Vesper Marine AIS

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by jeffrobbins

Glad to hear it's all working well. However, I do suggest rotating the GPS antenna so the mushroom top is upwards. I'd expect that orientation to be better and more reliable.

OK I'll re-mount the mushroom standing after I remove the HART (SG version of AIS for pleasure craft) the grey box on aluminium bracket.

[Sailorman Ed]

Jeff,
I intend to mount a separate antenna onto the dingy davit cross arm (quite substantial). Being it is a cat, would an 8" fiberglass antenna work better than a 1m SS whip?
XB8000

[jeffrobbins]

Originally Posted by Sailorman Ed

Jeff,
I intend to mount a separate antenna onto the dingy davit cross arm (quite substantial). Being it is a cat, would an 8" fiberglass antenna work better than a 1m SS whip?
XB8000

Hi Ed, a typical whip is good, particularly for boats that heel, since the radiation pattern is more even. But for a cat you can use an antenna with a bit more "gain" if you wish. Gain just means the radiation pattern is concentrated more in a specific direction by flattening out the lobe. This results in greater sensitivity in the horizontal plane but less sensitivity above and below the horizontal. Probably a good choice for your boat. But the length of the antenna doesn't mean it has more gain. That comes from the antenna design, such as collinear (multiple elements).

The second consideration is the frequency it is designed for. For best performance choose one that is designed for AIS frequencies at 162 MHz. A regular marine VHF antenna will usually be designed for 156 MHz.

[trantor12020]

Jeff, I've wired SPX5 Course Computer nmea0183 OUT to XB8000 nmea IN. I've HDG reading on WatchMate but DPT, AWA and AWS has nothing. I suppose DPT is depth, AWA is apparent Wind angle and AWS is apparent Wind speed.
So how do I the 3 to read?

[colemj]

I think the only NMEA output the SPX5 transmits is HDG. You would need to get the rest of the NMEA data from another source than the SPX5.

Mark

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by colemj

I think the only NMEA output the SPX5 transmits is HDG. You would need to get the rest of the NMEA data from another source than the SPX5.

Mark

Would SeaTalkNG do?

[colemj]

Seatalkng is NMEA2000, but that isn't your problem.

The problem is that the AP computer unit itself does not transmit any data except heading. If you can get the Seatalkng data direct from the bus or from another display unit that repeats it, then the Vesper will use it.

This will probably require a Seatalkng-microC adapter cable.

Mark

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by colemj

Seatalkng is NMEA2000, but that isn't your problem.

The problem is that the AP computer unit itself does not transmit any data except heading. If you can get the Seatalkng data direct from the bus or from another display unit that repeats it, then the Vesper will use it.

This will probably require a Seatalkng-microC adapter cable.

Mark

Sharks! another piece of gear to get a little more data out
My Wind, Speed and Depth is daisy chain via SeaTalk to the AP Computer, so how all I need is a SeaTalkNG->MicroC adapter cable?
Appreciate whatever help there is.

[jeffrobbins]

Originally Posted by trantor12020

My Wind, Speed and Depth is daisy chain via SeaTalk to the AP Computer, so how all I need is a SeaTalkNG->MicroC adapter cable?

It depends. If you aren't already using SeaTalkNG (aka NMEA 2000) then this won't work. You need something to put that data onto the SeaTalkNG bus.

A drawing might help if you've got one, but at this stage my guess is you might just need a SeaTalk to 0183 converter. Then take the output of that to your XB-8000.

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by jeffrobbins

It depends. If you aren't already using SeaTalkNG (aka NMEA 2000) then this won't work. You need something to put that data onto the SeaTalkNG bus.

A drawing might help if you've got one, but at this stage my guess is you might just need a SeaTalk to 0183 converter. Then take the output of that to your XB-8000.

Jeff, ok just to be sure I understand you correctly, if I take SeaTalkNG data to an NMEA0183 converter and feed that to XB8000 NMEA0183 IN, I will be able to see the Depth, Wind Speed & Angle. Right?

[jeffrobbins]

Originally Posted by trantor12020

Jeff, ok just to be sure I understand you correctly, if I take SeaTalkNG data to an NMEA0183 converter and feed that to XB8000 NMEA0183 IN, I will be able to see the Depth, Wind Speed & Angle. Right?

No, you don't need to convert SeaTalkNG to 0183. If you had all the data on a SeaTalkNG network then you could just plug that directly into your XB-8000.

But since your current wind, depth, speed are using SeaTalk (not the same thing as SeaTalkNG or NMEA 0183) then you need to get it converted to either SeaTalkNG or 0183. If you don't already have a SeaTalkNG network then it's probably easiest to convert SeaTalk to 0183. In fact, if you've got an ST60 Multi it probably already does this.

But if you already have SeaTalkNG network in place now then that might change the approach.

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by jeffrobbins

No, you don't need to convert SeaTalkNG to 0183. If you had all the data on a SeaTalkNG network then you could just plug that directly into your XB-8000.

But since your current wind, depth, speed are using SeaTalk (not the same thing as SeaTalkNG or NMEA 0183) then you need to get it converted to either SeaTalkNG or 0183. If you don't already have a SeaTalkNG network then it's probably easiest to convert SeaTalk to 0183. In fact, if you've got an ST60 Multi it probably already does this.

But if you already have SeaTalkNG network in place now then that might change the approach.

Jeff, thank you for quick reply. I really appreciate it. So in distilling all the info above, I gather I'll need to get a SeaTalk->NMEA0183 converter (as I do not have a SeaTalkNG network in place) to the XB8000.
Another point I noted is the AP Computer NMEA0183 OUT is limited to HDG only data.

[jeffrobbins]

Originally Posted by trantor12020

So in distilling all the info above, I gather I'll need to get a SeaTalk->NMEA0183 converter (as I do not have a SeaTalkNG network in place) to the XB8000.

Yes. But you'll need to consider that you may have two data streams. The SeaTalk data coming from the instruments and the 0183 HDG data coming from the AP.

However, if your AP outputs HDG data also onto SeaTalk and since your instruments go to the AP, then the converter should do the trick and you won't use the AP's 0183 output. However, if the AP doesn't put HDG onto SeaTalk then you will need a converter that is also a multiplexer like the Brookhouse or ShipModul so it can combine the SeaTalk instrument data with the AP's 0183 HDG data.

Originally Posted by trantor12020

Another point I noted is the AP Computer NMEA0183 OUT is limited to HDG only data.

Yeah, it's too bad the AP doesn't convert the SeaTalk instruments to 0183 and output a single data stream. That would indeed have been handy and would have eliminated the need for anything else.

Finally... if you have an ST60 repeater/multi instrument it has a SeaTalk to 0183 converter built into it.

[trantor12020]

Here's my wiring diagram for onboard instrument and AIS.

[trantor12020]

Originally Posted by trantor12020

Here's my wiring diagram for onboard instrument and AIS.

Oops! here it is.