B&G Zeus T12 Installation Questions

[rgleason]

I have a few coordination, use & wiring questions related to this installation. Some of it is a little complicated. This is for a 32' sloop, so I want to keep this as simple as possible.

1. I would like to be able to turn off the B&G Zeus Touch 12 and still have all data available to my wifi devices (PC, Tablets) which would include the NMEA 2000 bus, AIS and Seatalk Instruments.

1. NMEA 2000 bus requires its own power.
2. B&G Zeus Touch 12 has Video/Nmea 0183 in/out, but that requires B&G T12 to be "On".
3. B&G GoFree wifi relies on a network cable to the B&G Touch 12 for data.
4. B&G GoFree wifi will not work with the Touch 12 turned "Off". Touch 12 uses 2 amps. (Is this accurate?)
5. Note: GoFree wifi works with a number of Apps which allow control of the Zeus.

2. Will the Vesper XB-8000 continue to work with the powered Nmea 2000 bus & the T12 chartplotter "off"?

1. Will I get the data from the Nmea2000 bus on the Vesper wifi?

3. Is the GPS in Vesper XB-8000 better than the one in the B&G Zeus Touch 12"?

4. First Alternative Use my Seatalk Link also gadgetpoole.de which converts from Seatalk to Nmea 0183 and the reverse (bidirectionally), and connect Nmea In and Nmea Out on XB-8000,

1. Seatalk Link will accept any new data sentences that it the seatalk bus does not have.
2. Seatalk Link will send all sentences available on the Seatalk bus and convert to 0183.
3. Will this work with the XB-8000?
4. Does Vesper have a version of XB-8000 that converts to and from seatalk?
5. Is there a better way to have Instrument Data available for Wifi devices?

5. Second Alternative way to connect Seatalk Data.

1. Connect Seatalk Data <--> Artisense <---> Nmea 2000 bus.
2. Connect Vesper XB-8000 <---> Nmea 2000 bus.
3. Would I then be able to XB-8000 <---> Nmea 0183 <--> Standard H VHF/DSC for GPS?
4. Use XB-8000 USB /Wifi for PCs and Tablets.
5. Would all data (GPS, AIS, DSC, Seatalk Instrument) be available on Nmea2000, Wifi, Vhf?
6. How do I prevent Nmea 0183 channels on VHF and Seatalk from becoming "flooded"?
7. Particularly if I pick the 5ghz GPS updates? -Is it advisable to select this option?
8. What is the advantage/problems associated with connecting VHF nema 0183 out?

6. Gyrocompass data is needed on the B&G Radar Interface Box, Simrad Connection.

1. B&G diagrams show

• Nmea 2000 <--> Gyrocompass (which one?).
• Nmea 2000 <--> Nmea 2000 cable <--> Simnet cable <--> Radar Interface box Simnet conn.

1. Do you have any suggestions?
2. Old 1993 Autohelm fluxgate compass for ST4000 Wheelpilot uses Nmea 0183

• Decodes outdated Nmea 0183 sentences. Variation: HVM, RMC, RMA, HVD
• Heading signal does not appear to come through on the Seatalk conversion.
• RMarine advises E85001 should pass from Seatalk1: HDM,HDG,VHW, OR HDT
• The Fluxgate is not 10mhz and is probably too slow for good radar overlay.

1. D. It is probably advisable to leave the fluxgate dedicated to the autopilot and get a new compass.

7. This is a small boat, with no dedicated nav station, and this equipment seems to be taking over my wife's galley, which I don't want it to do. What out of the way locations generally work for the XB-8000 so that we also get good reception in the boat cabin and cockpit? Can it be in an out of the way upper cabinet or under a cockpit seat?

8. Antennae location: We have a VHF antennae on top of the mast. I was considering putting a second VHF antennae mounted on the gimbaled vertical pipe of our Waltz Backstay Radar Mounting which is 9' above the deck (12' above sealevel). The Radar would be just below the coil and 1" aft off the antenna. Is that too close? Where should it be located to not affect the radar or be affected by the radar? Would we be better off with a Vesper splitter?

9. I have an adequate but limited breaker panel. Can I wire this to a GPS switch along with the Nmea 2000 bus, and a separate Radar Breaker and Chartplotter breaker?

Is there more appropriate device/setup that Vesper or others might suggest?

I will be using the OpenCPN Android app on our Tablets. This app can receive Nmea 0183 data via wifi.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....opencpn&hl=en


Thank you
Rick Gleason

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Existing Equipment
1. 2005 Raymarine ST60 Tridata Speed, Depth, Temp
2. 2005 Raymarine ST60 Wind
3. 1997 Authohelm ST4000 W Wheel AutoPilot “Black head” with fluxgate compass.
4. 2006 Standard Quest+ GS1256S VHF/DSC
5. gadgetpool.de Seatalk Link Seatalk1 <---> Nmea0183

New Equipment
1. B&G Zeus Touch 12"
2. B&G Broadband 4G Radar
3. Compass 10mhz: ?
4. Possibly:Raymarine SeaTalk to NMEA2000 (SeaTalkNG) Converter
5. Possibly: Vesper XB-8000
6. Possibly: Actisense NGW-1-STNG or Actisense NGW-1

[rgleason]

A response from Vesper:

Thanks for your email and questions. Please find my reply below
Will the Vesper XB-8000 continue to work with the powered Nmea 2000 bus & the T12 chartplotter "off"?
[Thomson]: Yes, XB-8000 continuously sents out AIS & GPS data over USB, NMEA0183 output port, WiFi and NMEA 2000 port.
Will I get the data on wifi?
[Thomson]: Yes. As said above.
Is the GPS in Vesper XB-8000 better than the one in the B&G ZeusTouch 12"?
[Thomson]: I haven't used B&G Zeus Touch 12 before. So, I can't comment on this. But, XB-8000 come along with an external GPS antenna and the performance is excellent.
Regarding your question about integration of devices.... I would suggest you to have XB-8000 as a junction box for all your data coming in from NMEA 2000 and NMEA 0183. Please find below the current feature support in XB-8000

• XB8000 combines AIS, GPS data and output to NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, Wifi and USB ports.
• It can receive any valid 0183 sentences from connected NMEA0183 devices and that will be multiplexed into the output stream which is then presented over 0183, USB and WiFi output. But, it currently doesn't output NMEA0183 data to NMEA2000 interface, although that is coming in a future firmware update (downloadable and free)
• It converts and relay NMEA2000 data to NMEA0183, wifi and USB serial ports. The PGN's that your XB-8000 will translate now correspond to wind, depth, speed, heading, temperature and log. The PGN numbers are listed here XB-8000 AIS Transponder | Vesper Marine
• Also, please note that due to regulatory restrictions, XB-8000 will not relay GPS or AIS data that isn't internally generated. So, it is always required to connect AIS & GPS antenna to the XB8000 unit.

Having said above, my suggestion would be to connect your VHF to NMEA0183 output port of XB-8000 to send GPS data and then you need
a Raymarine DeviceNet cable to connect the XB-8000 NMEA2000 port to a Raymarine SeaTalkNG network. That will plugs right in and works fine. You'll receive all the data from XB-8000 over WiFi or USB. You can use any app in your mobile/tablet/iPad or any software in your computer/laptop to receive all navigation data from XB-8000
Regarding the antenna location... Please make sure that you have atleast 1m of separation from other antenna and radar. This is to avoid interference with other nearby antenna and also to avoid any circuit damage in your XB-8000. If you are using shared VHF antenna (i.e., if your antenna covers VHF frequency of 156 MHz and AIS frequency of 162 MHz), then you can use our splitter to share the same antenna for both VHF and AIS. No need of separate antenna. Please have a look at our website
Antenna Splitter for Class B AIS Transponders
AIS antenna designed to be shared with VHF radios | Vesper Marine
Hope, I have answered all your questions. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Best regards,
Thomson

[rgleason]

This thread has details about the installation so far.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ad.php?t=64338