Standard Horizon Chartplotter wiring

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Dave_Rolfe

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I have recently bought a Standard Horizon CP180i Chart plotter with internal GPS together with a Digital Yacht AIS Antenna (ANT200) which I now need to wire in on board. Does anyone have experience of doing this and can confirm my understanding of the wiring instructions and my proposed wiring scheme which I have typed below

Standard Horizon CP180i

Black to battery - via supplied 2A fuse
Red to battery +
Green to AIS200 brown plus to VHF for location info
Blue to AIS200 Grey
Brown to VHF
Grey not used
White not used
Yellow not used

AIS200

Red to battery + via 1A fuse
Black to battery -
Grey to CP Blue set at 38400 baud
Brown to CP Green
Yellow not used
Green not used

In figuring out the wiring I have assumed that an NMEA output on one component connects to an NMEA Input on another - is this right?

As ever, any help or advice would be appreciated as last time I did similar wiring it took me ages to get it all up and running. I want this all done before crossing the channel next week to keep the first mate (wife) happy.
 
Using the wiring from the downloadable manual (mine is onboard)
http://www.standardhorizon.com/inde...1812BEEF96C77A4A8E2&DivisionID=3&isArchived=0


CP180i
Black - Battery Ground
Red - Battery Positive
Green - Common NMEA Ground - to VHF ground & AIS ground- commonly put to Battery Ground too
Blue - Port1 input - Connect to Data out of AIS (grey?) - need to set NMEA I/O to 38400
Brown - Port1 output - don't connect to VHF - it could be set at 38400 or disabled.
Grey - Port2 input - don't connect
White - Port2 output - connect this to VHF data
Yellow - Port3 output - don't connect (or use instead of white)
 
[Green - Common NMEA Ground - to VHF ground & AIS ground- commonly put to Battery Ground too]

Hi. Do you know what is the function of the NMEA ground? I understand, I think, the logic of the power ground or neutral in that you need a power circle, but why for NMEA? Surely, it's just passing data on......?
 
srah1953 said:
[Green - Common NMEA Ground - to VHF ground & AIS ground- commonly put to Battery Ground too]

Hi. Do you know what is the function of the NMEA ground? I understand, I think, the logic of the power ground or neutral in that you need a power circle, but why for NMEA? Surely, it's just passing data on......?
Click to expand...
You cannot pass data on without a circuit being present. Usually you can connect the outputting device's NMEA ground to ship's ground, do the same at the receiving end and it saves a connecting wire.
 
Like wot Cantata said ...

IIRC NMEA signals are pulses of 5v to give the 1's and 0's ... to have 5v it must be a potential 5v against something - hence the need for the common ground wire
 
It seems I beg to differ from those who have posted already.
I recently connected my S-H CP180i to a NASA AIS engine, and it all works fine, however I followed the centre diagram on page 1 of the S-H connection chart at http://www.standardhorizon.co.uk/files/Standard Horizon Chartplotter Wiring Plan.pdf
This shows the CP's NMEA green wire as common, as correctly mentioned before, but NMEA input from the AIS device should be connected to the plotter's port 2, the grey wire, with port 2 then set to 38400 baud.
Not relevant to this post, but the diagram shows the NASA's cable colours reversed, as S-H admitted to me after I emailed them about it. 'Silver' is actually the wire's screen and therefore connected to ground.
 
Last edited:
Dave_Rolfe said:
I have recently bought a Standard Horizon CP180i Chart plotter with internal GPS together with a Digital Yacht AIS Antenna (ANT200) which I now need to wire in on board. Does anyone have experience of doing this and can confirm my understanding of the wiring instructions and my proposed wiring scheme which I have typed below
Click to expand...

Same set up as us (well, 180 not 180i) - your wiring plan looks good.

You might want to check the firmware version on the CP180 - there have been some updates in the past year or so.

http://www.standardhorizon.co.uk/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=78
 
Interestingly - This last weekend I also connected a SH180 chart plotter up to a NASA AIS 3 engine.

I spent ages checking the port data (using the plotter diagnostic menu to see incoming data)... and yet nothing was seen coming in on either port 1 or port 2 from the AIS. A laptop connected to the cable did show that the AIS was outputting the correct data at the correct (38400) speed. And, yes, the plotter was set to the correct speed as well.

Finally - I gave up checking data and just viewed the chart screen and the ships (via AIS) were all being shown. Strange - it had probably been working all along. Does any one else have the issue whereby the actual incoming data is not shown? If I check the data on the GPS input using the CP180 diagnostic menu then I do see incoming data.
 
Yup - I had similar problem when re-doing the wiring for our CP180i this year - couldn't see the AIS data on the data screen and I've got old firmware so I know it won't display AIS class B or static stations - so I wanted to see the data come through.
Booted in to diagnostic mode and could see the data coming through ok - went back into chart mode and eventually saw a class A target - phew!
 
How strange - I was just trying to view the data in the 'port input view' or whatever it is and couldn't see anything. I shall give the Diagnostic mode a go when I'm back on board...

Mine is however the latest v16 software although talking about class B - I could not see another yacht in the same marina that claimed he was transmitting - even though I had ships 10 miles away that were displayed. Perhaps there is an even later version.
 
Nearly There

THanks for the advice so far. I am gradually getting there and have the chart plotter now talking to the DSC Radio. My problem now is that I cannot see anything regarding AIS Info on the chart plotter. Unfortunately there are not many ships over 300 tons in Dartmouth and the one cruise liner I had used to check the system has just left.

Can anyone confirm the connections that should be made between the CP and the AIS receiver. To be honest I am now totally bewildered and am getting desperate to just get it working.

THanks in advance for any help provided.
 
If you've wired it as per I and others told you, and set the CP port to the right speed, then you shouldn't need anyone else to 'confirm' it for you. I simply followed the written instructions and the thing worked straight away.
I should take your boat outside the entrance to Dartmouth and see if you get something out there - quite likely to be very poor reception inside.
 
You should be able to get 35Nm with a masthead antenna - if yours works on the rail mount then swap it over with the main VHF antenna for a test ... I managed to get ships round the back of the IOW with mine ... well out of normal sight.
 
All OK

Finally, on Sunday, went out of Dartmouth and enjoyed seeing the five anchored ships off Torbay appear on the plotter.
All I have to do now is make a note of the correct wiring incase 1) a wire comes adrift or 2) someone else wants to do the same.
Thanks for your help and inspiration.
 
Im about to invest in a new chart plotter and the cp180 is top of the list, but no where can i find if it is removeable from its mounting bracket so i can take it inside once im finished using it for the day.
Can anyone tell me if it can be unclipped and removed easily?
Cheers
Rick
 
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