help wiring RJ45 connector for navico radar

[diama]

hello, hope someone can help......connecting new simrad 3g radar scanner through R110 interface to toughbook running xp and current opencpn+ radar plugin.
I find confusing information as to how to wire RJ45 connector for the computer"s ethernet port. The radar was shipped with a lowrance ethernet cable with the two yellow ends.....I have cut the cable as the opencpn manual instructs and It has 4 wires...blue-blue/white-orange-orange/white. thanks for looking at this diama

Below is some of the info I've been puzzling over:
Radar Interface (RI10) to Chartplotter Cables and RJ45 Ethernet PinoutsThe RJ45 has 8 pins, but for normal use is 4 enough. Simrad has 4 wires: Blue, blue/white, orange, orange/white. Hakan has advised to use the T568B connection.


B&G Typical RJ45 Connection of the 4 Ethernet Wires It is actually neither T568A or T568B standard. With the clip pointed away & the main wire coming from the right. Pin numbering in accord with the T568 documentation. You should check your RJ45 connector wiring carefully.from Yacht Electronics Kees Verruijt The pairs are blue and orange. I connected those the same way as a 3 Com sourced very thin Ethernet cable I had lying around: blue to pins 1+2 and orange to pins 3+6 of the RJ-45 jack. This isn't according to either T568A or T568B, but that cannot be helped when the cable pairs are blue and orange. In practice the cable works fine, both when wired directly and when wired to a switch. I don't know whether the is actually a cross over cable or direct through though, so if you use a switch that doesn't do auto MDI-X you may have to swap the pairs.
comment from pol24 August, 2010 10:40
It seems that pins in 5-pin Navico 'yellow' ethernet connector carry following signals:
1. Tx+ - blue/white
2. Tx- - blue
3. Rx+ - orange/whit
4. Rx- - orange
You can make cable with yellow connector at one side and rj45 on the other,
where rj45 is connected as written above (1+2 blue/white and blue, 3+6 orange/white and orange).

......but then I found wiring diagrams from navico which are different

and as well the RJ45 coonector from the scanner to the R110 is wired differently again??

[Hakan]

Diama..


You can connect in two ways; Use the RI10 box or direct to the PC.

1. Use the RI10 box if you have a MFD and want to use both that and your PC.
   Or if you have a NMEA 2000 compass. Then this is the way to get the heading into your 3G and further to OpenCPN.
   In this case it's easiest to use a network switch. Connect the radar RJ45, a patch cable to the PC and one to the RI10 box. You also need to get power cables to the RI10. If you have enough original cable cut a bit of that to get the power and network wires to the RI10 connector.
   Study you 3G manual. In my page 15 : "Connect the interconnection cable to radar interface box" and next page for RJ45 pinout.
2. If you don't need the RI10 box you can connect the radar direct to your PC. Study your manual, page 21 "For systems not using radar interface box (Lowrance HDS USA only)"
   RJ45 pinout as of page 16 as mentioned above.
   Use a switch on the power wire for radar On/Off

Also study the hardware installation part of the BR24 manaual: https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...e_installation


Håkan

[diama]

hello Hakan, thank you for your reply .....I understand the basic setup and the possibilities having carefully read navico manual and the hardware installation part of the BR24 manaual: https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...e_installation

My problem remains how to wire the RJ45 connector onto the ethernet cable running from the R110 to my computer.
I have 4 wires...blue-blue/white-orange-orange/white to connect. The instructions in the BR24 manual seem different from the pinout that you sent and that I have found .
BR24 manual -
pin1-blue/white, pin2-blue, pin3-orange/white, pin6-orange

attached are the navico diagrams

[Hakan]

diama..
Ok, misunderstandings.

I was talking about the cable from the radar antenna to RI10 or direct to the PC.
You're talking about a cable meant to connect the RI10 with a MFD or a Navico switch.


Yes, why not try in your way. I haven't done that but would work if you think it's good to use the RI10. I suppose you have a compass connected?


I haven't refereed to the 5-wire cable anywhere. So why not pin it as of your picture.


Håkan

[diama]

hello Hakan, thanks for the suggestions....suprised no one else is having my problem.......connecting ethernet from R110 to computer(PC) ethernet port.

The opencpn -BR24 hardware installation does address this but is offers confusing information.
It seems one needs the simrad cord (attached)with a male RJ45 instead of the female end. Easy enough to cut the wire supplied and install a RJ45 but pinout is still unclear. Seems it is either a crossover connection or a straight through? (see attached photos).

Will I damage anything in the radar or computer by trying these different combinations? thanks again for helping to sort this out. diama

[nohal]

A reasonably recent ethernet adapter as found in pretty much all current computers (supporting gigabit ethernet) should not care whether the cable is crossed or straight as it implements Auto-MDIX (automatic medium-dependent interface crossover) and changes the function of the pins automatically based on what actually happens on the wires.
It is pretty hard to fry anything with a badly wired ethernet cable, but I of course don't know what actually is inside the RI10.

[diama]

hello Nohal, this clears up a lot of questions I had and explains why people seem to be having success with what seemed to be conflictiing pinouts. many thanks......I'll get this system assembled as soon as the weather lets me get to the boat. diama

[rgleason]

Diana, I wrote that Interfacd RI10 section with Hakan's help. It states:


"The RJ45 has 8 pins, but for normal use is 4 enough. Simrad has 4 wires: Blue, blue/white, orange, orange/white. Hakan has advised to use the T568B connection."


Further down:

{Picture}
"B&G Typical RJ45 Connection of the 4 Ethernet Wires
It is actually neither T568A or T568B standard. With the clip pointed away & the main wire coming from the right. Pin numbering in accord with the T568 documentation. You should check your RJ45 connector wiring carefully.
Not Used ------ Pin 8 |

Not Used ------ Pin 7 |

Orange -------- Pin 6 |

Not Used ------ Pin 5 |=========== Main Cable

Not Used ------ Pin 4 |

OrangeWhite -- Pin 3 |

Blue ------------ Pin 2 |

BlueWhite ----- Pin 1 |


What is unclear about this?

[diama]

hi rgleason, thanks for writing....on the whole the info in the BR24 hardware section and the manual in general is very helpful.

the pinout you mention 1-blue/white 2-blue 3-orange/white 6-orange is very clear but in the part before it says Hakan recommends the T568B connection(attached) which is different.

If you check my posts you will see the other pinouts I've found suggested and used here and on other sites. It seems to me a clarification regarding interfacing with a computer ethernet port wouldn't hurt or perhaps an edit of the conflicting parts.

Considering people seem to have success with different pinouts it would seem the orange and blue twisted pairs are perhaps interchangeable as Nohal has alluded to.......not being very cumputer tech savy I found it prudent to seek clarification.

thanks to all, diama

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by diama

hi rgleason, thanks for writing....on the whole the info in the BR24 hardware section and the manual in general is very helpful.

the pinout you mention 1-blue/white 2-blue 3-orange/white 6-orange is very clear but in the part before it says Hakan recommends the T568B connection(attached) which is different.

If you check my posts you will see the other pinouts I've found suggested and used here and on other sites. It seems to me a clarification regarding interfacing with a computer ethernet port wouldn't hurt or perhaps an edit of the conflicting parts.

Considering people seem to have success with different pinouts it would seem the orange and blue twisted pairs are perhaps interchangeable as Nohal has alluded to.......not being very cumputer tech savy I found it prudent to seek clarification.

thanks to all, diama

I wired a hub (switch) in between my Zeus's plotter and go-free wifi the other day. I went:

1: white/orange
2: orange
3: white/blue
6: blue

On both sides of a cut Simrad Ethernet cable.

After testing, I can confirm the following:

The connection works whether or not there is a switch in circuit or just a female/female joiner connecting the original cable together. Obviously there is some automatic crossover functionality on either the go-free wifi and/or mfd.

My only gripe is that the mfd is not listening on the Ethernet connection for nmea (AIS) data. So I intend to use the two spare pairs of the cat 5 cable connecting the Ethernet cable to the mfd to carry nmea AIS data.

[nohal]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

So I intend to use the two spare pairs of the cat 5 cable connecting the Ethernet cable to the mfd to carry nmea AIS data.

Well, this is one really innovative idea, I'm just afraid you can't torture the Ethernet to this extent...

[dave948]

If you buy a standard patch cable it works fine. They are wired T568B. So if you wire your cable as T568B (more commonly known as "B") on both ends you should be fine.
This information is worth exactly what you paid for it.

[NPCampbell]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

My only gripe is that the mfd is not listening on the Ethernet connection for nmea (AIS) data. So I intend to use the two spare pairs of the cat 5 cable connecting the Ethernet cable to the mfd to carry nmea AIS data.

I did exactly this within my home.

Many of the cat 5e cables in my home carry both ethernet and 1-2 POTS lines. Even though I installed conduit to most rooms I got lazy and bundled POTS lines with ethernet to avoid pulling more cable and simply unbundled the wires in my central patch panel. Note that 4 wire ethernet is only capable of 100 Mb/s and not the 1 Gb/s that 8 wires can.

To the OP:
The colors of wires that you use are immaterial as long as they are the same on both ends of the cable (obviously this is not the case with a crossover cable). The one caveat. Pins 1&2 must be on a twisted pair and 3&6 must be on another twisted pair. You can't use 4 random wires as this eliminates the EMI rejection that a twisted pair offers.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by nohal

Well, this is one really innovative idea, I'm just afraid you can't torture the Ethernet to this extent...

You can. You just can't go 1gb on that connection which is fine in this case.

[daletournier]

Hi Diama, which way did you end up wiring it? How did it go?

Ive just installed the B&G 3G and are in the process of hooking it up. Id prefer to use the interface box purely because it will make my install a little neater, thus im going to cut the cable from interface box and crimp a RJ45 on one end which plugs into the PC.

My experience in this area is quite limited thus I share your concerns.