then I agree the Garmin AP is messed up.

 

[tiltrider1]

Most AP have adjustable sensitivity. You can try turning down the sensitivity and see if that dampens the harsh reactions. My current Simrad AP is very aggressive about being on track. It’s never more than 12’ Off track. My older Autohelm AP was much less aggressive, it would happily wander up to 150’ off track. Both have there pros and cons.

 

[sledge]

Charles to your question: I have a Garmin GHC 10 autopilot with mostly other Garmin equipment. I've had it for a couple years and never had a problem with it.
As for installing common equipment: Yes, one advantage I'd point out at least for a fairly modern setup, late model Garmin: when you get a periodic software update from the supplier, it only takes one load that updates everything on that network.
In other words the last time I needed to update; At home I loaded an SD card from the Garmin website. then i took the SD card to my boat, inserted it into on of the chartplotters, and it updated all five Garmin systems on my boat in a matter of minutes and i was done.

 

[BandB]

If I had all other Garmin, I'd go with a Garmin autopilot. Had you still had a mixture, I probably would have leaned to Simrad for the autopilot.

 

[dirtdoc1]

From your description you might be seeing something different, but just in case, there is a behavior in all APs that can be counter intuitive until you understand it.

If you are on an active route with AP following that route, the AP and chart plotter will be keeping the boat on the line between the last waypoint and your next waypoint. The chart plotter continually tells the AP how far off the line to the left or right the boat it. That’s called the cross track error (XTE). The pilot then nudges the boat left or right in an attempt to minimize the XTE. That’s how it follows a route.

If you manually disengage and steer off the original line, say to dodge a crab trap, you are building up a big XTE.

When you reengage the AP, things might not behave as you expect. It’s not unreasonable to expect the AP to resume along a new line pointing at the next waypoint, but that’s not how it works. The AP will instead see that there is a massive XTE because the boat is way off the original line, and it will steer the boat back to the original line, sometimes aggressively so.

Chart plotters typically have a button to “reset XTE” which establishes a new line to the waypoint based on your current position, causing XTE to go back to zero. If you are also heading at the waypoint, the APs I’ve used all resume smoothly and with no drama. If your heading is off, the AP will correct it and take you onto the new line. If you wait too long to start the AP you can drift off the new line creating a large XTE, and then when you engage you may get an aggressive turn again.

Now if I follow your description, you are manually steering the boat back to the original line between the route waypoints, bringing the boat to a heading where it’s following that line, and when you engage the AP it turns hard. The key is that you are on the original line, not a new line from your current position. If this is the case, then I agree the Garmin AP is messed up.

Yes I recall the the XTE line running from the boat back to the route. That must be why the boat tries to go backward when I re-engage the Active Route. It's keeping track of where it was not where it's going. I haven't found very many settings for the Route function but I'll take another look. Maybe I can configure the XTE to look forward instead.

Thanks Twistedtree

 

[dirtdoc1]

Most AP have adjustable sensitivity. You can try turning down the sensitivity and see if that dampens the harsh reactions. My current Simrad AP is very aggressive about being on track. It’s never more than 12’ Off track. My older Autohelm AP was much less aggressive, it would happily wander up to 150’ off track. Both have there pros and cons.

Is the sensitivity adjustment in the autopilot or in the Garmin MFD? I would think in the autopilot. I've never looked in the AP settings. I'll have to check in to that. I've only had the boat for one season so I have a lot to learn about the systems. I'll be heading up to Canada from Palo Alto at the end of the month. I really miss the boat and the PNW.

Thanks tiltrider

 

[Maerin]

From your description you might be seeing something different, but just in case, there is a behavior in all APs that can be counter intuitive until you understand it.

.................

Now if I follow your description, you are manually steering the boat back to the original line between the route waypoints, bringing the boat to a heading where it’s following that line, and when you engage the AP it turns hard. The key is that you are on the original line, not a new line from your current position. If this is the case, then I agree the Garmin AP is messed up.

This^^^^
If I can expand on that excellent explanation...

If you're unaware of it, it's very disconcerting, and as TT described, completely counter-intuitive. It's also typically a function of the chartplotter, since the chartplotter is telling the AP how to steer (to a waypoint), that's really all the AP does. It uses compass heading to tell what direction to steer, rudder feedback so it knows how much it's steering compared to how far it's off course based on the compass heading (if it's steering an "AUTO" or "COMPASS" course), or cross track error (XTE) if it's steering a route to a waypoint. The AP doesn't know it's steering to a particular point, even though it repeats information about that waypoint- e.g. distance, bearing, course, etc. All that data is being calculated by the chartplotter and is transmitted to the AP- mostly for display.
The AP is essentially following the instruction of the chartplotter when steering to a waypoint, the chartplotter is doing the heavy lifting. The AP changes to the next waypoint on the route because the chartplotter has determined that the waypoint has been reached, and it's time to change course.
And SO..... all this discussion about which AP works better... well some of that depends on how it's used. If you use your AP to follow a route, then the chartplotter has more to do with how that works than the AP- to a degree. Some AP's have gyro function that makes them steer more naturally, some follow a compass heading more accurately, and some are easier to configure with rate of turn, rudder dampening, yaw, hunting, and response. But it all has to do with steering the boat.

My Raymarine AP follows instructions from Coastal Explorer, no problem. It will alternatively take instruction from the Furuno chartplotter. CE is smoother, hands down. Would the Raymarine AP work better with a Ray chartplotter?? Maybe. Some manufacturers utilize proprietary data that is transmitted between instruments. It usually takes priority, so there's a chance that "in-family" gear will perform better together. Disclaimer, my system is all NMEA, not N2K. Another topic.

That said, there's no reason an AP won't work with any other chartplotter, and if you're using a PC with software, it will work fine. The software can easily customize the data that it transmits to the AP, in fact CE is configured with the brand of AP in order to optimize the interface. I'm a CE fanboy, admittedly. My Furuno sits second chair as backup. As a full-time cruiser with over 38,000 NM, the majority of those miles have been from CE routes steered by the AP.

Best advice? Whatever your system, learn how to use it. If you install it yourself, learn how to properly configure it, or enlist help from someone who can. If you pay to have it installed, ask about how it will be configured. If no mention of a sea trial or at-sea configuration, you haven't chosen the best installer. Don't pay all that money for gear that won't perform to its full potential.

apologies for the long winded reply.

 

[dirtdoc1]

This^^^^
If I can expand on that excellent explanation...

If you're unaware of it, it's very disconcerting, and as TT described, completely counter-intuitive. It's also typically a function of the chartplotter, since the chartplotter is telling the AP how to steer (to a waypoint), that's really all the AP does. It uses compass heading to tell what direction to steer, rudder feedback so it knows how much it's steering compared to how far it's off course based on the compass heading (if it's steering an "AUTO" or "COMPASS" course), or cross track error (XTE) if it's steering a route to a waypoint. The AP doesn't know it's steering to a particular point, even though it repeats information about that waypoint- e.g. distance, bearing, course, etc. All that data is being calculated by the chartplotter and is transmitted to the AP- mostly for display.
The AP is essentially following the instruction of the chartplotter when steering to a waypoint, the chartplotter is doing the heavy lifting. The AP changes to the next waypoint on the route because the chartplotter has determined that the waypoint has been reached, and it's time to change course.
And SO..... all this discussion about which AP works better... well some of that depends on how it's used. If you use your AP to follow a route, then the chartplotter has more to do with how that works than the AP- to a degree. Some AP's have gyro function that makes them steer more naturally, some follow a compass heading more accurately, and some are easier to configure with rate of turn, rudder dampening, yaw, hunting, and response. But it all has to do with steering the boat.

My Raymarine AP follows instructions from Coastal Explorer, no problem. It will alternatively take instruction from the Furuno chartplotter. CE is smoother, hands down. Would the Raymarine AP work better with a Ray chartplotter?? Maybe. Some manufacturers utilize proprietary data that is transmitted between instruments. It usually takes priority, so there's a chance that "in-family" gear will perform better together. Disclaimer, my system is all NMEA, not N2K. Another topic.

That said, there's no reason an AP won't work with any other chartplotter, and if you're using a PC with software, it will work fine. The software can easily customize the data that it transmits to the AP, in fact CE is configured with the brand of AP in order to optimize the interface. I'm a CE fanboy, admittedly. My Furuno sits second chair as backup. As a full-time cruiser with over 38,000 NM, the majority of those miles have been from CE routes steered by the AP.

Best advice? Whatever your system, learn how to use it. If you install it yourself, learn how to properly configure it, or enlist help from someone who can. If you pay to have it installed, ask about how it will be configured. If no mention of a sea trial or at-sea configuration, you haven't chosen the best installer. Don't pay all that money for gear that won't perform to its full potential.

apologies for the long winded reply.

Good stuff - Thanks Maerin

 

[ranger58sb]

I'm vaguely remembering something using about our Furuno chartplotter/autopilot pair... sometimes reengaging the A/P made the pair think I wanted to go back to the start point of a route and then press on from there. Result was that whole "backwards" thing until I could override whatever I did.

Can't remember details -- I rarely use routes with the A/P -- but I think it was something like two ways to engage the A/P and I wasn't using the correct method.

Oh, and then there was the time when the rudder reference actually crapped out. Result was engaging the A/P would almost turn us in circles. That was fun.

-Chris

 

[sunchaser]

TT's post #72 is spot on. I'd add two more thoughts:

-- be sure your plotted course has not reversed itself. The on course arrows will tell you
-- for our Furuno/Nobletec systems, the quickest way to get back on auto track is to move a way point or two onto the current course line, to get XTE to near 0, and then re-engage to follow previously laid out course

All course changes are very easy to do with a laptop based system, harder with an MFD but practice speeds things up. After a multi thousand mile cruise it becomes easy. A short trip doesn't help the learning too much.

 

[ranger58sb]

Given I've got an older differential GPS display (Furuno GP-36) that's starting to fail... I've begun thinking about what to replace that with. So far, it looks like their newer WAAS-corrected GP-39 is an easy candidate... given the cut-out dimensions are near identical... given I've got power and antenna sources right there... given it'd be an easy to connect to the adjacent radio if I choose to do that...

But I've also tried to think about other useful alternatives... and I've done sort of a system-wide review of what I've got versus what I could have with a refit... in a circa 2009 system where I have a plotter (with WAAS-corrected GPS feed), autopilot, DST sounder, DST fishfinder, radar, AIS, a couple VF radios... almost everything that CAN be interconnected, is (with two exceptions).

Turns out, it's hard for me to justify doing much of anything (except for maybe that GPS update). I could display Sirius weather on our MFD, but it's easy enough to get weather from a tablet app, augmented with our radar if necessary, augmented with a Mark I* Eyeball look outside...

I could display (some) engine data... but we have mechanical engines, not much data easily available... and what's available is also already on purpose-built gauges (with their own built-in alarms)...

I could do cameras; don't need backup camera, but maybe to monitor engine room while underway. OTOH, it seems to me easier to just Bluetooth or Wifi something like that to a tablet or laptop display...

Especially since adding some things to the MFD would mean pulling wires (ugh!)... and splitting the screen so charts become smaller and the display is cluttered up with non-nav stuff.

What am I giving up? The old radar isn't networked; OTOH, I prefer to view that on a separate display anyway (although being able to overlay it on the plotter TOO wouldn't be a bad thing). Some wireless interconnect capability that I don't have... so I can't get plotter, depth, fishfinder, radar info to a tablet or laptop... OTOH, I can't really say I'd find that to be a huge improvement...

Inertia of the wallet...

-Chris

A follow-up: I did replace the GP-36 with the GP-39. Easy. Cut-out dimensions identical, antenna connection and NMEA0183 wiring (to an M605 radio) identical, flush-mounting hardware slightly different but also straightforward...

Didn't change antenna. Yet? The GP-39 comes with a GPA-017 SBAS (WAAS, in this case) antenna. Looks to me like the original GPA-019 that came with the earlier GP-36... is pretty much a GPA-017 (I'm thinking same frequency bands as GPA-017) with a "differential" (land-based frequency) antenna added.

If so, the existing GPA-019 should be fine for both GPS and WAAS signals. And the new system with old antenna reports locations almost identical to those from the onboard GP-330B. (As did the previous GP-36 set-up.)

I have a question in to Furuno to confirm (or deny) that, but I'd just as soon not climbi up on the hardtop to change the antenna if it's not really necessary.

-Chris

 

[menzies]

Chart plotters typically have a button to “reset XTE” which establishes a new line to the waypoint based on your current position, causing XTE to go back to zero. If you are also heading at the waypoint, the APs I’ve used all resume smoothly and with no drama. If your heading is off, the AP will correct it and take you onto the new line. If you wait too long to start the AP you can drift off the new line creating a large XTE, and then when you engage you may get an aggressive turn again.

Also be aware that resetting a new line is absolutely fine, however once you reset you should pan along the new line to make sure that you are not taking yourself somewhere you don't want to be - shallows, reef, etc. This is especially true when following charted routes from waypoint to waypoint - laid out to help you avoid obstacles.

 

[ranger58sb]

FWIW... and according to the manuals... our previous ICOM M-604 radios would transmit DSC position data on the NMEA0183 (out) buss. Our newer M-605s will transmit that data on both NMEA2000 and NMEA0183 busses. Our older Furuno NN3D will at least receive that data on the NMEA0183 buss... but I'm unclear about whether it will understand the PGNs if on the NMEA2000 buss. There's a chance.

I was never able to successfully demonstrate all that with the 604s, though; I didn't really notice (from the docs) that I might have that capability until maybe 6-7 years after initial installation... and then it took us a long while to figure out the installer hadn't hooked up the NMEA0183 cable in the radio-to-plotter direction... and it was sorta too much trouble, by that time.

I haven't had enough time with the 605s to try, yet.

My interest has mostly been focused on seeing an emergency DSC distress position marker on the plotter... and a series of DSC events one weekend was what led me to discovering a) it'd be nifty to see on the plotter where that's coming from, and b) turns out I was supposed to be able to do that. Except for that pesky connection failure.

I have the same I interest, I don’t use DSC for ship to ship but the emergency feature would be great to see on the plotter, I just have no idea how to test that without taking my tender out and hitting the button but that seems like a bad idea all around
I have an icom 605 and two 506s all with n2k.

I suspect if you can get any DSC-reported position showing up on your plotter... a distress position would show up, too.

The normal DSC menu allows polling ships for position reports. if I poll with a new 605 connected via NMEA2000 to plotter, then receive a position report, and it shows up on my older NN3D plotter... I think I'll be satisfied. My MFD manual isn't clear about whether it can handle DSC-related info relayed to the plotter via NMEA2000 (versus NMEA0183).

Chris...the NN3D can receive the DSC and DSE signals (you need both) so long as you have the latest 2.11 software version installed. N2k is not supported but obviously you could use a converter for that if you chose a n2k vhf that didn't also have 0183 out.

Confirming: The MFD-12 ignores DSC PGNs received via NMEA2000. (If it ever receives any.) I had hopes, but...

OTOH, I did make some progress in a different way. I was recently able to find the actual junction of the 18-wire NMEA0183 MFD cable with the other NMEA0183 wires that carry a few bits and pieces from the NMEA2000 equipment to the radar and to the autopilot. That means I can now -- by myself and relatively easily, I think -- connect a NMEA0183 output signal from the nearest M605 radio to correct wires in the big fat MFD cable... That should fix THAT!

Of course, now that I know HOW to fix it... it has become less important to fix. I'll probably get a round tuit, though.

-Chris

 

[wkearney99]

To drag an old thread back from the grave, I've upgraded two of my MFD12 NN3D Furuno displays to TZT3-16F. Now my MFD12s are just direct-wired to each other over Ethernet, with one of them connected to the main N2K network (as NN3D requires that ONLY one can connect to N2K). I had to pull AIS data from the FA50 via an 0183 connection into one of the MFDs, as the FA50 doesn't have N2K (just Ethernet or 0183) and you cannot have NN3D and TZT3 plotters on the same Ethernet. That also meant that the GPS I was previously sending to my Icom M602 via 0183 from my MFD12 now comes from one of the TZT3.

I'm looking to change the 0183 delivery by adding an N2K-0183 bridge from Yacht Devices. This will let me pick up the GPS from a networked sensor (SCX-20 satellite compass) and provide that to the radio instead of needing the plotter to be running. I may also use it to pickup the AIS data via 0183 and put that on the N2K bus so other things that don't speak Ethernet can use it. The added feature of a bridge is I can use it to filter the GPS/DSC data that comes from the Icom to avoid possible conflicts (as some Icom units seem to get this wrong?)

A key takeaway here is you absolutely can use a wide mix of devices and vendors but there are a number of little tweaks/limitations you may have to plan around.

 

[twistedtree]

Good stuff. Thanks for the update.

For what you describe, you will likely need two N2K converters. The VHFs are likely limited to 4800 baud 0183, where AIS requires 38.4kb. So one converter for each. That said without knowing the details of the yacht devices product.....

 

[wkearney99]

You are correct regarding the speeds. Their router can handle both. Two 0183 ports. One incoming from the FA50 AIS at 38400, the other at 4800 to feed GPS out to the VHF. That should get AIS into N2K for "everything" and GPS out from N2K to the VHF. I may use it to also filter incoming 0183 from the Icom for possible DSC stuff.

https://www.yachtd.com/products/wifi_router.html

 

[twistedtree]

You are correct regarding the speeds. Their router can handle both. Two 0183 ports. One incoming from the FA50 AIS at 38400, the other at 4800 to feed GPS out to the VHF. That should get AIS into N2K for "everything" and GPS out from N2K to the VHF. I may use it to also filter incoming 0183 from the Icom for possible DSC stuff.

https://www.yachtd.com/products/wifi_router.html

Nice. That's much more than a simple converter.

 

[BandB]

Brunswick purchases Navico.....

Navico includes Simrad, Lowrance, B&G and C-Map. Likely closing later this year. Should increase volume in smaller boats. Guess we'll see the end of arrangements like Raymarine's with Sea Ray.

 

[wkearney99]

Nice. That's much more than a simple converter.

Yeah, past experience with oddball conflicts between devices has left me wanting to have devices with at least some sort of "window" into the traffic being carried.

Being able to use N2K Analyzer from Maretron, NMEA Reader from Actisense and CAN Log Viewer from Yacht Design make it possible to see what's actually on the wire in an organized fashion. I've done dumps of raw serial data before, and used various text scripting tools to help organize it, but these latest tools are much more insightful. The YDNR should also let me filter sentences, tweaking where needed and supposedly will even let me "impersonate" an N2K device. Though this is a non-trivial undertaking, not an out-of-the-box feature. This is largely just for tinkering purposes.