Matsutec AIS transponder

[pendragon]

I recently bought a Matsutec HP=33A AIS transponder, it all works fine.
I also have a Garmin GPS128 on which all my waypoints are stored.
I downloaded the waypoints and routes to a laptop and converted the file with Garmin Mapsource to a .gpx file.
The problem is that the Matsutec rejects this file when trying to upload it.
Can anyone help please...
The Matsutec manual says that the format for waypoints is ascii
Extract from the manual for waypoints format:
$PFEC, GPwpl, llll.ll, a, yyyyy.yy, a, c—c, c, c—c, a, hhmmss, xx, xx, xxxx <CR><LF>
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1: Waypoint latitude
2: N/S
3: Waypoint longitude
4: E/W
5: Waypoint name (1 to 8 characters)
6: Waypoint color
(NULL/0: black, 1: red, 2: yellow, 3: green, 4: brown, 5: purple, 6: blue)
7: Waypoint comment (”@_ (see below.)” + 0 to 13 characters)
8: Flag marking waypoint (A: displayed, V: Not displayed)
9: UTC (Always NULL)
10: Day (Always NULL)
11: Month (Always NULL)
12: Year (Always NULL)
0x10: @q, 0x11: @r, 0x12: @s:, 0x13: @t, 0x14: @u,
0x15: @v, 0x16: @w, 0x17: @x, 0x18: @y, 0x19: @z
-Internal mark code is 0x10 through 0x19. 0x71 through 0x7A are always
place at 2nd byte of mark code.
-Following characters can be used for comments:
_ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789&()+-/=?> (space)

Many thanks

[Ambler]

Hi,
Check this forum out for your unit it may help.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread...IS-Transponder

Other than that, you could leave the screen uncluttered so you can view the targets, target info, CPA info Range etc with your vessel in the centre. If you want to combine your routes, track, waypoints with ais info why not take the output feed from the AIS to your plotter or computer running Opencpn or similar. It's what I do on my watchmate system. It gets busy enough with relative targets around you anyway
Wayne

[pendragon]

Thanks for the reply,
My problem is not with the wiring, or leaving the screen uncluttered etc.
My problem is HOW to convert the Garmin data Base (waypoints ,routes) into asci as is used by the Matsutec. There must be a conversion program around somewhere I presume...

[Ambler]

Ascii is a data string format with comma separators. This format looks to be an NMEA format to me. Try hooking the 2 units together. The GPS data output to the AIS input terminals (with the common earth connected) On the Garmin select NMEA 0183 and try 4800 baud rate output then select send waypoints. Try different baud rates if no success.
Not all gadgets talk GPX file formats. But almost all marine devices use the common NMEA 0183 and new protocols such as NMEA 2000 are used these days.
The $PFEC appears to be a furuno string and it should be ignored in the string .

[pendragon]

Nothing seems to work so far.
Direct transfer as you suggest NMEA to NMEA is nogo
On the Matsutec is a facillty to upload and download waypoints/ routes to or from a pc.
Using this, Nothing uploads nor downloads to anything. It goes through the motions as the 100% DONE shows, YET no data has been received.
I downloaded a free program "GPS utility", following the manual, this can not see the Matsutec when set on Furuno (33) also tried a few different settings. not just furuno
No doubt I have not created the correct software connection, BUT I think I am out of options.

[Ambler]

Bummer. Is there a software update on their website you could download and install as it may have new communication configurations.

I have seen a surveyor friend manipulate asci file data from his field data logger downloaded to a computer so as to get his survey drafting software to read it using windows excel. But sorry that is beyond me, perhaps someone else can help or advise on this method?

[champ8242]

I would rename (copy) the gpx file to file with an xml extension. Open this xml file in excel or some sort of application that will read an xml files and export it as a csv (comma separated) NMEA file

Bart

[Alpha22]

I got mine working with GPSU. Using Furuno 33 settings. 38400 baud.

Photos and pictures on YBW...
Matsutec HP-33A AIS Transponder

[pendragon]

Yes, that's what I used also , but I can't get it to work on Furuno 33 or any other "brand".

[pendragon]

Bart,
I manually created a couple of waypoints in the Matsutec, than I downloaded them to PC
The Matsu goes through the motion and says" downloaded to PC"
It does not say where on the hdd, so I did a search (XP) No new file to be found anywhere.
The GPS Utility (GPSU) does not accept the waypoints.gdb converted to .gpx which was then renamed to waypoints.xml and converted to waypoints.csv.
Uploading this to Com3 (matsutec) does not work, The unit can not find the file
So I manually changed it , to conform with matsu waypoint specs eg:
$PFEC, GPwpl, llll.ll, a, yyyyy.yy, a, c—c, c, c—c, a, hhmmss, xx, xx, xxxx <CR><LF>
It can't find this either.
On the unit , there is no option to designate a download folder on the pc
The only options are "download to PC" and "upload from PC" via com3.
Com3 communicates with the matsu, it works because I am getting GPS data and AIS data on screen with OpenCPN.
Would you have any sugesstions?

[Neptune's Gear]

Pendragon et al, this is due to the fact that the GPS/AIS does not have PC software. For normal operation, it "speaks" NMEA. It receives nothing.
In Data transfer mode It "expects " you to be using a program like OpenCPN or nobeltec to communicate in both directions, although only one at a time - In the same manner as a Furuno GP32. The GPS/AIS can send data to the PC (and vice versa) without receiving any response - it does not expect to - so it does not know if the data was received or not. It expects the PC software to sort out where and how the file is stored, and, in the case of PC-GPS/AIS the correct format for the data transmission. The wrong format data will simply be ignored. You could send the correct strings with a terminal emulator if so desired.

Yes, firmware on these is upgrade-able, but not by the average user. The wrong procedure will cause a complete system failure, and there are two separate programs required to complete the operation. I did an HA-101 today...

If you have specific questions on these have a look on my site at Neptune's Gear Ltd, Marine Equipment for Cruisers, Worldwide delivery
Send me an email from there if you need help.

How do you guys get to be using a unit - apparently in the US, without either FCC or CE cert?

[irwin37]

Don't realty know but it sounds like it needs to use a text editor or terminal program to do the actual upload down load. Try opening your Hyperterminal program to port 3 at the appropriate baud rate and have the transponder up load the way point to the pc. I think you will find it is just text being sent and you need a program on the pc to put it into a file.

Well Matt beat me to it, sound like he knows what hes talking about. Similar to what I have said above.

[Neptune's Gear]

correct irwin37, that is exactly the case! Did i not just say that? Yep your post was more direct!!

[pendragon]

Many thanks for your help so far so good..

Using Hyper terminal on com3, I can download the 2 waypoints i manually entered previously.
It looks like the following:

$PFEC,GPwpl,3542.40,S,17019.45,E,WP0001,3,@q19:28 30DEC0/,A,,,,
$PFEC,GPwpl,3539.66,S,17049.93,E,WP0002,3,@q14:54 30DEC0/,A,,,,

The some 200 waypoints I have, are not in this format, so how do I do this without re-typing them all?
And an other problem is than How to upload the waypoint file to the matsutec as the only option is just "Upload from PC" Yes/No

[Neptune's Gear]

Ok, so it works.
Sorry, to send your waypoints to the GPS/AIS they MUST be in the correct format - laid out in the manual. So either you have to do that manually, or have a program do it for you.

Then you set the unit to upload from PC, hit "yes" and send the file in the correct format to your com port. When the file finished, the unit should beep and say ok.

This experience is NOT from this unit, just other similar ones, so it might be slightly different!

A program like openCPN should be able to do this for you....