Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ??

[bitbaltic]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

Hi Chaps,
I note this thread is from last year but hope there is some chance of a reply.
I have the Simrad IS15 system, including a Simrad DSC radio with a Garmin plotter. The NMEA0183 connection from the plotter to the radio appears to be the only NMEA connection ever made. I have just replaced the Garmin plotter with a raymarine ES78 plotter and also installed the raymarine ACU200 Linear Drive Autohelm. I would like to connect up the Simrad wind, depth and speed instruments via the raymarine NMEA0183/Video cable that is connected to the plotter but from the diagram shown in this thread I am uncertain if I can just connect the J4 output (I believe this is the NMEA0183 output on these simrad instruments) direct to the raymarine NMEA cable without causing any damage to the new kit as it is suggested that all NMEA 0183 output from the IS15 system also carries 12volt power. Is that correct or is the J4 output just data with no 12 volt?

Cheers,

Rob

Seems to be some guidance on the Actisense 0183 information sheet:

The latest specifications for NMEA 0183 (version 2 and onwards) should, as a minimum, meet the requirements of the computer standard “RS422” (Standard EIA-422-A).
They use +5 / 0 volt signalling, which is low voltage and easy to interface to computer equipment. However, voltage levels present on an NMEA 0183 network can be much greater - up to +/- 15 volts, particularly where older equipment is used, as the original version 1 specification used +/- 12-15 volt signalling. Thus, all NMEA 0183 inputs conforming to v2.0 and higher should be capable of receiving +/- 15 volt differential signals without suffering damage

http://www.actisense.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/NMEA-0183-Information-sheet-issue-4-1-1.pdf

I take that as meaning you can couple your IS15 up to your Raymarine kit but I know nothing at all about the latter so perhaps confirm with a Raymarine techincal person.

 

[Topsailer]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

Thanks for this, especially the link to Actisense, which does help a lot.

I have contacted Simrad for further information but they have not come back to me yet. I need to confirm the spec of the NMEA 0183 standard on my Simrad kit, as it may require an interface to enable connection if it is 12 - 15 volt supply and Raymarine are not able to advise on this until I know this.

Thanks again for the feedback it has been very helpful and once I know the answer I will post my findings.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[Dobbies]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

Hi Chaps,
I note this thread is from last year but hope there is some chance of a reply.
I have the Simrad IS15 system, including a Simrad DSC radio with a Garmin plotter. The NMEA0183 connection from the plotter to the radio appears to be the only NMEA connection ever made. I have just replaced the Garmin plotter with a raymarine ES78 plotter and also installed the raymarine ACU200 Linear Drive Autohelm. I would like to connect up the Simrad wind, depth and speed instruments via the raymarine NMEA0183/Video cable that is connected to the plotter but from the diagram shown in this thread I am uncertain if I can just connect the J4 output (I believe this is the NMEA0183 output on these simrad instruments) direct to the raymarine NMEA cable without causing any damage to the new kit as it is suggested that all NMEA 0183 output from the IS15 system also carries 12volt power. Is that correct or is the J4 output just data with no 12 volt?

Cheers,

Rob

Hi Rob

I'm the original poster of this subject and maybe able to offer some help.

I also have a Simrad IS15 system and wanted to add a Raymarine EV1 ACU 100 Tiller Pilot. In order to do this I had to add an Actisense NGW-1 Gateway: " http://www.actisense.com/product/ngw-1/ " that converts NMEA 0183 data into NMEA2000 and vice-versa. I've attached a simple sketch that I used at the time and hope it helps. It's the section highlighted in red that's the important bit and the Blue and white wires from the NGW are left disconnected.



I undertook the modification myself but couldn't have done so without help from this and other forums as I didn't have the understanding of NMEA.

Any problems come back and I'll try to help.

Bob

 

[Topsailer]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

thanks Bob, this is very helpful as we are both using very similar equipment. I have looked at the Actisense but as I have a special lead for the Raymarine plotter that is supposed to deal with NMEA0183 I expect not to use this additional complication. I believe from the valuable info provided on this thread that the J4 output is pure NMEA0183 data with no 12volts. I cannot test this at the moment as I am not on the boat and was hoping Simrad would have given me an answer by now. I will be back on boat in around a week when I will test the output from J4 and you never know Simrad may have answered by then.
Once I find the solution like you have done I will post it here.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[Dobbies]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

thanks Bob, this is very helpful as we are both using very similar equipment. I have looked at the Actisense but as I have a special lead for the Raymarine plotter that is supposed to deal with NMEA0183 I expect not to use this additional complication. I believe from the valuable info provided on this thread that the J4 output is pure NMEA0183 data with no 12volts. I cannot test this at the moment as I am not on the boat and was hoping Simrad would have given me an answer by now. I will be back on boat in around a week when I will test the output from J4 and you never know Simrad may have answered by then.
Once I find the solution like you have done I will post it here.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Cheers,

Rob

Hi Rob

The 12v power to the instruments is supplied by the "Roblink" cable which connects the IS15 Transceiver to "J1" on the first instrument head. This is then daisy chained from "J2" of the same instrument to "J1" of the next instrument and so on.

"J4" is for pure NMEA0183 data and measures at a much lower voltage that varies with the data passing through it.

If you need any Simrad manuals let me know.

Cheers
Bob

 

[Topsailer]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

Thanks for the additional info you've confirmed what I thought and I will be testing this when I am down on the boat next weekend. I am still waiting for Simrad to confirm but this.
Thanks also for the offer of manuals I have the originals that came with the kit from new, so Hope I will not need any further data but you never know and the details are not very clear.

Thanks again I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[Topsailer]

Re: Simrad IS15 to Chartplotter connections ?? [SOLVED]

Since my reply above I have managed to contact Navico (SIMRAD) they advised that the J4 port on each head unit is a pure NMEA data connection. They even managed to find and sent me a plug with the lead for connecting this NMEA feed to my Raymarine ES78 MFD. I connected the outputs from both my Wind & Depth/Speed head units J4 connector to the appropriate NMEA wires on the Accessory lead for Video/NMEA of the Raymarine unit. This I configured to run at 38k baud (required by the old SIMRAD NMEA0183 protocol) and I now have this data showing on the MFD. I also have the SIMRAD DSC radio connected to the other Video output and all appears to be working fine. I have yet to test my new autohelm works with the wind data but as the MFD is receiving the data I hope this is also receiving.

Hope this helps others with a similar setup.

Cheers,

Rob