Newby NEMA2000 - will it work?

[GreenwoJ]

Hi folks,

I knew nothing about NEMA 24hrs ago, but I've now read a lot on google - and so should be considered dangerous!

I'm helping to replace an old stand alone iCOM radio on a boat that already has a Garmin "ECHOMAP UHD 95sv". We're hoping to utilise a Standard Horizon GX2400GPS with a NEMA2000 connection to provide AIS reception on the chart plotter. It sounds really easy from the marketing literature, but there are a few threads on here and elsewhere that would suggest otherwise. What are your thoughts, are we missing something, or will it just plug and play?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Well the Echomap has an NMEA2000 port and so does the Standard Horizon GX2400GPS/E .... so your "minimal system" will look like this ...

 

[GreenwoJ]

Well the Echomap has an NMEA2000 port and so does the Standard Horizon GX2400GPS/E .... so your "minimal system" will look like this ...

View attachment 184937

Thank you - that's sort of what I'm hoping will work Are there any known "oddities" with the NMEA support/format on either device?

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Thank you - that's sort of what I'm hoping will work Are there any known "oddities" with the NMEA support/format on either device?

The only problem you might have is if the devices use different connectors for NMEA2000 ... Standard are DeviceNet, but I don't know if Garmin and Standard Horizon use these standard connectors - conversion cables are readily available though so just research your devices before buying the backbone connectors and spur cables. Electrically, they are compatible and the data format is standardised.

You may need to configure the devices to use the same GPS source if the radio and the plotter have their own GPS receivers - or they may be fine using their own GPS receivers.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Garmin and Standard Horizon both use standard connectors.

 

[Hot Property]

Well the Echomap has an NMEA2000 port and so does the Standard Horizon GX2400GPS/E .... so your "minimal system" will look like this ...

View attachment 184937

I'm just about to do an almost identical thing except the plotter is the 75 CV.

I'm also running a cable from the Honda bf150 to the chart plotter for engine rpm, fuel burn etc.

So my system will have 4 T pieces not 3.

I'll update once it's working!!

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Thank you - that's sort of what I'm hoping will work Are there any known "oddities" with the NMEA support/format on either device?

I just ordered this system yesterday.... took me a few weeks to finalise. Raymarine use SeatalkNG which is NMEA2000 but with their proprietary connectors - although the plotter and some other equipment has Devicenet connectors and needs a Raymarine conversion cable ... electrically they are identical though.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I just ordered this system yesterday.... took me a few weeks to finalise. Raymarine use SeatalkNG which is NMEA2000 but with their proprietary connectors - although the plotter and some other equipment has Devicenet connectors and needs a Raymarine conversion cable ... electrically they are identical though.

View attachment 184969

You have a lot of STNG to N2K convertor cables. An alternative is to fit a split backbone, you build your STBG backbone as normal, but eave out one of the terminators, then build a normal N2K backbone, leaving out a terminator again. Then you use a STNG backbone to N2K backbone adaptor cable. You can make your own backbone adaptor cable by splicing a STND cable to a N2K cable. Only power the STNG or N2K sections, not both.

1m STNG to N2K cables are circa £50, 2m N2K cables are half of that. A 5 way STNG connector (only connects 3 devices) is about £35, a 4 way N2K connector is about the same.

 

[DrSpock]

I just ordered this system yesterday.... took me a few weeks to finalise. Raymarine use SeatalkNG which is NMEA2000 but with their proprietary connectors - although the plotter and some other equipment has Devicenet connectors and needs a Raymarine conversion cable ... electrically they are identical though.

SeatalkNG isn't just NMEA2000 with Raymarine connectors. SeatalkNG cabling and connectors also can carry Seatalk 1 signals.

 

[PaulRainbow]

SeatalkNG isn't just NMEA2000 with Raymarine connectors. SeatalkNG cabling and connectors also can carry Seatalk 1 signals.

Most cables don't have the ST1 wire in them and very, very few devices can use it anyway, hence the STNG to N2K converter kit.

 

[Alicatt]

Hi folks,

I knew nothing about NEMA 24hrs ago, but I've now read a lot on google - and so should be considered dangerous!

I'm helping to replace an old stand alone iCOM radio on a boat that already has a Garmin "ECHOMAP UHD 95sv". We're hoping to utilise a Standard Horizon GX2400GPS with a NEMA2000 connection to provide AIS reception on the chart plotter. It sounds really easy from the marketing literature, but there are a few threads on here and elsewhere that would suggest otherwise. What are your thoughts, are we missing something, or will it just plug and play?

Thanks for any advice.

I have a Garmin 95 UHD SV at the lower helm and a Simrad Go90 on the upper helm, both connected to the NMEA2000 and both were fed the AIS data from the Standard Horizon GX2400, worked a treat.
Had to fit a Emtrac 952 AIS transceiver for some of the places we want to go to, like Antwerp, so the AIS from the GX2400 is now redundant though still connected to the N2000, no problems in seeing other ships on both the plotters

From today:

A few minutes later and Saskia passes us, Saskia is from our Yacht Club

 

[Baggywrinkle]

You have a lot of STNG to N2K convertor cables. An alternative is to fit a split backbone, you build your STBG backbone as normal, but eave out one of the terminators, then build a normal N2K backbone, leaving out a terminator again. Then you use a STNG backbone to N2K backbone adaptor cable. You can make your own backbone adaptor cable by splicing a STND cable to a N2K cable. Only power the STNG or N2K sections, not both.

1m STNG to N2K cables are circa £50, 2m N2K cables are half of that. A 5 way STNG connector (only connects 3 devices) is about £35, a 4 way N2K connector is about the same.

All good information, my last boat was exactly this ... with a mixture of ST1, NMEA0183 and N2K ... all connected together with junction boxes and bare cable ends. It worked but didn't fulfill my OCD needs for a neat and clean install. Money was more of a factor then.

For my new boat, I ended up deciding to stick to a single brand where possible - the decision was based on Radar, Plotter (buttons instead of touch only essential at the helm IMO) and autopilot, so I ended up with mostly Raymarine. I went for the ICOM AIS because it has a dedicated screen, which the Raymarine IAS doesn't have. The converter cables for the Raymarine components were included with the devices, and the cost of the others was not a huge amount compared to the total system cost. Means I also need to carry fewer spares, and re-configuring the system in the unlikely event of a wiring failure is easier as everything can be plugged in everywhere. I don't like spliced cables which is a personal preference - I can do it cleanly and robustly, but I prefer not to if possible.

 

[DrSpock]

Most cables don't have the ST1 wire in them and very, very few devices can use it anyway, hence the STNG to N2K converter kit.

The point was they're not electrically identical to NMEA2000 cables, however later instrument heads / autopilots support both Seatalk & SeatalkNG and use a SeatalkNG connector with an adapter cable.

 

[PaulRainbow]

The point was they're not electrically identical to NMEA2000 cables, however later instrument heads / autopilots support both Seatalk & SeatalkNG and use a SeatalkNG connector with an adapter cable.

The backbone cables are exactly the same as N2K cables, 2 power and 2 data wires, no extra wire. The STNG data protocol is exactly the same as N2K, other than the odd proprietary PGN, which pretty most manufacturers add. So other than the odd autopilot head, which needs a specific cable, as the "standard" spur cables don't include the 6th wire, it is the same, no different to adding a proprietary PGM. Certainly nothing in the OP or post #7 that makes the slightest difference.

 

[DrSpock]

It's factually incorrect - that's what makes the difference.