Radio Ocean 4800 - Raymarine e7 AIS connections ?

[Boo2]

Hi,

Further to my last post re the RO DSC output I have run into a more pressing problem :

I am installing stuff in the evenings after work and this only gives a couple of hours. Yesterday I connected the e7's GPS output to the RO4800 GPS input (both pukka NMEA RS422 connections) and lo and behold it just worked. Hooray.

Today I tried to do the same for the AIS input to the e7 and, sadly, no go

I am sure I've connected the wires correctly, RO Blue to e7 Orange/White and RO Grey to e7 Orange/Green. I've set up AIS to be at 38400 baud on the RO4800 and the e7 Port 2 NMEA input to be 38400 baud too so all should be good. The RO4800 does display AIS on its own screen and it does receive GPS data from the e7 on the other pins but the e7 Status Bar shows the AIS icon as not operating.

Has anyone else wired up this particular combo and had any issues or noticed any quirks ? Or is it just a duff connection ?

I did try swapping the signal wires over just in case but no joy there either.

Any suggestions gratefully received,

Boo2

 

[pvb]

Have you set the RO4800 to output AIS? And, if you're using the blue and grey wires, I think you have to set it to RS422 output mode. Do you have the full manual?

Edit: I don't think the RO4800 can output AIS as well as displaying it on its own screen, so if you can see it on the radio you haven't got it set up correctly.

 

[prv]

Does the e7 have an NMEA diagnostic mode where it displays what's coming in on the ports? My C-series plotter and Vesper AIS display both do. This would narrow down whether it's an NMEA problem (nothing getting through) or a plotter software problem (incoming data being ignored). You can also try putting a multimeter, preferably an analogue one, across the NMEA wires - obviously the signal is far too fast for the meter to actually follow, but you should see some flickering if there's anything going on.

Pete

 

[Boo2]

Have you set the RO4800 to output AIS? And, if you're using the blue and grey wires, I think you have to set it to RS422 output mode. Do you have the full manual?

I have a download of the full manual which I got from here : http://www.furuno.se/produkter/radiokommunikation/vhf/ro-4800/

I have set it to RS422 mode and it is set to output AIS at 38400 baud. I have searched the manual for every mention of AIS and done what it says so...

Edit: I don't think the RO4800 can output AIS as well as displaying it on its own screen, so if you can see it on the radio you haven't got it set up correctly.

AFAIK there is no way to stop the RO4800 from displaying AIS info ion its screen ? You can switch to as mode where AIS is not displayed but that made no difference.

Thanks for your reply,

Boo2

 

[Boo2]

Does the e7 have an NMEA diagnostic mode where it displays what's coming in on the ports? My C-series plotter and Vesper AIS display both do. This would narrow down whether it's an NMEA problem (nothing getting through) or a plotter software problem (incoming data being ignored). You can also try putting a multimeter, preferably an analogue one, across the NMEA wires - obviously the signal is far too fast for the meter to actually follow, but you should see some flickering if there's anything going on.

Unfortunately there is nothing I cna find in the e7 that will act as diagnostic for the AIS data, unless someone knows different ? Hence my other posted question regarding a cheap oscilloscope

Boo2

 

[superheat6k]

I experienced a similar issue when I was setting up my RO4800 with my Garmin.

Couldn't see the AIS on the Garmin, and could not tell if it was the RO not sending, the wire link being no good or the Garmin not seeing it.

I used the hyperlink function on a windows laptop to establish no signal from the RO (could the Garmin output this way) - sent it back to Force 4 who confirmed the set was duff. They replaced it FOC, but I suspect I may have blown the output in setting it up.

Since it was replaced it has worked faultlessly, but I think they are a bit sensitive, and the instructions for the AIS are about as clear as mud.

 

[Yngmar]

Unfortunately there is nothing I cna find in the e7 that will act as diagnostic for the AIS data, unless someone knows different ? Hence my other posted question regarding a cheap oscilloscope

The oscilloscope will only tell you whether or not there's data coming out of the port, but not what data (unless you feel like manually decoding a whole bunch of squiggly lines into bits, bytes and finally characters, which is quite tedious). Might be a better (and cheaper) idea getting a RS422 to USB adapter, hooking it to the RO and plugging the other end into a laptop with a terminal software running. This should yield a flurry of NMEA sentences if the RO is outputting them.

 

[Boo2]

The oscilloscope will only tell you whether or not there's data coming out of the port, but not what data (unless you feel like manually decoding a whole bunch of squiggly lines into bits, bytes and finally characters, which is quite tedious). Might be a better (and cheaper) idea getting a RS422 to USB adapter, hooking it to the RO and plugging the other end into a laptop with a terminal software running. This should yield a flurry of NMEA sentences if the RO is outputting them.

Hi Ingmar,

That is an idea, but I've found that setting up adapters etc is a bit of a fiddle and if you see nothing at all you don't know whether it is the adapter/setup or the device that is faulty. I may try it though, thanks for the suggestion...

Boo2

 

[Laundryman]

Connected my RO4800 via actisense to my nmea 2000 backbone and everything appeared on my Garmin 4008. It's not because I'm clever at this sort of thing, because I'm not! Prv will vouch for that.

 

[Boo2]

Connected my RO4800 via actisense to my nmea 2000 backbone and everything appeared on my Garmin 4008. It's not because I'm clever at this sort of thing, because I'm not! Prv will vouch for that.

Glad you had success LM, but to do that I think you must have had working AIS from the NMEA ports on your RO4800 ?

AFAICT this is not happening on my RO4800 and have had word from Furuno UK that is is a common issue with these units. It's a shame because they seem to have stopped selling them and I have just wired in 3 off NMEA cables, power and modified the woodwork to suit the RO trunnion mount

I'm hoping Force4 or Furuno FR will have something helpful to say, otherwise it looks like another big spend + big wiring fiddle is in the offing...

Boo2

 

[JohnGC]

Try adding a 120 ohm resistor across NMEA+ & NMEA-. Also make sure both bits of kit have a common 0V.

Probably not the problem but it may just need the correct termination.
Worth a go before you do anything expensive.


John

 

[superheat6k]

Glad you had success LM, but to do that I think you must have had working AIS from the NMEA ports on your RO4800 ?

AFAICT this is not happening on my RO4800 and have had word from Furuno UK that is is a common issue with these units. It's a shame because they seem to have stopped selling them and I have just wired in 3 off NMEA cables, power and modified the woodwork to suit the RO trunnion mount

I'm hoping Force4 or Furuno FR will have something helpful to say, otherwise it looks like another big spend + big wiring fiddle is in the offing...

Boo2

Force 4 could not have been more helpful with mine. First the Lowrance HDS7M had to go back because it did not have two ports, despite the nonsense on the box (Lowrance technical were arrogantly useless - won't buy their kit again !), then the RO4800 would not work properly. They exchanged the Lowrance for the Garmin and swapped the RO4800. No fuss at all.

Speak to Andy Murdoch at Bursledon and tell him Trevor mentioned you speak to him.

 

[Boo2]

Well, to answer my own question, the RO4800 had to go back to Force4 for a SW update and repair. The AIS does now work but I had to reverse the polarity of the connections on the AIS input to the e7. Whether that's my wiring issue or some labeling mismatch between R & F I have no idea, but I was rather careful doing the wiring...

Anyway, I'm good to go with AIS on the RO4800 now, my only issue is what data is transmitted from the other pair of pins (labeled DSC in some versions of the manual) ? I scoped them out and there seemed to be nothing there, is there something that needs to be set up for them to do something ? (Note: I don't mean the unconected pair of wires, I mean the NMEA pair that are labled "DSC" in the manual).

Boo2

 

[superheat6k]

I think they provide position info to the plotter if you receive a DSC Mayday or DSC call from another vessel. I would assume that the data is only present when that actually happens. However, I left them disconnected on mine, perhaps a function to far.

I had trouble with the connections, so ended up making a junction box using multi pin plug and sockets frm Maplins. I have three devices, so used varying number of pins for each, with the internals all on a strip of choc bloc. Once I got it all going it has worked faultlessly for 3 years now.

I understand the RO4800 has now been discontinued.

 

[jayveekay]

This is an old thread, but I wanted to confirm to anyone struggling with this issue that there is indeed a labeling issue with at least some of RO4800 units and the NMEA OUT wires are reversed. Read more about the issue and the fix on this blog post.