Quark Electronics QK-A031 NMEA 0183 multiplexer - Any experiences

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Dilemma

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Hi Guys, I've just bought a boat with a Raymarine C120 classic plotter and ST60 instruments. I would like to get the NMEA0183 and Seatalk data onto my iPad by wireless to use with iNavx.

The Quark Electronics QK-A031 NMEA 0183 multiplexer looks as though the spec would meet my requirements.

I would be grateful if any forum members would let me know what experience they have had with this product.
 
Mine is the A022 but to be fair I think I would have gone for the 026 if I was buying again (I'm pretty sure it wasn't out when I bought mine). I have to plug it into my notebook and plug my HH VHF into the notebook to get GPS data for open CPN and it's a bit of a bother so a wireless box with GPS looks great. It'll do me for the odd time I need AIS, I'll get a transponder when funds allow.

Hopefully someone can help the OP more then I can.
 
Joker said:
I've bought one, but won't be able to test it until after Easter.
Click to expand...

Just wondered if you (or anyone else) managed to get the Quark A031 multiplexer-to-wifi box to work...

I have one tied to a EmTrak B100 AIS transponder (with S100 splitter). The EmTrak works well and spits out both our own AIS data on VHF and a stream of received AIS and GPS data on NMEA 0183 and 2k as well as a USB feed. Looking at it with USB it looks ok. The Nmea 0183 is then input to the Quark A031 to (I hoped) send out on WiFi to an iPad app to display the AIS received data. This is all because springing for a new chartplotter to replace our ageing but fully functional RL70c+ was a step to far for this years budget. (Incidentally when will Raymarine realise that all those older RL70 systems are now up for replacement and that owners want something that feels similar (ie buttons) and drops into the hole they have rather than some odd sized touch screen).

Anyway, back to Quark A031.
1. had to invert Nmea 0183 connection from the EmTrack to the Quark (+ to - and - to +) to get any data into the Quark.
2. The A031 setup utility is useless seems to do nothing and looks massively incomplete as a software product.
3.The generic setup utility does at least do something - although not much.
4. In Ad Hoc mode you cannot change the SSID or Password so you are stuck with defaults. Its occasionally possible to change the IP address but does not seem to be consistent.
5. I don't know enough about it to play with Station Mode and as I only want wifi direct from the Quark to an iPad it does not seem that relevant - Quark documentation on Station mode is sparce to say the least.
6. Using the Quarks USB output I can see Nmea 0183 type messages using a Hyper-Terminal replacement (Win 10 does not have Hyper-T any more) on my laptop.
7. Logging into the Quark wifi on the laptop is a bit more problematic as so far I have not been able to find anything except OpenCPN that will display any AIS data and the OpenCPN AIS display seems somewhat sparce compared to the data shown on the Emtrak's USB debug utility (ProAIS2).
8. As far as Wifi to iPad goes - so far I have not managed to find an App that can talk to the Quark and display anything sensible without crashing or changing the number of AIS targets shown randomly and again the number of targets shown seems sparce.
9 iPad apps - Digital Yacht iAIS has trouble connecting with the Quark and just crashes all the time. WeatherEye AIS (Old but would seem to offer iAIS features) will not let me change IP address to match Quark. Digital Yacht Navlink also seems to dislike the Quark. No OpenCPn so about to try qtVlm but they want you to pop for the pro package before you can even try the AIS functionality.
10. Tried calling Quark - they do not want to offer telephone support - only email - tried that and got usual useless replies. Dealer I purchased from called them and got most of the info above about getting to work as far as it does..

So any one else got better results or got any suggestions?
 
If it's any consolation, I couldn't get it to work.

The configuration software doesn't work on wifi, but I managed to get it to work by connecting a USB cable. Windows network told me I was receiving data from it, but OpenCPN wasn't picking up any NMEA sentences. I had it connected to a Garmin AIS transceiver.
 
Thanks Joker,
I also used USB to set up the Quark (as far as it would). I also see Nmea like data but nothing seems to recognise the sentences. As we are both using professional AIS transponders I guess that the Quark is messing up the Nema input to wifi/usb multiplex and xmit so that sentences are distorted and thus unrecognisable. That would also explain why USB/Wifi connections fail to all the laptop/iPad apps I have tried so far.

Oh well...
 
I have A031 for a while. Didn't use the configuration software frequently but works. The software is only for Windows and must talk with A031 through USB, not WiFi. WiFi can work in ad hoc mode or talk with other devices through wireless router(Quark call it station mode).
 
I have just installed the A031 with a Camino (McMurdo) AIS and Raymarine seatalk network.
The older units (Raymarine, Garmin etc) do NOT use a differential NMEA serial signal and need the Quark converter. They call it a Garmin Converter but it is the same for raymarine as well.
I set the A031 port 1 to 38400 for the AIS data output from the Camino unit and the second port to 4800 baud. This second port was connected to the Garmin Converter NMEA output (4800).
There is also a Seatalk port on the A031 but unless you have a second Seatalk cable (end of the chain) available, it does not seem to work.
My system had a Raymarine Seatalk to NMEA adapter and I actually used the RS232 output from this to go to the Garmin converter.
All sentences seem to be visible (using an NMEA inspector on my Android Phone).
This weekend I will try to see if my OpenCPN software recognises the wifi data. You do need to set the port in the tablet/phone software to TCPIP 192.168.1.100 and Port 2000.
I used some 'free' utility from Camino on the Google Play Store which showed AIS data on a radar style display.
If you have had the A031 for a while, there is new firmware available and Quark will email you the instructions for how to put the unit into a maintenance mode so you can copy the firmware to the device. I believe that the latest firmware solved some issues with wind speed and also wifi disconnecting periodically.
I know the OP was using an iPad whereas I am android based, but hope my experiences may help?
Hope this helps.
 
Not sure why you think you’d need a multiplexer for this purpose. Presumably your ST60 instruments talk to the C120 via Raymarine’s SeaTalk bus. The C120 has an NMEA output port. Take that to a simple NNEA-to-WiFi convertor at a third of the price of that multiplexing unit. Set the C120 and the WiFi toy to the same baud rate.
 
I do not think that the C Classic will output AIS data on its NMEA output?
I have just now confirmed on my boat that the Quark A031 works fine ifymarine set up correctly with the different port speeds.
The older Raymarine equipment, although claiming NMEA, actually seems to use RS232 signal levels rather than differential (RS432?).
I used the Quark Garmin converter which takes RS232 and outputs it at NMEA differential.
With this approach, I have a mobile phone running OpenCPN and it displays all the Seatalk generated data (wind, heading etc) plus AIS with CPA alarms etc.
 
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