Garmin gWind™ Race Wired Transducer

[Prestige]

Hello, I have nx2 instruments set with a nx2 server included. My original wind race transducer broke so I bought a new gWind™ Race Wired Transducer with a Connector Adapter Cable. I see the lights on the server getting input but why don’t I see any data on the displays?

Someone any idea? Settings or...

Thank you in advance.

Sailing boat: X-442
Located at the moment: St Martin
#NX2 #Silva #Garmin

[hjohnson]

On my old nexus wind I can still pull in the data from my gwind when it’s wired into the sensor. It was some of the troubleshooting I did when i was trying to figure out why the modem Garmin stuff wasn’t picking up the wind reliably.

Have you used the software for your nexus server to see if it’s picking up the wind sensor? Also, try directly connecting the nexus wind display directly to the gEind sensor. That should also work.

[NUcleusdentatus]

Hi!
I will probably face the same problem as you @Prestige. I also need to swap my Nexus for a gWind from Garmin and connect it to the NX2 server. Have you solved the problem?
In the Garmin manual it says to connect the mast cable to terminals 5-8 on the server, not to "wind"..... However, these are already occupied with me. I am curious.

[Mirage35]

Any further information on this?

I have a Nexus NX2 server and need to replace the Nexus wind transducer. The Garmin documentation is blindingly unclear but it looks to me like the gWind wired transducer should connect directly.

Can anyone confirm this?

FWIW I'm looking at the standard gWind, not the race version.

Edit: I see the original post refers to a connector adapter cable. What is that and in what circumstances is it required?

[Mirage35]

I think I found the answer to my own question, and to the one above mine.

Extract from the gWind installation instructions:

Nexus Connection Considerations
If you change from a Nexus wind sensor to the gWind sensor,
you must move the mast cable from the wind port to the network
port on the Nexus server on pins 5, 6, 7, and 8. The network
server is NX2, and the classic server is BUS. See the Nexus
device manual for more information.

So it looks like the gWind uses the same protocol as the daisy-chained instruments on that server port, rather than whatever the Nexus device used that needed its own connection.

Wish me luck.

[Mirage35]

Adding more information as I find it.

The NX2 Server manual shows that the original Nexus transducer could be connected via the "wind" port or directly to the instrument, i.e. daisy chained with everything else. This second option is what Garmin is recommending for the gWind.

There is also a server setting that has to be changed: C70 on/off tells the Nexus network where the wind instrument is connected.

Once I get the instrument and play with it on the boat I'll update here if I learn anything else.

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by Mirage35

I think I found the answer to my own question, and to the one above mine.

Extract from the gWind installation instructions:

Nexus Connection Considerations
If you change from a Nexus wind sensor to the gWind sensor,
you must move the mast cable from the wind port to the network
port on the Nexus server on pins 5, 6, 7, and 8. The network
server is NX2, and the classic server is BUS. See the Nexus
device manual for more information.

So it looks like the gWind uses the same protocol as the daisy-chained instruments on that server port, rather than whatever the Nexus device used that needed its own connection.

Wish me luck.

That’s correct. I can hang my old Nexus instruments off that bus and they work fine with the modern garmin wind

[Mirage35]

I now have the new transducer but of course it comes with a very short cable and a Garmin connector that I will have to amputate and change because it's not compatible with my existing in-mast wiring.

Before I potentially butcher a $400 device, do you have any clues what I will find in the cable? Wire colours, is it easy to match them to the Nexus server connection, anything else I should now.

Any information greatly appreciated.

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by Mirage35

I now have the new transducer but of course it comes with a very short cable and a Garmin connector that I will have to amputate and change because it's not compatible with my existing in-mast wiring.

Before I potentially butcher a $400 device, do you have any clues what I will find in the cable? Wire colours, is it easy to match them to the Nexus server connection, anything else I should now.

Any information greatly appreciated.

It's been a while... with ours, we got the whole kit, which included the GND-10, the masthead sensor, and the mast cable. In that case, the new mast cable matched the old nexus cable in terms of colours. bare drain wire as the negative, then three other wires, two of which are the RS485 pair, and the fourth that is +12v. The newer mast-top connector is nicer and more waterproof (just watch out for the o-ring, it can try and runaway) so we stuck with that rather than using our old mast cable.

[Mirage35]

Thanks for that - gives me a good starting point. I'll play with it at sea level first to make sure I understand the connections before heading up the mast with it.

[hjohnson]

Originally Posted by Mirage35

Thanks for that - gives me a good starting point. I'll play with it at sea level first to make sure I understand the connections before heading up the mast with it.

Also check the manual for the GND-10. I think it has a section on how to make the field connector, which identifies the conductors.

[Mirage35]

Closing the loop on my experience, after delays getting parts, then winter storage ...

Rather than cutting the connector off at the transducer, I got the Garmin cable with the other connector, cut it short, spliced on the connector from the old transducer, and used that as an adapter for the wiring at the top of the mast. A perfectionist would say I should have dropped the mast and run the new cable, but I didn't.

Compatability was easy - the wires in the old and new cables are all the same colours (except that the ground connection at the server is shield and in the cable it's brown. Easy to figure out given that the other three match.)

Connection to the NX2 server: the cable from the transducer does NOT connect to the "wind input" on the server, it connects to the network output. Yes, in parallel with the existing connection to the instrument daisy chain. No changes needed to the instrument configuration.

Another option would have been to take the wind instrument off the daisy chain and connect the transducer directly, bypassing the server. This would require a change to one configuration setting (and would have required me to run another cable, so I avoided that option.)

Side benefit: I got lots of practice climbing the mast.