Wiring for Vesper and VHF GPS

[BigAl.NZ]

Hi,

I need to wire my Vesper Watchmate properly.

It has a sheathed cable coming off it, with:

1 pair of wires for power
1 pair of wires for NMEA GPS out

Both these wire pairs are fairly thin, typical of data wires. Now i have a few issues:

1. The think power wires need to ultimately go to a ring terminal on a Circuit Breaker, do they go to a ticker gauge wire first, or do I use a small enough ring terminal for this gauge?

2. The power wires and the data wires need to go off in different directions - the GPS NMEA out needs to go to the VHF - I presume I just strip enough sheath off to accomplish this, but then it all starts to look a bit untidy and I would like to keep it looking tidy.

3. Best way to join the GPS wires from the Vesper to the VHF - I am thinking a butt joiner but not sure if they come in a small enough size? The last guy used terminal blocks, but they look so damn untidy.

If any one else has done a similar job and made it look tidy I would be keen to see pictures of your work!

Cheers

AG

[Jerry Woodward]

I installed my XB8000 last year, pretty easy. I also wired the NMEA0183 output to my ICOM M302 to give it gps data. The power leads are heaver gauge than the NMEA data cables, 16 gauge I believe. Just crimp onto ring connectors and connect to your positive and neg terminals, making sure it is fused appropriately. The NMEA 0183 data out cables will need to be run to your VHF. They are small, but I was able to get a sufficient crimp with a 22 ga butt connector. Tidy is a relative term. All my connections were inside a panel and I simply zip tied my wires to keep it as tidy as possible.


The only issue I had was that initially my VHF wasn't receiving GPS data from the Vesper. The fix was to log into the Watchmate with my IPAD app and change the settings for NMEA0183 output to: 4800 baud, no AIS output, Echo GPS on. The ICOM now has GPS input so it should broadcast our position if I activate DSC.

[Snore]

The trick with crimping a small wire is to make it double thickness. Just strip more than needed, bend it back overritself and twist. Then insert it into the butt connector.

Personally, I like terminal strips. At some point, something stops working. The strip lets you see that all the connections are good. But hey we all have our pet peeves

[BigAl.NZ]

Thanks guys. I ended up using a bus bar with build in + - and blade fuses for up to 6 devices on a sub distribution system.

To get the positive and negative on from the XB8000 I crimed on ring terminals, but will redo it with the fold back on itself approach, as I am not happy with the strength of the connection.

Very happy with the XB800, and yes I too connected to the VHF and changed baud to 4800.