NMEA data over WiFi

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by daga

I use a 'Yakker' nmea0183 to Wifi unit. Inexpensive, small, simple, reliable. Available direct from the inventor at Yakker.

Good to hear. Ive been looking at this one and emailed them...fast complete response...a good sign.

How long have you been using it?

[barnakiel]

I am switching now from a s/h adsl router to a small travel router.

The travel router is fed from 5V (bad) but needs only a fraction of the juice that a 12V router does. So I can run the nmea router all night and never look at that battery meter again.

The 'downside' is that apart from a s/h router (about USD10) one needs one USB/serial adapter per device (unless the device is already USB that uses either prolific or ftdi chip). BU gps does, e.g.

So this is about USD20 for a one nmea feed router, 30USD for two, etc.

How many 'entries' the off the shelf things you are discussing offer?

barnakiel

[SailFastTri]

Anyone know an inexpensive nmea2000 to WiFi device?

[belizesailor]

Ive been running a YakBitz Bi-Directional NMEA to WiFi Bridge (Yakker) this cruising season. Took a little fiddling to get it set up (mostly other device issues, not the YakBitz product), but its worked without a single hiccup since.

Pros:

Great Support. YakBitz was very responsize in helping with initial set-up.

Relativley inexpensive. Paying hundreds of $s for such a simple device seems silly to me (as is asked by other more widely know providers). All YakBitz products (they have a full line up) are priced under $100.

Super small (a few square inches in size). Shockingly small the first time you see it, but opens up more install options.

Flexible WiFi Options. Will connect via WiFi to your existing ship board AP, or create its own separate AP. Ive got mine connected to the shipboard AP. This allows any device to not only get NMEA data, but also to have WiFi access to Internet etc at the same time. Another cool benefit of this is that you can connect multiple Yakkers to the same AP. This allows you to have have multiple Yakkers, NMEA devices, and user devices on the same network. I plan to use that ability to interface multiple NMEA devices. For example, my current Yakker is installed below the deck house roof on starboard side near instruments at the helm...its a long wire run from there to my AIS receiver (and other devices) at the nav station in the port hull. No problem, install a second Yakker at nav station and connect them both via WiFi to same AP. [emoji41]

Cons: cant think of any.

Very happy customer.[emoji16]


Web site: http://yakbitz.com

[Goleta Gringo]

Hi! Could I contact you in private to ask you how you made it work. I was thinking about doing the same to send the AIS data to a tablet, since today with this covid situation I am not able to buy a device (besides the differences is prices bewteen brands....). I need something working fine and letting me see other vessel... Thanks

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I plugged our nmea183 data into a plain s/h wifi router. I have used an old adsl router that was a givaway from an adsl provider.

I used the following components:

1. serial to USB cables (one per each talker), (about 10 USD each)
2. a s/h wifi router with USB socket, (1.5 to 4.0 USD)

The router makes the data wireless and doubles up as a multiplexer.

It uses about .25A at 12V.

You do not need any dedicated devices for that. But they are available if you prefer shopping to building. Some have nice Apps bundled (e.g. Vesper AIS blue box).

I use various Apps to read the data. Some are better than others. OpenCPN is very good for a plotter device. NKE App is great for a display device.

Cheers,
b.

[nibj]

I have a FloatHub which broadcasts 0183 data. Not much tested by me but seems to work ( I am using an iPad with iNavX to access the WiFi data). The main use of FloatHub for us is to monitor the bilge pump and batteries when not at the marina.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by moseriw

I have vesper xb8000. Surely one of the best but as technician not really satisfied as it translates the incoming NMEA2000 bus to NMEA0183 but the conversion covers only basics, gps, log, wind, temp is no problem, I think AP will work too but I am not sure if the engine CAN is converted.

Same experience here. When the XB8000 was new, Vesper was doing a lot of updating, and making promises about great things to come, such as expanding the list of NMEA data types to be sent over WiFi. Some of those promises were made here and on other forums.

Development seems to have stopped shortly after those promises were made. There have been no updates for years. The XB8000 is essentially orphaned. It's still great hardware at a reasonable price, but as with any technology nowadays, it'll fade into obsolescence quickly without ongoing development.

YakBitz look like interesting products. I think it may make sense to go with a dedicated NMEA-to-WiFi product, rather than rely on manufacturers of other products, where the WiFi capability is an afterthought, more for marketing purposes than anything else.

[TravellingKiwis]

I'm also disappointed with the lack of updates on the XB8000 and associated app. Obsolescence normally hits these sorts of electronics when they release an upgraded model but here they are still selling it with no new development for a long time, they've not fixed a number of reported bugs or made simple improvements to things like the anchor watch. They made it clear to me that their Dev teams were focused on the new products rather than the existing. Sad for a company I used to rave about.

[pendragon]

Just my 2 cents.......

I use a multiplexer from Marine electronics, best value for money.
It's been working without any problems for over 2 years and lit is cheaper than anything else on the market so far.