I love this photo. It may look messy, but not only is one man's fine N2K+++ yacht system being tested here, but the standard itself is getting explored, possibly to the benefit of many boaters. This is Kees Verruijt's attic somewhere in the Netherlands and, as explained on his new Yacht Electronics blog, that Commodore PET is the "PC" he first learned programming on back in 1979. The rest of the gear is going on Merrimac II, a Stadship 56 now under construction that Kees and his family have obviously put a lot of thought into. Kees wants to extend the usefullness of his NMEA 2000 data system, even to his iPhone, and he's had to go to some serious trouble to do so...
I have no idea why Bob Congdon, former U.S. Sales Manager for B&G, is now working for Euro Marine Trading, the U.S. distributor for NKE...and I question the ravings at Sailing Anarchy on the subject. But I do know this: In Miami, when Bob talked about how well NKE's about-to-debut Regatta Processor would compare to B&G's offerings, there was a distinct glint in his eye. Well, above is the Regatta showing off at Strictly Sail Pacific last month and here is the pitch...
Airmar PB200 hands-on #1, & into the delivery box!
Apr 22, 2009
I'm once again way behind on testing borrowed products, and my apologies to all manufacturers involved. The Airmar PB200 Weather Station above is a case in point. I mentioned how well it feeds NMEA 2000 data to the lab network back in February, and Dan Corcoran shared his beta testing experience before that, but there's a lot more to say. For instance, I didn't really understand how it delivered both NMEA 0183 and 2000 data -- did it use one of the various junction boxes available to translate from one protocol to the other? -- until I got my hands on the sample. Now I know that the PB200 flat out does it all! ...
I think I got this diagram right, and I think it's important to understand if your boat might end up with more than a few NMEA 2000 powered devices on its network. As discussed on Monday, the popular 'light' (or Micro) size NMEA cables only contain 22 AWG power (and data) wires. Its well insulated power wires are apparently perfectly safe (despite some internecine standards organization hubbub on that score) but they simply can not carry much DC juice very far. Electrical resistance is dependent on wire size -- DC especially so (hence the fascinating "War of Currents") -- and the few DC wire tables that even include 22 guage don't look good. Which is why some manuals, like Garmin's below, go to some trouble regarding powertap placement...
Sigh, that's my first NMEA 2000 network, circa Spring 2005, when there wasn't much more than Maretron to hang on it, and not many boaters were interested anyway. Now many more N2K devices have joined these on the lab's snaking backbone (and there are many others I'd like to try), N2K is an active topic on Panbo forums and elsewhere, and the network for my maybe-new Gizmo boat is going to be a serious undertaking. The Standard has come a long way, and methinks it's time to reveal a little drama that went down along the way. Yes, those gray Micro cables and the yellow powertap did incur drama, even soap opera...
Many readers have commented on my Sailing with an Airmar PB200 entry. I enjoyed reading and responding to comments, and offer this diagram in response to some questions about mounting the PB200. The diagram above (click to enlarge) shows the parts unassembled, and then assembled on the masthead, along with an alternate "Plan B" my yard came up with before installation in the event my masthead was too crowded. (Credits to Jeff Willis at Willis Marine in Huntington, NY.)
Rats! I took some interesting photos of an Albatross demo case similar to this in the lab yesterday, and but somehow they failed to make the trip to NYC with me last night. The company shots will do for now. Albatross Control Systems is a Spanish firm dedicated to all things NMEA 2000. It’s developed a PC server/client monitoring system that’s at least somewhat similar to Maretron’s N2KView, and it distributes all sorts of N2K hardware, much of it relabeled, but also some of its own design. In the latter category—and of much interest to installers and boaters trying to get traditional sensor info onto a 2000 network—are those blue Engine, Battery, and Tank Interface boxes seen above. Albatross makes many such interfaces, as seen in their catalog, and no other company is so ambitious about turning every sort of analog boat signal into an N2K message. But that’s challenging…
Garmin had a working GPSMap 640 at FLIBS, and I found a couple of nice surprises on it. One is that it does AIS plotting, which wasn’t even mentioned on the press release. More important really is the improved touch screen interface. Notice the status labels on the big buttons above; in cases where the only choice is on/off, like Tide/Currents, just tapping the button changes the status. Which beats the hell out of the norm on most Garmin marine units, i.e. tap (or soft key, or Enter) for another screen, choose between on or off, go back to original screen. On the 640, it’s one tap instead of three (or four, if you don’t have touch or soft keys).
Everywhere I wandered at FLIBS, there was someone fooling with, or showing off, their iPhone. And that includes me, sort of, as I’m now the very enthusiastic owner of an iPod Touch. I’ve always stubbornly resisted the Mac/iPod/Jobs fervor/hype—in fact, this is my first ever Apple product—but, wow, today my propeller beanie is tipped toward Cupertino. Plenty of smart marine developers have also noticed the slick capabilities of the iPhone/Touch apps platform. Being demoed above, for instance, is MySiMON, an extension of Palladium Technology’s megayacht monitoring and control system. The link will give you a sense of how useful this could be to a Touch-toting crew within a yacht’s WiFi network, but picture too an owner able to network with SiMON via iPhone and his yacht’s satellite communications system. So many possibilities…
So what do get when a very successful software developer cuts loose on an Azimut 55? Among many other things, the biggest iPod interface I’ve ever seen. I didn’t quite get all the details but I’m pretty sure that Alexis’s super-fine entertainment system includes a Yamaha home theater system, XM Satellite Audio, KVH stabilized HD TV, a Logitech Harmony 1000, and some gizmo that transmits the tunes over an FM channel to whatever nearby radios want to tune in. But my interest in the yacht was mainly its Simrad GB60 system…
Here’s some follow up on Russ Cooper, the Panbot who recently commented that he’s “spent >$10,000 to get an N2K coolant water pressure gauge that works...and still doesn't have one!” Ouch. He has a legitimate gripe, I think, though I doubt the problem is unique to Garmin. You see Russ bought a Bennington 2275RLi with a Yamaha 150 that he’s using on a particularly weedy lake in Ontario. Whereas the Yamaha is sort of NMEA 2000 compliant, he put together the nifty system you can see above (bigger here) and diagramed below. But—cue the Rolling Stones here—you can’t always get what you want, as Russ explains:
I used Actisense’s QNB-1 Quick Network Block, above and bigger here, to create Gizmo’s little NMEA 2000 network, and it pretty much lived up to expectations. While using regular tees and fixed cable lengths would have been messy in the small confines of my console, this junction box let me cut cables to length and still end up with a fairly waterproof system. The built-in fuses and LED status lights made the install easier, and those cable glands provide good strain relief on a variety of cable sizes (add Tommy Tape when they don’t). But I must say that fixing wires to the terminal strips can be tedious, and downright hard in tight quarters (I did most of the wiring on a bench).
Big yacht IT is challenging, and thus I nearly had to tickle local marine networking ace Nik DeMaria (Blue Maple Systems) to capture his naturally grinning good nature, above and bigger here. I’ve known Nik “since he was knee high to a grasshopper,” as we say around here, but now he can make my head spin with talk of stuff like static IP addresses and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)—his worries last week. You see, he and John Gass were just wrapping up the installation of a KVH V7 mini-VSAT aboard the 115’ sailing yacht Tenacious, and while they termed that chore “easy”—even pulled it off in less than a day—Nik was looking for an elegant way to manage the vessel’s multiple Internet users and sources. I think he’s still looking, and maybe some of you Panbo-reading IT types can help…
A day aboard the 120’ tri-deck Sandrine will definitely rank high on my Summer ‘08 highlight list. Wow! While I’d actually attended her debut in Miami, and was already familiar with the OctoPlex distributed power system she showcases, it takes a while to comprehend how powerful the system is. The stats help: that touch screen (embedded Windows PC) above is connected via redundant NMEA 2000 networks to 7 other touch screens, 18 electronic DC circuit breaker panels (w/18 breakers each), 13 electro-mechanical AC breaker panels (w/ 13 breakers each), and 8 System Interface Units (SIUs). Each SIU has 34 discrete inputs connected to simple ground or voltage level sensors and switches, such as the yacht’s 175 light switches.
At least one Navico competitor is having fun e-mailing around this scan of a major ad blooper that ran in a New Zealand marine publication. Of course the intended headline was “True Multifunction” not “True Malfunction” and no doubt some one is very embarrassed about the mistake. In fact, “multifunction”—as in multifunction display, or MFD—is not a term that has slipped easily into boating vernacular. The forwarded email that carried this image was jokingly titled “Truth in Advertising” but therein lies an unintended truth. Aside from the blooper, this ad better represents the actual product than some of Simrad’s other marketing.
Mad Mariner just polled 400 U.S. boat owners about how they’re handling goosed up fuel prices, and the results are depressing. Though not terribly surprising, which is why I’ve gotten so keen on fuel management (part four is here, and you can work back). Actually it was years ago that I first saw the benefits of combining a simple gasoline flow meter with a GPS and software able to do calculations like miles per gallon, using Navman gear with the 250hp Volvo I/O on Ralph (still for sale, make an offer!). I could see the most economical spots in the boat’s power curve, and I could see them change with weight, sea state and other factors. I’m not sure I ever got it perfectly calibrated, so the numbers shown above may be inaccurate, but in terms of relative nm/g—and sweet spots—that’s not critical. And of course the subtleties are at least twice as important wallet-wise as they were in 2002, when I took the picture above.
Last week, Offshore Systems announced a new NMEA 2000 Fuel Transfer Control that goes with its existing tank sensors and displays. For those vessels that use a day tank, this control can automatically stop a pump moving fuel from a storage tank if the day tank becomes 95% full. It looks like a well done product, but is particularly cool because Panbo frequent poster Russ Irwin was the customer behind the idea. Russ explains New Morning’swhole fuel scheme here. And I can add some color on the event that inspired Russ to inspire Offshore Systems, which was a transfer-related spill at the same yard where Russ’s sloop is being built. New Morning, incidentally, was launched three weeks ago and, though not yet complete, is looking good. Needless to say, Russ has lots of other electronics on board, not of all which are functioning up to Russ’s expectations, yet. More on that soon. Meanwhile, do note that the Offshore Fuel Transfer system controls the pump directly rather than via NMEA 2000; that makes sense now, as N2K switches and messages are still in development, but one day a control like this will do all its work via the bus (I think).
Simrad’s AT10, mentioned a while back, is a small and inexpensive utility device that translates certain NMEA 0183 messages into NMEA 2000, and vice versa. If you go to Simrad’s manual download site and use the keyword “AT10”, you’ll find a list of 0183 sentences it purportedly understands (but you may have to add a “pdf” extension to open the file). I was hoping to use an AT10 along with good old Nema Talker to simulate basic data on my test network. And as you can see in the N2K Analyzer screen above, bigger here, it works.
Well, it’s one thing to contemplate testing a rack of N2K instruments (between slurping oysters and admiring sea birds), and quite another thing to do it. So many factors…oy! Today’s focus is Furuno’s unusual approach to calibration; it turns out that the FI-50s can do extensive calibration of almost any sensor because its done within the instruments instead of within the sensor. This could cause some confusion but overall seems like a terrific option, especially for folks who are going to use other manufacturer’s N2K sensors or bring existing 0183 smart sensors onto a network with a converter (like the Simrad AT10).
Speaking of good NMEA 2000 citizenship, the Lowrance LCX-113C HD in the lab is stellar. Press “Enter” on any of the devices listed above and you’ll get its details including live data. Click on the diagnostics tab and you’ll get info on error messages, total bandwidth being used, and more.
So I may be on semi vacation, and having a time, but I’m still looking forward to getting back to the lab where the network of NMEA instruments recently grew to include Furuno’s and Simrad’s latest. Check out the big picture here . I’ll be writing a comparative overview on these five brands soon after I get back, and I’m trying to sort out factors to check out. So far I’ve got:
While the extreme N2K cable mixing and daisy chaining shown yesterday did seem to work OK in lab conditions, here’s a smarter approach for a serious boat system (bigger here). The main change is that every cable section possible is NMEA “approved,” which means it’s built to the ODVA DeviceNet standard (that NMEA borrowed). While every N2K cable and connector seems vastly superior to the fine-gauge 0183 wires, crimp connectors, terminal blocks etc. they replace, DeviceNet seems the best of the lot—particularly in terms of interference protection—and I don’t see that it’s significantly more expensive or harder to work with (especially given the growing number of install doodads, even breakout boxes).
The Panbo lab is a good place to push things in ways a smart installer never would; in other words, do not try this—bigger picture—on your boat! What I did here was to purposely break about every NMEA 2000 “recommendation” I could.
Thanks to a loan by the good John Gass of his test SeaTalk wind sensor, I’ve now got a Raymarine ST70 Wind Pod plugged into the lab’s ever expanding NMEA 2000 experiment. The Pod can supposedly gateway “any standard Raymarine wind transducer” onto SeaTalkNG and it was pleasing to see that it does indeed put out a standard NMEA 2000 Wind Data message (PGN 13036). All the displays read it fine. And, as suggested above, the ST70 has splendid graphic calibration and diagnostic facilities that work with the pod and sensor. You can correct the vane offset and apply a speed correction factor, either via an underway guided routine or manually. The ST70 can also query the components for model and serial numbers, software and hardware editions, even node voltage.
So I hope yesterday’s goofy contest made a point about Raymarine’s STng cabling system. I do think the design has merit, particularly for production boat building, and there’s more of interest, like heavier gauge power wires, that I’ll get into eventually. But today I’m going back to the larger point that NMEA 2000 cabling is not that big a deal. As noted earlier in these ST70/STng experiments, the data flows easier than one might think given the different connectors and network names. What really counts is that the desired data is sent and received. I learned that vividly when the first Garmins could hardly understand any N2K PGNs (messages), despite having a standard NMEA 2000 connector, and now I’ve stumbled on an ironic reminder.
I’m on deadline today, and may find no more time for posting, but here’s a puzzle to ponder. Those two male female connectors above are unique to Raymarine’s SeaTalkNG (or STng) version of NMEA 2000 cabling. The white version is on both ends of every “spur” cable that’s used to connect devices to the backbone—or to daisy chain one device to another—and the blue version is on both ends of every backbone segment. So why in tarnation does one have six pins and the other five?
Another sign that 2008 is the year of NMEA 2000? Airmar tells me that orders for its various N2K Smart Sensors—depth/speed/temp info online now, high performance PB200 Weather Station plus GPS/compass and plain compass coming “soon”—are way ahead of projections. Plus the company is now offering “a full-line of affordable, NMEA 2000 certified cables and accessories.” I’ve got some samples in the lab, bigger picture here, and the cable is a wee bit thinner than the gray Micro size I’m familiar with—a little less individual wire insulation, I think—but otherwise seems very similar. The cabling source is LTW, and Airmar says it’s “been rigorously tested to comply with the NMEA 2000 standard.”
Ah, yet another doodad useful for installing a NMEA 2000 network, an economical one too. If used to the max, Actisense’s brand new QNB-1 “Quick Network Block” takes the place of 6 regular N2K tee connectors, 8 cable connectors, and a separate power supply (like most of this). Plus all the N2K cable ends run into it can be run through smaller holes and tighter spaces than even those skinny SimNet connectors, and they can be cut to fit perfectly. And I don’t see why it can’t be used with proprietary flavors of N2K cable too (the possible exception being SimNet because it lacks a distinct “shield” wire). The QNB-1 even includes 4 amp blade fuses for each side of the backbone, and LEDs that indicate power on/off/reversed and data activity, and it will retail for about about $146 (available in the U.S. from Gemeco).
My macro photography needs improvement, as does my cable stripping, but I think this shot makes a point. From the left, the cables above are standard (DeviceNet) NMEA 2000, SeaTalkNG (aka NMEA 2000), and SimNet (aka NMEA 2000). Notice the similarities. The internal wires all adhere pretty closely to the NMEA color standard, which goes as follows, “Net” nomenclature included:
Chris Witzgall from Apex, NC, recently wrote {slightly edited}:
Your site has been invaluable as I get back into boating after a long hiatus, and work out the electronics for our new-to-us Westerly Fulmar sailboat. I have settled on NMEA 2000. Our needs are relatively simple; here is what I have**, or will have*.
I thank Dan for yesterday’s NMEA 2000 homily (more guest blog entries welcome!), but I do want to play devil’s advocate. I’ve had my head in the Simrad Yachting 2008 catalog today (unfortunately not online yet), and I’m ever more impressed with how thoroughly the company has adopted its SimNet version of N2K. All those yellow lines in the diagram above, bigger here, represent SimNet data bearing cables (power too in many cases). I hadn’t fully realized that Simrad has N2K GPS, depth, and wind sensors as well as the rudder angle and compass that were mentioned with the new autopilots. Of course the AI50 Class B AIS would also plug and play nicely with this typical sail system, and give it a backup GPS, as long as it was powered up. And the SimNet cabling has a lot going for it, like a tiny plug that’s the same on both ends, and the ability to daisy chain, even the backbone in some cases like that RS86 VHF.
I like to think that one function of Panbo is to be a place where marine electronics enthusiasts can share their thoughts—rants included—with each other, and with the many industry folks who read the site. That usually happens via comments but guest blog entries are also welcome. Hence we have the following bitter sweet Christmas tale from Dan Corcoran (aka commenter “b393capt”). Thanks, Dan!
Sorry Breeze Pleeze, no marine electronics in your stocking this year …
My wife wants me to get something on the Christmas list for Breeze Pleeze. Cool, I would really like that. I already had a solid plan to spend the winter storage period wiring a new N2K backbone into my 39’ foot sailboat Breeze Pleeze and her two N2K capable chart-plotters. So for Christmas I would, err .. I mean, Breeze Pleeze would potentially get her first N2K component.
Raymarine SPX autopilots, a big refresh, N2K included
Nov 15, 2007
So they’d run out of press kits, and there’s nothing on the Web about them (yet), but there they are—a half dozen or so new Raymarine autopilot models that will be known as the SPX range, and look like replacements for the current range. New features? “Every SPX system comes with rate gyro” included; “Quicker install—no rudder reference required”; “over 10 dedicated fishing patterns” (note some at bottom of photo); and “Access to SeaTalkNG (aka, NMEA 2000) information via the ST70 color autopilot head.” So, given this week’s Garmin announcements and the new Simrad systems, I think we just went from zero to three brands of N2K-talking autopilots!
So Simrad has introduced two new auto pilot control heads, the AP 24 above, and the larger AP 28. As best I can tell they both enable the same rich suite of AP features, which include steering patterns and steering to a contour (both appreciated by trolling fishermen), ROT control (which I think means turn rates adjusted for G force), virtual rudder feedback (i.e. rudder sensor not needed for outdrive installs), and “No Drift Course” (even if you just set a course, the pilot creates a virtual waypoint and corrects for current and leeway). But the really big change from previous Simrad models is that these heads use SimNet, a cable modification of NMEA 2000, to communicate with new AC12 and AC42 pilot computers as well as with SimNet rudder and compass sensors included in Simrad’s new IS20 instrument series (which also looks interesting).
Yes, a first look at Furuno’s NavNet 3D had me burbling “incredibly sexy”—and I will explain that!—but today let’s talk about how thoroughly the 3D system embraces NMEA 2000. For starters there’s a standard N2K connector on each of the three NN3D displays, and the Product Guide lists lots of specific standard PGNs they can input and output (so there should be no Garmin-type data surprises). Now check out a bigger version of the NN3D “building blocks” diagram above to see how many N2K sensors Furuno itself is offering. Besides the FI-50 instruments already discussed, there’s an interesting N2K SC-30 GPS Heading Sensor (said to be reasonably priced and very accurate), an N2K Weather Station, an N2K Smart Transducer, and an N2K GPS. Now at least a couple of those are obviously rebranded Airmar products, but note too the odd “Ethernet…dotted line…NMEA 2000” label on the UHD Radar Sensors (mentioned yesterday). You see each of those scanners has an N2K connector on it, able to both power any of the Furuno N2K sensors and take their data, packetize it onto NavNet, and deliver it around the boat (and beyond, if and when Furuno decides to extend NavNet like, say, N2KView). The sensor data coming through the radar scanner is available to any manufacturer’s N2K device via the NN3D display’s port, and I’m told that any N2K data, even proprietary PGNs, going into that port is put onto NavNet. The installation possibilities are pretty amazing. Like radar, weather, and GPS from an antenna mast with only one power cable and one Ethernet cable. At any rate, Furuno may be one of the last of the big marine electronics manufacturers to adopt NMEA 2000, but, man, didn’t they!
FloScan has been measuring fuel flow for over 30 years, so I’d guess they have a darn good idea how to do it. It’s refreshing that their new NMEA 2000 Diesel Monitoring System focuses on what they know well and let’s the resulting data go wherever you want. The flow sensors and those “hubs” seen above, bigger here, are all you need. Yes, you can buy FloScan’s round gauge upper right, but you don’t need to. All data is sent in standard N2K messages, and the little calibration needed is done right in those boxes. The rest of this NMEA Conference booth had Simrad, Lowrance, and Raymarine displays all showing the gallons per hour, remaining fuel, etc. Note that FloScan’s site says that, “Furuno is currently developing NMEA 2000 products which will interface with our system.” But we knew that, right, and will know more when NavNet #d debuts (hey, I might live blog it, if there’s WiFi there). Note, too, how the port engine is “Instance 0” in the N2K system and the starboard engine is set as “Instance 1”. You can set that with a switch in the hub. But who the heck decided to start instances at zero instead of one. Wouldn’t it be better if, say, GPS #1 was instance 1, GPS #2 instance 2, etc.?
It’s a crappy picture, but this scene, bigger here, does give some sense of what Raymarine’s new ST70 instruments look like next to the brand new Furuno FI-50 series mentioned yesterday. The ST70’s look almost as good as the PR photography, but you can see that the screen is a little smaller than Furuno’s, which will also cost less (“about the price of ST 60s”, said the Furuno guys). The FI-50s aren’t at all graphic, but I thought the wind gauge with its “Formula 1 style” white face was very readable from a distance. There are three more FI-50 displays in that same style—close hauled wind, heading, and rudder angle. There’s also another digital display with one large data field, and the backlighting on all is automated and they draw little power as those are OLED screens. I fooled with the button controls and found the instruments easy to work, and that there are lots of data types supported. The picture, by the way, was taken at the Airmar booth and the NMEA 2000 wind data is coming from a new Weather Station model that outputs both N2K and 0183, has improved sensors, and will ship “this winter”. And the network could have included a new series of Simrad N2K instruments that look quite interesting. There’s much to learn about all these new instruments, but there’s little doubt that Furuno has done well on the N2K cabling front. Each of the FI-50 instruments has both male and female metal Device Net style connectors on the back, so they can be either tee’d from a backbone or daisy chained. Each also includes a switchable terminator so it can be set as the end of a backbone. Finally, seen below, Furuno has come up with an N2K cable box that can act as a backbone junction and 6 tees. This will be useful to an installer with tricky wire runs, a tight budget, or a burning need to strip wire. Oh, and the two wind instruments have a third connector for a new Furuno analog wind sensor whose data goes out as standard N2K PGNs, and the FI-50 brochure suggests that that Furuno will also be offering an N2K Weather Station and Depth/Speed/Temp triducer (no doubt Airmar’s). All good news, but possibly minor compared to NavNet 3D, debuting next Wed. night. By the way, Furuno is showing a bit more 3D leg here, and I like it.
NMEA 2000—able to bring tons of essential sensor data to a computer in an easy, standardized way—should be a huge opportunity for marine software developers. But there have been two major impediments. One is the lack of enough N2K networks to make its use worthwhile. That is going to change as more major manufacturers get seriously on board. For instance, tonight, when the NMEA Conference exhibition hall opens, I will get to see Furuno’s new range of N2K instruments (above) and also Airmar’s new high spec N2K/0183 GPS compass (yeehaa…and more on those soon). The other, particularly for small developers, is the substantial cost of getting a NMEA 2000 product certified. But I’m hearing about an impending NMEA initiative called “Intelligent Gateway” that sounds like it will largely take care of this problem. The concept is that a N2K gateway like Maretron´s USB100 can act as a firewall insuring that any software on the other side of it can not cause problems on the network, therefore minimizing certification cost. In fact, the plan is to offer a new NMEA 2000 PC “Approval” status for a measly $100. Any company could make and certify such a gateway and Maretron tells me that it might eventually make a second model that would be less expensive because it would not also offer NMEA 0183 translations. I’m hoping that all this means that small operations could, say, develop performance sailing software or conning screens using the same data that’s flowing to those new Furuno instruments…or who knows what! There’d still be an issue for small developers, though, which is the high cost of the documentation that details the NMEA 2000 standard messages. I get why NMEA charges a lot for certification—it finances the certification tool itself as well as the maintenance and ongoing development of the Standard. But I know I’m not the only person who thinks the whole excellent concept would move along faster if the documentation was freely available. I’m going to try and make that case to some of the folks who make these decisions, but could use your help. Please, if you have an interest, write a comment on this subject. Thanks!
PS, 10/20: Well, I didn’t really look at the documentation prices when I linked to that NMEA page above. They’ve been debundled, and NMEA makes a pretty good case that getting into N2K is feasible for even a small developer, especially now that some testing houses are able to do the certification. NMEA officials also told me that the Intelligent Gateway is for real, and Maretron just submitted the first gateway for final certification. The “Approval” cost will be more than $100 but hasn’t been set quite yet. At any rate a small software developer wanting to explore N2K might only need a Gateway, a $325 NMEA Trade membership, and the $495 electronic Database of PGN details to get started. More on this as I learn more.
Check out the full size screen shot. I took it here at my desk while designing a custom screen for Maretron’s N2KView monitoring and control application. I was picturing myself the master of a high-end cruiser putting together the screen I’d like to have accessible anywhere on the boat—and off it—when anchored. Which is completely possible, given the concept at work here. In fact, the data you see is real stuff coming out the lab’s NMEA 2000 network, through a Maretron USB Gateway into the lab laptop where it’s being packetized and served into my home network, in this case via WiFi. Zounds!
I’m not sure what Raymarine’s rational is for creating its own proprietary NMEA 2000 cabling system, though I’ve been studying the brochures and manuals available (on Ray’s nicely updated site). Aside from the small diameter (11mm) of the connectors, the features touted in the ST70 brochure—“rugged and waterproof”, “quick and easy” install, etc.—are similar to the DeviceNet cabling NMEA tried to impose as a standard physical layer.
In addition to the tank/rudder adapters I tried, Maretron sent over some new cabling parts of interest. Let’s check out the big picture, starting with the four way tee at lower right. It’s quite like the Double T that Lowrance recently introduced—though obviously better made (metal threads!), and probably more expensive—and it’s obviously useful in tight areas where you want to tee off numerous sensors and/or displays. To its left is a possibly more valuable inline terminator.
I recently added tank level and rudder angle info to the lab’s NMEA 2000 network. In both cases this involved wiring a Maretron Adapter to a standard analog sensor. N2K skeptics will no doubt gleefully point out that the two sensors—a VDO for the rudder, and a Teleflex for the tank—together cost about half the $195 list price for either the Rudder and Tank Adapter! But consider what I got in terms of a bigger boat system.
Maretron is a little shy about its N2K Analyzer software tool—it’s still in “beta” and there’s still no help file—but I think it’s nifty. If you have an interest in NMEA 2000, take a look at the screen shot full size. It shows the N2K test system in the lab connected via Maretron’s USB100 gateway to my laptop. The software lets me see details of each device in the network, including which PGNs it’s sending. PGN, by the way, stands for “Parameter Group Numbers” but is probably better understood as families of data fields.
Krill Systems just announced its solid state (SS), black box (BB), marine PC, which means I get to drag out this shot of Casey Cox mugging with it at my kitchen table in June. The box uses a flash disk drive and embedded Windows XP for 24/7 reliability with a current draw of only 55 watts. It’s meant to run Krill’s monitoring software exclusively (though it’s powerful enough to run other applications, and Cox said that he’s willing to talk with developers who might have an appropriate, and rock solid, co-use for it).
Yesterday commenter JC asked how to connect his new Yamaha F250 to a Garmin 5212. The answer is a little less definite than I thought. I certainly remember Yamaha talking about how their coming CANbus engine system, Command Link, would be NMEA 2000 compatible—can even find a company reference as recent as last year—but check out the official Command Link Web pages, and see if you can find a single mention of NMEA 2000! Strange.
I had a long phone interview with Garmin this morning and was mucho pleased to learn that the limited NMEA 2000 support in the 4 and 5000 series is only temporary. Garmin’s Marine Sales Manager Greg DeVries explained that the reason they took the approach they did—i.e. N2K engines only, as seen in the (simulated) screen above and its alternate—is that they’d “still be in development” if they hadn’t. He promised that “Going forward, we're absolutely going to embrace full NMEA 2000. It will just be a software upgrade for existing customers.” That makes what I first heard sit a whole lot better!
I first heard about it at NavaGear, immediately contacted developer Paul Shirley about a sample, and now am an extremely pleased PAS-Thru Box user. You may already have read my whining about NMEA 0183 wiring difficulties. Many boats these days are spider-webbed with fine gauge wires carrying important data; they’re painful to install and often end up way too vulnerable to damage, not to mention poorly documented and hard to modify. Well, I don’t know how the Box could do more to remedy these problems. Those orange spring tabs above (bigger photo here) are powerful and purportedly gas tight.
Cool. Not only has Lowrance switched to standard style N2K screw connectors, but they’ve also added the nifty Double T fitting seen above, and they seem to be emphasizing NMEA 2000’s name and multi-manufacturer compatibility over “LowranceNet” in their new marketing (and, if interested, don’t miss their new PDF on the general N2K subject). To clarify, all new Lowrance connectors/cabling with red accents can plug directly to any standard NMEA 2000 device, which includes all of Maretron’s offerings, a few larger Garmins, and now all sorts of Lowrance displays and sensors. A simple patch cable will be needed to network with older blue-accented LowranceNet devices and/or cabling, or to Raymarine’s SeaTalk2, SimNet, etc. Apparently Lowrance’s cabling is not yet NMEA certified, but apparently that’s not stopping folks from using it beyond Lowrance gear. It sounds here like “yachtjim” used it to interface a Suzuki 250 outboard to a Garmin 5212 (guess they’re shipping now). He’s quite happy with the engine screens on the Garmin, but warns that since the Garmin doesn’t output any NMEA 2000 data, it won’t help do fuel calculations on his Lowrance LMF instruments. I’m just about to get back to my Garmin testing, by the way. And, finally, a Thanks! to Salvador Castellá for the head’s up about Lowrance updates. He works for the Spanish company Albatross Control Systems, which handles just about everyone’s NMEA 2000 gear under the Alba brand plus makes its own analog-to-N2K converters plus a system for collecting it on a computer and even sending it ashore.
It may seem nuts that the Raymarine E-Series can input/output data via good old NMEA 0183, SeaTalk (Ray’s proprietary improvement on 0183), SeaTalk2 (actually NMEA 2000), and SeaTalk HS (actually Ethernet)…but it’s a darn good data architecture. For one thing, there are situations where every one one of those protocols will be used to usefully shuffle info around a boat. Plus the E’s (and C’s) do something called data bridging.
We chose to focus on engine data since it’s primarily the only thing that you can get over NMEA 2000 that can’t be provided from another source (either our Marine Network system or NMEA 0183). Our engineers found a dearth of N2K devices on the market that provided data that couldn’t be obtained in another way.
That’s an odd criteria, I think. 0183 isn’t going away soon, but isn’t 2000 better defined, more reliable, and more networkable? Yes! Above is an illustration of why you might want to get as much data as possible over N2K instead of over 0183. The screen shows some of the 4212’s fine 0183 support—four inputs and two outputs, each with a high or standard speed setting. To use all of them you only have to strip those12 wimpy wires and…
The damn devil is in the damn details. Imagine my disappointment when I hooked a whole network of Maretron sensors into the Garmin 4212---no patch cable needed, much plug'n'play goodness expected---and got NOTHING! I can still scarcely believe it, but when I checked the installation manual, I learned that Garmin is hardly supporting NMEA 2000 at all. The page above says, "The GPSMAP 4000/5000 series unit...can receive data from a NMEA 2000 network...to show engine specific information...Also, the unit can receive heading data..." That seems to be it; no other standard data understood, and no data going out. Garmin even screwed up plug'n'play, for some reason needing "Device Instance" and "System Instance" specified, which I've never seen before.
In short---aside from using the right connector, and the right name---Garmin is not even close to supporting NMEA 2000 in the way we've come to expect from Simrad, Raymarine, Lowrance, and others. I am so disappointed.
My April PMY column about Charles Industries, and isolation transformers specifically, is now online. Also up are some new product write-ups meant, in part, to illustrate how companies that traditionally supplied engine and boat manufacturers are now making plays for helm space and consumer attention. One is instrument maker F.W. Murphy, whose HelmView is seen above as part of Volvo Penta’s EVC system but is also capable of chart plotting using its SD slot for Navionics cards (below). This puppy can handled three simultaneous CANbus connections, including NMEA 2000, as explained here, and at the Murphy site (and also as used aboard a Cruisers Yachts 447). HelmView’s retail price is not trivial, but it might make a super geek gauge. I also covered Charles’ new IMcharger series, which has optional helm display and/or N2K output, electronically controlled fuel tank selectors from Parker Fluid Control, and a nifty BilgeWatch8 monitoring system that I still have in the test lab, and will expand on here one day.
Though CruzPro deserves more attention than it gets, as Panbo has noted before, I managed to let this neat new MaxVu110 multifunction display slip ever since METS. Too many electronics subjects, too little time! The Max110 is a monster, able to display up to five pages of data (from 16 stored configurations) in the three numeric fields and two bar graphs seen above. It has numerous possible inputs, knows just about every NMEA 0183 sentence written, and “contains built-in calibration curves for all popular engine temperature, oil pressure, fuel and tank level senders manufactured by VDO, Teleflex, Faria and Stuart-Warner”, including both American and European resistance ranges. And any field can be high/low alarmed. Finally, it comes with a Windows program that seems to make setting up all this instrumentation power easy. I can’t find the Max110 on CruzPro’s Web site, but it’s well presented in the online PDF catalog. I’ve got to think that this display could be useful to a geekish boater or imaginative installer, and hope we’ll get some reports about how it’s used.
I had a hard time getting enthused about the original SeaKey (explained here, with humor, by good ole Bill Pike), because its communications link seemed pretty flaky. SeaKey v2 is a major upgrade from v1, adding an LCD interface and two-way satellite communications, but the goal remains the same…an OnStar-like service for boaters. There’s a call center able to both handle emergencies and deliver concierge service. Plus you get geo-fence security and simple monitoring—bilge, battery, and main power switch—when you're ashore. You can even send e-mails (though short, and hard to key in), and subscribers get a personal Web site where friends and family can they follow their cruises. Stolen boats have been recovered using SeaKey, as documented in this PDF, which contains the wonderful:
Miami-Dade Police officer Neubauer stated while talking to the SeaKey Response Center Coordinator, "[Darn], this thing works good!"
But I’m not sure that SeaKey has really caught on, or even if it has any direct competitors. Opinions, or references, anyone?
Well, I’ve updated the Ideal Marine Electronics pages with new entries, even pictures and diagrams. One professional installer has weighed in so far, and I thought it interesting that at the end of his high-end-gear-that-doesn’t-break list—mostly brands of IBM stature—is relative newbie Krill Systems. Which reminded me of this snapshot taken at the Ft. Lauderdale Show. Krill was demonstrating live how easily their software can monitor a boat via IP and Krill’s secure server. In fact, the volunteer yacht was in a marina somewhere in the Pacific Northwest and not a lot was going on, but apparently if you were a little bored in a show booth, you could keep track of when someone flushed a head, causing a noticeable rise in the black water tank (bigger image here)!
There were several reasons for that grin on John Gass, Electronics Manager at Wayfarer Marine, the most obvious being that he was beating a particularly nasty February Maine day by testing a possible upgrade system in his shop. Second would be how unusual the system was, closeup here, a Mac Mini running MacENC (review link here) and talking to both a Furuno RD-30 and a NavNet vx2, black box model. John was stressing the whole kit by inputing GPS either from the laptop running Nema Talker or a Garmin 192, plus he had an AIS simulator running on a PC in the next room and connected to the Mini via Bluetooth, and a radar simulator that Furuno apparently supplies to dealers. There was also a Keyspan serial-to-USB converter plus lots of wires and alligator clips involved, which made me feel better about some of my test setups, and may account for the embarrassed portion of that smile. Regardless, John got all the data—routes and waypoints included—running around quite well except for one little MacENC-waypoint-to-NavNet glitch. Despite good support from both companies, he didn’t get that one solved before the potential owner of this system—who already has a very nice one, but wants MARPA and AIS—decided to put the R&D on hold. At any rate good geek fun was had, and I also became acquainted with Firma Mats Kagstron’s AIS Simulator (source of many other NMEA software products) and Effective Solutions’ combined AIS and NMEA Simulation, both of which I’d like to investigate further. Thanks, John!
It’s just been announced that Raymarine and Remote Knowledge have inked a deal to develop a Ray branded communications product. Remote has been fairly quiet since I wrote up their initial RK3000 product back in my January, 2005, PMY column (this part below not online for reasons unknown), but—man-o-man—it’s not too hard to imagine how their CANbus/N2K and sat/cell comms technology could be married beautifully to Raymarine systems.
I believe the hip hop expression is “baby’s got back!” I like this rear view, bigger here, of the new Garmin 4xxx for both its industrial design sleekness and the implied power of all those connections. The three MarineNet (Ethernet) ports, for instance, are a new feature which means that simpler systems—say sounder box, radar, and XM weather/audio—won’t need a hub (though note that one is still possible, and advantageous in multi display setups). But what’s truly lovely is this standard plug—NMEA 2000 straight up, no patch cables, no “GarBus” or “GarNet” nonsense to confuse everyone. I also learned today that the rumor I repeated in that same “nonsense” entry was wrong: Lowrance is soon going to put standard N2K connectors on its LowranceNet displays and cables. Yo!
Unfortunately, a worse rumor is surfacing. Twice in the last week someone has asked me something like, “Is it true that theU.S. Coast Guard has some objection to NMEA 2000.” Well, I have more research to do but I very strongly doubt that the USCG has a problem (in fact, it was actually one of the earliest and strongest proponents of the standard , because it’s more reliable and hence safer). While there may be a little bureaucratic nonsense going on behind the regulatory scenes, I’m confident that it will not become a true problem. Especially so as today I attended the first ever European Connect Fest, where some 17 manufacturers with 42 different physical devices all shared data on the same backbone, and a lot of trade folks got down with it. Yo!
Garmin 2007, feast of features, including NMEA 2000
Nov 14, 2006
Well, Garmin (having quite a week) didn’t mess around, releasing marine 2007 preview dope before METS opens its doors. Even an elaborate Flash presentation. Key features at the new 4000 series high end: 12” XGA screen, NMEA 2000 compliance (big news for the protocol!), support for new g2 Vision charts with worldwide satellite imagery and under/over-water 3D, and a brand new interface, including simplified “navigation with Auto Guidance.” A hands on look later, hopefully.
The screens above, bigger here , show Maretron’s prototype for N2KView, an engine (and more) monitoring program. Of course it handles most any raw NMEA 2000 data in a boat’s backbone, including J1939 engines via Maretron’s gateway. But an extra neat feature is that N2KView is actually a server, able to deliver the goods to all sorts of Flash clients, including that WiFi enabled phone. Perhaps even happier N2K–wise is the news that Carling Technologies—the substantial old line manufacturer of switches, breakers, etc (and owner of Moritz Aerospace, i.e. Octoplex)—has just invested in Maretron. And soon I’ll be able to tell you about another big brand that is adopting NMEA 2000. Could we be reaching a tipping point? Heck, even some of the habitues of Google Groups are having an intelligent conversation about its costs (for a change). But I also just finished up an N2K feature for Sail, and this morning took this plug picture below. Left to right they are NMEA 2000 standard Micro size, SeaTalk2, LowranceNet, and SimNet. They all do the same thing with those 5 pins, and all could have the same name! (I also heard that Lowrance may not change plugs to the standard as promised {a rumor later shot down, thankfully}). Patch cables work but this confusing nonsense has really set a good multi-manufacturer data standard back. If you too want to see the tipping sooner than later, complain!
I hadn’t noticed this in my first pass through photos of the Cape Town trip, but now it’s got extra meaning. That big sculpted helm belongs to a Stealth 540, in fact hull #1. While most South African boatbuilders seemed just a tad behind the curve electronics-wise, Stealth plans to fill in that white space with fairly cutting edge systems—MAN electronic diesel monitoring, an OctoPlex power distribution system, and Raymarine E-120s (given the size of this salon helm, maybe they should consider an E on the fly bridge and the new G monitor here?). If I understood the project manager correctly, all three can be interfaced via NMEA 2000, but the plan is to run them separately at first. The electronics, though, are minor compared to the 540’s hull design and hydrofoil assist, which Stealth claims will result in a 55 mph top end, a soft ride, and good fuel efficiency. Plus it seems pretty good looking for a power cat (much more info and art at StealthYachts.com). Of course all this is conjecture until the 540 is actually in the water, and that’s what tickles me about the picture, just confirmed: Hull #1 will be at the Miami show in February, where a PMY team, myself included, is scheduled to test it.
Look how NMEA 2000 can make a guy grin. That’s Kevin Binnie, Systems Product Manager at Xantrex Technology, showing how his MS2000 Inverter/Charger can gateway to NK2 and hence display its operating status to other displays (here Teleflex and Maretron). The hair dryer let him apply a load so us gawkers could see some action, which was instantaneous. Behind Kevin is Bill Remster of Blue Water Data, who showed me his neat PC program that can read and log raw 2000 data. One thing he does with it is engine warranty “start ups” in which he goes aboard a new boat, hooks into 2000 power plants like Yanmar's, and records all sorts of engine data at various RPMs, including speed and pitch using 2000 sensors he brings along. Neato.
Also shown at the NMEA Conference was the first generator whose ECM outputs NMEA 2000, which means that installing control panels anywhere is simply a matter of T-ing into the boat’s backbone. The generator also provides power to the backbone, eliminating another cable, and generator status can be viewed on other NK2 displays as all the messages are standard (remember, a certain number of proprietary messages are allowed). Westerbeke (no information on its site yet, but some here) will eventually offer this option on all its generators. Yes!
This software (bigger screen here) is still in beta but it seems quite stable and adds a lot to the Airmar Weather Station, including a new name for itself, Weather Caster. Note the new pitch and roll dial; heck, I didn’t even realize that there was also an inclinometer in that casing, along with wind, GPS, heading, temp, pressure, and humidity sensors. The other big update is in the “Advanced Setup”, where you can now flash the weather station firmware (worked fine), and also control the sensor to some degree. Below is the NMEA 0183 output screen, bigger here, which is impressive, giving an ‘advanced’ user or installer complete control over the limited bandwidth, even pop-up definitions of 0183 sentence types. It’s interesting that while this and the Maretron weather station are largely meant to sit in the background feeding data to your main displays, you need a PC connection to keep them up to date and either dedicated PC software like this or a dedicated display (Maretron) to see every bit of the information they generate. At least until the display guys catch up with the available data.
Raymarine E- and C-Series, the NMEA 0183 limitation
Jun 27, 2006
I think the input/output architecture of Raymarine’s C- and particularly E-Series is really quite good. In fact, I’m amazed that the E is still the only system out there offering both NMEA 2000 and Ethernet networking, though the two work together beautifully. But a problem is cropping up. C’s and E’s have only one NMEA 0183 port, but Raymarine keeps adding things you can do with it, mostly recently AIS and Navtex. As the E manual says, “You can connect either AIS or Navtex or other instruments to one display” (emphasis added).
Now, if you have more than one display in your E-Series setup, each can handle a different 0183 input, and the data will be shared across both the Ethernet and NMEA 2000 networks (nice!). But if you only have one E, or a C, well then you may need to investigate the sometimes complex world of multiplexors (referenced at the bottom of this AIS entry). But don’t expect them to multiplex Navtex because apparently that’s not really 0183 protocol anyway. Raymarine tells me that they really wanted to put more 0183/whatever ports in these machines but just couldn’t fit them along with all the other I/O. The limitation might come in to play when, say, choosing between a 2000 or 0183 ultrasonic weather station.
Ultrasonic Weather Wars, w/ Raymarine as Switzerland
Jun 23, 2006
This example will be less funky once I get this whole test rig on the water, but still that’s an impressive screen shot. All that data is coming from, or calculated using, the NMEA 2000 output of Maretron’s weather station, compass, GPS, and water speed/depth sensor. The simulated ‘boat’ is underway but almost standing still (SOG = 0.1 kt) though there’s 0.8 kt of water going by the hull (me flicking the paddle wheel). True Wind then—sometimes called True Relative to Boat—is Apparent adjusted for Speed Through Water and Heading, and Ground Wind (sometimes called True!) is Apparent adjusted for COG/SOG. (A more thorough discussion of True Wind might be in order).
And—yes, contrary to yesterday’s post—there’s Barometric Pressure and Air Temp from the WSO100. It turned out that the E Series doesn’t recognize the standard NMEA 2000 “Environmental” PGN, but will display an alternate PGN that can be turned on in the WSO. This sounds like the screwy stuff that happens with NMEA 0183, and sure enough the E also has an issue with the 0183 “Environmental” sentence, which apparently is marked “do not use” in the NMEA handbook. But Airmar says it’s the only message available for pressure, temp, and relative humidity.
At any rate, the data on the screen below is all coming from Airmar’s all-in-one ultrasonic weather station (and will be joined by pressure, etc. when Raymarine does another code release). True Wind and Set/Drift aren’t calculated because there is no source of Boat Speed, though that would be easy by wiring a speed/depth Smart Sensor into the Weather Station’s Combiner box (multiplexer). Some other day I’ll discuss comparative accuracy, value, etc., but for now I think it’s impressive that the E Series (and C) can interface with both these super sensor systems. The screen shots also illustrate the vastly improved data window control that’s come to the C and E. You can customize the five preset panels pretty extensively (blame me for the asymmetrical graph cells), and use the panels full, half, or quarter screen on any given page. Well done Raymarine, Maretron, and Airmar!
As you may have noticed from the antenna farm, I’m trying the Maretron Weather Station announced last fall. It’s hard to imagine an easier physical install…unscrew a T in the NMEA 2000 backbone, add new T and the WSO100 sensor, power and data done. The Raymarine E, plus RayTech 6.0 on the SeaTalk HS bus, immediately got the ultrasonic wind speed and direction data. Coastal Explorer got it too, as no doubt other PC programs would, via the Maretron USB Gateway (in other words converted into NMEA 0183 messages). Air temperature, barometric pressure, and relative humidity are a different story. There are NMEA 2000 and 0183 sentences for this data but so far nothing I have reads them all except Maretron’s own display. Obviously that’s also true for derived values like wind chill and dew point. At any rate, the display did need updating to understand the WSO100 and put up new screens like the one above, and Maretron has developed a nice program called NK2 Network Analyzer (below, and bigger here) that can update any device on the backbone. (PS: Just noticed that Maretron has put up a demonstration program).
OK, I admit that at least half of the hideous mess above is the fault of yours truly, being sloppy with a temporary install, in this case interfacing a DSC VHF, a GPS, and an AIS receiver all to a Garmin 3210 (possible because it has two 0183 ports, plus a special Garmin GPS port). But I also blame the standard itself, or non standard really, since there is no common plug, let alone standard wire colors (so you’re delighted to come across nice labelling like Northstar’s at right), or even a uniform nomenclature. Plus the typical bare wires are fine gauge, making them hard to handle and hard to secure strongly. Finally, the variable way the negative side of an 0183 data IN or OUT wire pair works—sometimes wired to its negative OUT/IN opposite, sometimes wired to ground, sometimes not wired to anything—further confuses things, and often means that there’s a partial crossover between the power connection strip (upper left) and the data strip. The photo below, and bigger here, shows how this can all be neatly done, in this case by pros, but it’s still a bit fragile, I think, and it’s going cost you time or money. The chaos and complications of NMEA 0183 wiring make the rugged NMEA 2000 combined data/power cable scheme look very, very good.
I wear a watch with hands, but I’m not crazy about traditional engine gauges, especially when there are rows and rows of them, and most especially when they’re digitally rendered. Yes, a screen like this SmartCraft/Northstar combo looks ‘wow’, but isn’t Simrad’s version above, bigger here, much more screen efficient and informative? By my count, the bar gauges on this half display represent nine data points, or eighteen dials with dual engines. I haven’t seen this monitoring in actual use, but I’d hope that there could be ticks for ‘normal’ values, and maybe changing or flashing colors for critical values. Electronic engines combined with the smarts and displays of navigation electronics offer such wonderful possibilities (which, of course, is why the break up of Brunswick New Technologies seems especially mysterious).
Note that Simrad can display data from engines that use the NMEA 2000 protocol, or can speak it through an electronic bridge. Note too that this screen also shows Simrad’s unique radar overlay “sandwich”. See how the yellow targetry lays over the charted land but then the nav aids lay over everything (like the lighthouse at about 2 o’clock and 2 range rings from the boat). This is a little nuance that everyone else should copy!
So what do I mean that the new Zeus propulsion system has nerves as well as brains? Well, hooked into the drive controller is an ultra high precision GPS and inertial navigation sensor which feeds it fast updates on the boat’s location along with which way she’s heading, sliding, twisting, rolling etc. Thus the drive gets instant feedback about how well it’s doing what you asked it to do. In other words, if you’re coming alongside a dock and you push the joystick a little bit to starboard, Zeus will take you a little bit to starboard no matter if the current or wind are pushing you hard toward the dock, away from it, or in some other direction. Zeus can do what the very best boat driver does, i.e. observe what the yacht is actually doing in real time, figure out all the forces involved, and compensate for them to get her to go where he wants her to go. Of course the ultimate expression of a totally integrated drive/navigation system like this is its ability to hold station, which seemed rock solid during the demo. It works so well, in fact, that the Cummins guys say they have put Ingenuity next to dock and stepped ashore—no dock lines (though that will never be an advertised feature). That well!
Now it must be noted that the specific navigation sensor hardware being used on the demo is apparently a very expensive Oxford Technologies RT3000 working with private Omnistar differential GPS corrections, which adds a serious subscription expense. But it’s clear that Brunswick’s electronics division is hard at work trying to provide the needed level of precision by the time Zeus becomes a real shipping system. In fact, Zeus may explain why Brunswick picked up MX Marine, which I couldn’t figure out last Spring. The image above shows a Navman/Northstar auto pilot that’s been souped up to work with Zeus’s amazing capabilities (note how the pilot is neatly showing you what the drives are up to as you cast a line, or take a picture, or whatever). It seems obvious that many Zeus boats will be Brunswick hulls with Brunswick drives and Brunswick electronics—all one—which is worth one more Zeus entry, tomorrow.
Zeus 1, the most innovative electronics at Miami was a propulsion system!?!
Apr 12, 2006
Above is a 42’ Maxum that Brunswick, specifically the Cummins MerCruiser division, was using as a special demo boat at the Miami Boat Show. Obviously (bigger here ) it’s loaded with Northstar’s new 8000i multifunction displays (and, yes, that lower one seemed a bit odd as you could kick it if you were being ‘casual’ like this model). Now I’d love to test the 8000i on the water (especially once the finished system ships in June), but this demo was much more about that fat joystick, and the engines, drives, and electronics it’s attached to, all called Project Zeus. I got to experience it myself and, by golly, it’s a very big deal indeed. The drives are similar to the IPS system that Volvo introduced last year, except that the props face aft (which I, from the bays of rocks and lobster traps, strongly favor). I won’t go into Zeus’s claims of efficiency, low noise, etc., though you might want to check out the press release. What I want to tell you about is how I watched a guy joystick this boat’s bow within a few feet of a day marker and then do a 360 around the mark with the bow always within those few feet. I also saw how you could push the “hold station” button on the Navman pilot and boat would sit exactly in place despite wind and current, and without thrusters. This is really revolutionary stuff, and important, I think, to the future of boating and marine electronics. More tomorrow.
It made sense to me that Simrad’s WR20 RemoteCommander shared an innovation award with the Northstar 8000i at the Miami boat show. It uses Bluetooth to wirelessly connect (“up to” 300’, as they say) with a boat's SimNet (aka NMEA 2000) network, and Simrad has equipped it with custom messages able to duplicate nearly every button push on all its SimNet-equipped devices. (These are the proprietary messages I was talking about here, and a good example of how they can be used innovatively). Potentially you can use this remote to power steer with your autopilot, zoom your chart plotter, change channels on your VHF, just about anything. Plus, if you do have the Simrad RS80 Series VHF that's SimNet enabled, the remote can also be a wireless handset (the Bluetooth audio going directly to the radio, not through SimNet). The remote can also display one to four lines of data from many sources on the network, including non-Simrad sensors. And finally, it is supposedly ready to work with Simrad equipment that hasn’t even been developed yet, though I don’t understand how.
By the way, Simrad’s purchase of Lowrance seems to be a done deal. It’s interesting that both companies have done a lot with NMEA 2000, though in different ways. I wonder how their product strategies and lines will be merged, if at all.
In the photo above, taken on an Etec/Lowrance demo boat in Miami, I’m setting up a “Custom Gauges” window, and this particular screen is showing me some of the data available on the NMEA 2000 (LowranceNet) bus, specifically what’s coming from the port side Etec outboard. The same data would be available to any other displays on the bus that cared to recognize it, which could include, of course, Lowrance’s LMF-200 and -400 digital gauges (see test system). I think it’s slick. For one thing you’ll notice some data that you’ve likely never seen on a standard engine gauge, like load percentage (which I understand can be very useful for spotting a problem like a bent prop). For another thing, you’ll never lose sight of any particular number, like RPMs or oil pressure, because if one gauge or screen fails, the data is still available everywhere else. Plus, of course, all the data, and power for smaller sensors and gauges, is in one cable.
But there is one little caveat, as grumbled about yesterday by Panbo correspondent Chris. It is perfectly legal for a manufacturer to send a certain percentage of proprietary messages through the 2000 network (I’m not sure of the exact percentage). This makes sense, even encourages innovation. But in Evinrude’s case the result seems a little rude. You see the company’s I-Command gauges are very obviously OEM’d by Lowrance. The only difference is that their firmware can read and display proprietary engine messages, like diagnostics, and even control functions like instant self winterization (very cool)…and, according to Chris, they are much more expensive. Gotcha! I talked to an Etec representative about this and he said the policy was not written in stone; in other words, Etec might open up their private messages to Lowrance and others. But then Lowrance or whoever would have to write code to use those messages. In some ways this detail of the NMEA standard is a potential strength, and you’ve got to give Evinrude credit for all the data it is opening up (Note: everything below, including precision fuel flow from the ECM, is 2000 standard data). But I sure understand how this proprietary/open data detail, especially along with the cable dissimilarity discussed yesterday, could frustrate a guy like Chris, who’s just trying network a boat like he heard NMEA 2000 could.
Well, it was odd really; the very day I blogged about how nothing seemed to be happening with NMEA 2000 cabling issues and how well a proprietary LowranceNet backbone worked with a standard NMEA 2000 backbone (annoying a couple of you), I learned that changes are in store for both. Good changes! The information came in the form of a NMEA press release titled NMEA 2000 Working Group Completes Its Work on Cable and Connector System. It’s not online, and was darn vague anyway; it took me a few e-mails to tease out the following:
* After 18 months of studying the possibility of an alternate lighter, cheaper NMEA 2000 cable and connector standard, the subcommittee decided it wasn’t necessary. The main reason given is that Molex, a prime supplier of the connection hardware, promised a “substantial price reduction” in the existing cables and connectors (aka “the physical layer”). That’s the Micro version of the 2000 physical layer seen upper right in the picture (bigger here), and sold by Maretron.
* The current Micro T connector seen in the photo retails for about $21, and a 3 meter made-up cable is $44. That’s actually not all that expensive when compared to some marine electronics proprietary cables, but it has put off some boat builders and electronics installers. The new Molex gear—which, by the way, is also sold as DeviceNet— will probably have more plastic parts, but will be something like 25% less expensive. That’s good.
* Perhaps even better, in the same NMEA press release Lowrance announced that its proprietary twist on connectors and odd pin layout (seen above) are history. Next year all LowranceNet connectors will be the NMEA approved screw on variety. That even includes the plugs on back of their displays, which is not actually required by the standard (so far, only Maretron makes devices with a standard NMEA 2000 plug on the back). Lowrance will of course provide adaptors so that all current LowranceNet gear can adapt easily to the new stuff.
* And, finally, Lowrance says that it anticipates making this change without raising prices. Which is really something given that several current LowranceNet sensors cost $50 total, which includes almost 12’ of cable, a T connector, and the sensor!
Why did NMEA take a year and half to say NO to a 2nd cable standard? Why did Lowrance offer its own 2nd cable standard for just a year? I don’t really understand what happened, but the future (perhaps the result?) looks good. Pretty soon there will be several choices in approved NMEA 2000 cabling—from economical smaller boat grade to industrial workboat/megayacht quality—and they’ll all plug and play together.
Check this out (big size
)! It’s the most elaborate test setup a manufacturer ever loaned me, and I learned a lot from it. What you’re looking at is a LowranceNet (aka NMEA 2000) network suitable for, say, a spiffy T-top fishing boat. On top are the sensors: GPS, fuel flow, 3 tank levels, water speed, and 2 water temps. On the bottom are 4 digital gauges capable of showing most any data on the network, plus the LCX 111c HD (hard drive!) fishfinder/plotter, which can also display gauge type data. It all works together quite nicely, and in Miami I got a ride on an actual T-top equipped with all this gear plus a pair of NMEA-2000–talking Evinrude Etec outboards. I saw smooth data integration across the network, with flexible and redundant displays. Oh, there’s a kink or two, which I’ll write about later, but today I want to address my earlier concerns about LowranceNet. If you recall, most of the gear above is NMEA certified but the backbone plugs and cabling are not. Back in Oct. I understood there’d be some resolution to this issue, but so far…nothing. However, I’ve been told by a Lowrance engineer that this cable, though much smaller and less expensive, meets the same specs for shielding, etc. as the certified stuff I tried last summer. Some of which I’m still holding on to (thank you, Raymarine and Maretron). That’s why I was able to try a simple patch cable (above at left) to connect a regular NMEA 2000 device to the LowranceNet backbone. I was even able to marry the Lowrance backbone to the certified backbone with various Maretron units and an E120 hanging off it. Everything powered up and was relatively happy. I do hope Lowrance can get its cable fully legit, but if it works fine—and it seems to—does it really matter?
Octoplex, using a computer to turn on a light bulb?
Jan 27, 2006
If you checked out Octoplex yesterday you know it can do all sorts of fancy power management and monitoring tasks, but the more cynical might note that there’s a lot of electronic complications between you the boater and relatively simple tasks like turning on the lights! It’s smart then that Moritz Aerospace is pretty paranoid about what could go wrong with a system like this. Hence:
* OctoPlex uses not one but two of the DeviceNet physical networks specified by NMEA 2000 (shown above, and bigger here). This is rugged, heavily shielded cabling, and this also means that there are two CAN processors in each network node. OctoPlex uses the primary network all for itself and the secondary one to connect to other NMEA 2000 systems, but if the primary fails, the secondary can fill in. Both networks are constantly monitored.
* Even if both network lines completely fail, all active AC and DC breakers stay on and continue to protect their circuits. The DC breakers actually have redundant back up power supplies. The AC breakers, by the way, are actually manual ones actuated by solenoids because it’s not yet practical to do AC with a MOSFET.
* If a DC electronic circuit breaker should fail in the ‘on’ position—that is, ZAP, be delivering current after you turned it off—the system will know it and blow a secondary fuse.
That’s a lot of built-in protection and part of why OctoPlex is an expensive system meant for big boats like the Vikings and Hargraves it will first be seen on. But, geez, look at how conventional boat wiring is evolving, seen below on a medium size Hinckley. That’s some beautiful work, bigger here
, but imagine the amount of labor involved. Imagine how hard it is to modify or trouble shoot! We are ready for an entirely new way to manage boat electricity, aren’t we?
I mentioned OctoPlex when it received a special mention at METS; now I’m trying to write a column about it and the whole coming revolution in marine power systems. It’s not coming easily, I’m way past deadline, and so this will be short! Here’s the deal: electronic circuit breakers combined with data networks like NMEA 2000 mean the end of conventional circuit breaker panels. The concept is often called “distributed power” but Nigel Calder also uses “the three cable boat” in a series of articles he’s done recently in Professional Boatbuilder, Sail, and Yachting Monthly (none, unfortunately, online, but look down this page for Nigel’s pithy answer to the question “should I try this now”)). In its simplest form plus and minus cables carry power around the boat, teeing off wherever needed to an electronic circuit breaker (ECB) which is controlled by the third (data) cable. ECBs are also known as MOSFETs and they’re complicated animals, but have features like the ability to constantly measure voltage and amperage and even modulate amperage (i.e. dim light circuits). Combine those features with networked, microprocessor-based switching—and, hey, you might as well throw in tank, bilge, etc. monitoring since you’ve already got the network and screens—and you start getting something as powerful as OctoPlex. Check out a much larger version of the schematic here. This system can automatically shed power loads, protect individual circuits against brown out, setup custom dimming programs, tell you if a nav light blows out, and so forth…sky’s the limit. But can things go badly wrong on the three cable boat? Hell, yes! Which is why OctoPlex is redundant every which way. More on that later.
The 8000i has a lot of sizzle, and some interesting new charts, but let’s start coverage with a system overview (bigger here):
* The sunlight viewable multifunction displays are Windows PCs; the 12” is self contained while the 15” is broken into monitor, processor, and keyboard modules. (Both units are also touch screen, but more on that later).
* This is a ‘masterless’ network, meaning that sounder, radar, cameras, and even the various sensor networks go directly to an Ethernet hub. If one PC is shut down, or craps out, it should not affect what the others can do. Several manufacturers have network black box sounders, and a couple have Ethernet radars, but this is the first time I’ve seen network cameras or a Network Interface Bridge (USB, SmartCraft, and NMEA 0183, with—hooray!—NMEA 2000 coming in the fall).
* The only exception to this ‘masterless’ design is that only one processor can be an entertainment server, burning CDs and DVDs with the built in ‘jukebox’ software. But then any display can play from the music and movie library at will, audio going to a nearby stereo and video either playing right on the 8000i screen or on a TV.
* All the parts shown, and the necessary cabling, are supposedly waterproof and marine tough.
Yes, it’s expensive—the 12” retails at $7,000–-but the 8000i looks like a smartly designed system, with a lot of redundancy, power, flexibility, and pizazz built in. More details to come.
Offshore Systems 3271, the perfect fuel tank sensor?
Nov 25, 2005
This Offshore Systems fuel sender sounds perfect…stainless steel with no moving parts, measures fuel tank level to 1% accuracy, installs and delivers data all via a NMEA 2000 trunk line, and it can reportedly detect water in the fuel! However, it costs $295 with a 20” probe, more with longer (cutable) probes, and I’m just a tiny bit dubious about the water sensing capability. This sensor is “capacitive”, which I think means it uses the same technology as the “dielectric” bilge pump switches I discussed here once. If the Offshore sender detects water in your fuel it sends alternating “full” and “empty” signals. I wonder if a small amount of water might trigger this, and then you wouldn’t know how much fuel you had? Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I’d like to hear about successful field trials. Note that Offshore has a new 3125 2000 Sender Adapter which will work with standard resistive senders, and thus with any fluid {corrected 11/28; it turns out that Maretron is not distributing Offshore's sensors (but is working on its own NMEA 2000 tank sender adapter)}.
Update 11/26: I got this note from Offshore Systems: “The water sensing feature really works. Whenever the bottom of the probe detects water the sender sends alternate tank full / tank empty messages at the default rate of 1 message every 2.5 seconds. This will make any display very noticeable to the user to indicate that this tank is contaminated and should not be used until it has been drained and cleaned.” Sounds good…like a little water floating on half a tank of diesel—where it won’t really cause problems—also won’t set off the alarm and stop tank level measuring.
The Garmin media team was busy last night, distributing a stack of complicated press releases and a pile o’ product shots, all to describe some 20 new units that were introduced at METS today (and will go on sale next March). Here are the bullet points I’ve gathered so far:
* New BlueChart G2 (next generation) charts feature 3D perspective, tides and currents overlay, and other enhancements, and a slew of new plotters, plotter/fishfinders, and network multifunction displays (like the 3206 above, bigger here) come preloaded with all U.S. coastal G2’s. (NOAA’s freebie policy strikes again!)
* But G2 is a two tier product, sort of like what Navionics is up to, and G2 chart cards add more data like detailed coastal roads, more POIs, and color aerial photos of critical areas. Garmin says that U.S. cards will start at $199, “far less than competitors”. (But I don’t know what that means exactly). G2, by the way, is not compatible with older plotters, except the 3000 series, but older BlueCharts will work in new plotters.
* Garmin has a new network called CANet, which can connect the smaller 292, 392, and 492 plotters with two new black box fishfinders or the new 398 full fishfinder. It sounds like a CANbus variant but is 1 megabit (?). The GSD-22 bb is Garmin’s “first digital sonar, allowing for more precise target separation and depth performance” and also supports Garmin’s MarineNet (Ethernet).
It’s going to be interesting to see how all these products stack up. I’m wondering, for instance, what Garmin’s version of 3D perspective looks like, and whether G2 will also come on CD. And, of course, pesky observers like Panbo reader R.O. are asking “what about NMEA 2000”. More to come, to be sure.
PS It will also be interesting to see who picked up DAME awards at METS today; this is one of the better innovation competitions out there, I think. And, by the way, Jeff Hummel is at METS and says he’ll write a Panbo guest blog on his findings.
Maretron ultrasonic wind sensor, the plot thickens
Nov 14, 2005
At the NMEA show, Maretron showed off a prototype of this ultrasonic wind sensor that also measures air temp, barometric pressure, and relative humidity. In other words, the WSO100 Weather Station Outdoor is quite like Airmar’s WeatherStation. Neither, in fact, is actually a shipping product yet, even though Airmar’s was introduced at the 2004 NMEA show (the power boat model is supposedly very close, and is now detailed in a .pdf at Airmar’s Web site). Airmar’s first unit, for about $1,000, will talk in NMEA 0183 and will include an electronic compass and GPS so it can calculate true wind speed and direction. Maretron’s will cost around $600 and will need heading and SOG info from the NMEA 2000 network to do the True calculations. Airmar plans to eventually introduce a 2000 WeatherStation and Maretron may very well do an 0183 version of its sensor, which, by the way, it engineered from scratch. I hope to try both when possible, and figure that having two ultrasonic wind sensors on the market (beside the French original) will be good for consumer awareness (and a healthy competition).
I got a peek at this display during NMEA , and I’m looking forward to going deeper in Lauderdale. What’s the docking display? How much control does the user get over engine alarms? Are detailed diagnostics also available? This Northstar 6000i is (theoretically) connected via a gateway to a Mercury inboard or outboard engine equipped with SmartCraft, a CANbus data networking and control system with many similarities to NMEA 2000. The big difference really is that SmartCraft was developed by Brunswick and is being used by its New Technologies group (MotoTron, Northstar, Navman, et al) mostly in boats build by Brunswick. Other companies like Airmar, Onan, Dometic, Xantrex, and DNA Group have gotten involved, but SmartCraft is essentially driven in a top-down, business-like way. By contrast, NMEA 2000 sometimes seems like chaos. Maybe that’s why there are currently lots more SmartCraft boats out there than NMEA 2000 ones. It may be a parallel universe, but if it works well for you…well, cool. Then again I’ve heard that there are some downsides to SmartCraft worth discussing one day.
Note that the 6000i above is a new 12” model, meaning that you can now get these networked multifunction displays in a phenomenal five sizes—15”, 12”, 10.4”, 8.4” and 6.4”—which is great for folks designing a multi display helm like this (put together, unfortunately I think, before the 12 or 15 inch models materialized).
Oy, I’m a tired puppy after 5 days of NMEA conference and yet more plane rides. Yesterday’s featured a puking infant during a bumpy landing in Boston followed by a final leg into Rockland on a little plane purposely run with some empty seats (they also rearranged us “for balance”, causing a wee bit more nervousness). But I am fully loaded with interesting info about NMEA 2000, AIS, new products and more, and I should be able to post more frequently, at least this week.
For starters, check out the NMEA 2000 “consistent” wiring system above introduced by Lowrance (more detail in a pop-up at Lowrance.com). It looks a lot like the standard NMEA 2000 cabling and connectors I’ve been testing but in fact it’s not certified and its plugs are purportedly not compatible! This is certainly not what the standard was supposed to be about—plug and play interoperability between different brands of gear—and I’m told it caused quite a hubbub in the NMEA 2000 committee meetings. (And I hope those folks who think NMEA is a “club” dedicated to keeping small developers out will note how fractious it really is). In fact there have been issues with the 2000 cable standard all along. Many think it’s too expensive and/or too bulky. That’s why Simrad, Raymarine, and Lowrance each use their own proprietary 2000 cable to interconnect their own 2000 equipment (which is legal under the standard). That’s why Simrad and Raymarine had to supply patch cables to tee into my test system (though I could have made them fairly easily).
So it would seem even messier if Lowrance sells an alternate, uncertified backbone cable/tee system—even if it leads to some of the first 2000 production boats, as announced by Ranger last week—but I’m told that there is going to be a happy ending to this story. Two reliable sources tell me that there will be a major breakthrough in the cable situation announced within a month. I’m guessing they mean that Lowrance will end up truly compliant and that the industry will agree on a second, less costly (though possibly more limited) cable and connector standard.
One comment that inspired my “Geeks vs ME Empire” rant a while back was: “Megalomaniacal marine elex vendors disdain such commoditization as evidenced by the disappearance of most stand alone dumb GPS sensors and proprietary integration of d/s sounders into proprietary networks.” I really, really didn’t understand where that commenter was coming from. It strikes me that the planet is awash in GPS sensors that can output in NMEA 0183 format (or 2000) via bare wire, standard serial plug, USB, Bluetooth, etc. etc. I have a cheap Deluo mouse GPS that has swappable dongles so that it can output via DB9, USB, and custom iPaq PDA serial plugs (& get power too), and it’s worked with all sorts of software. How commoditized can you get?
And while it wasn’t long ago that all depth, speed, temp, etc. sensors were proprietary, these days Airmar (which makes most of them) offers a wide variety of “Smart” versions. More than I realized, actually, as I discovered at Airmar’s much improved web site (try the Smart Sensor .pdf for starters). As illustrated, these sensors process their own signals. Add power and out comes NMEA 0183 or 2000 data to feed a plotter or multifunction display from most any of the ME manufacturers or a PC or, in the 2000 case, a network of up to 50 separate devices. So what was that guy talking about?
Bennett NMEA 2000 Trim Tab indicator, cheaper & better!
Aug 1, 2005
Here’s a NMEA 2000 application I hadn’t thought of, but one that makes terrific sense: the Bennett NMEA 2000 Trim Tab Interface will install easily back near the tab motors, tee into a 2000 trunk line, and send the status of the tabs to all displays on the network. Plus it will work with any of the company’s currently available tab systems (80% of US market), and it will only cost $120. I’ve been on many boats, including my own 25’ Ralph (recently back in the water), where indicators would make the tabs much easier to use, but when I’ve asked builders why they don’t install the currently available ones, they say they’re too unreliable and/or too expensive. This looks like a far better solution, and another reason why boaters and builders might move to 2000. There are two caveats, however. One is that specific displays will have to be programmed to show the tab information they are receiving. The example above is a 2000 plotter/sounder by Lowrance, which has already agreed to support Bennett’s interface. (The tab window could be more efficient—i.e., show the info well in less space—but I suspect that this is just a prototype). The second is that this product, introduced at MAATS, won’t be available until 2006. But that gives companies like Raymarine, Simrad, and Maretron time to program their displays to work with it, plus it will encourage other electronics companies, boat builders, and boaters to climb on the NMEA 2000 bus. Bennett doesn’t have information about the interface on its site yet, but there is a neat, if slightly geeky, simulator. It’s perfectly possible, by the way, to also control tabs via NMEA 2000, which would simplify installation, particularly on multi station boats, and would also enable integration of the controls with, say, Maretron’s pitch and roll sensor.
Monitoring and control systems can potentially do anything. Once you have a system of sensors, cable backbones, PCs, screens, and so forth performing the core task of collecting and distributing information and system commands, well heck, why not blend in security, entertainment, communications, inventory/maintenance management, digital documentation…whatever. A case in point is Hyperion (above), the 157’ super yacht built in 1998 by Royal Huisman for the legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jim Clark. Clark had to start a small company called Seascape Communications to create the system he envisioned, and what a humdinger the resulting “Genisys” is. 24 onboard computers monitor 50,000 data points and display on 22 touch screens throughout the vessel. Clark and his crew could mind and manage everything from windshield wipers to ballast transfer pumps to e-mail wherever they wished onboard. Clark could even “cruise” the yacht by satellite from his den in California (or his airplane), leading to the waggish comment that it was the world’s largest remote control toy. And guests had their own screens mounted into berth-side drawers so that they can amuse themselves with the system’s 1200 CD’s on hard disk, 400 DVD’s in changers, world band tuners, and masthead cameras!
Since then, Clark had Royal Huisman build him the even larger yacht Athena, launched last fall, with more Seascape software on board. Now he’s announced the formation of CommandScape, which sounds like Seascape repurposed to automate large homes as well as yachts. Clark was the subject of the wonderful biography The New, New Thing, which begins with a hysterical description of Hyperion’s trail run in rough weather—failing computers, seasick film crew, et all…a must read excerpt here).
If you go to the NMEA Web site and click on “NMEA 2000 Info”, the very first thing you’ll learn is how expensive it is to use the standard. These fees piss off small developers no end. (And isn’t it poor marketing on the part of NMEA? Why not have some good dope there about how the standard works and what it can do?) But the fees are there to finance the infrastructure needed to truly support a complex plug’n’play standard. For instance, I recently heard that updating the software certification tool that assures compatability will cost something like $200,000.
Meanwhile, I was out on Sunday checking out the benefits of that compatability again, and looking foolish. (Is there a geekier 14’ outboard afloat?) Now I have the laptop mounted, also sharing data fine, though currently the Maretron gateway translates 2000 into 0183 because no PC program reads NMEA 2000 directly. That’s going to change, and I’m told that eventually thousands of independent programmers will be using 2000 data to build boat applications we haven’t imagined yet.
The June issue of PMY includes my take on the Furuno/MaxSea alliance. I titled it “Keys to the Kingdom” because it’s truly a big deal for Furuno to give PC software access to its whole NavNet system. It really shows what Ethernet can do, besides string multifunction displays together, and I’m guessing it will “encourage” Garmin, Northstar, and Raymarine to develop or find PC programs to run with their Ethernet systems. Dedicated electronics and PC-based systems used to be parallel universes (with a few significant exceptions); now they’re coming together. Good!
It was another damp weekend in Maine, but the leaves are popping and I finally got out on the water. The NMEA 2000 test rig performed fabulously. Check out the bigger image here to see how the Raymarine E120 and Simrad CX34 are both getting GPS, heading, speed through the water, etc. from the Maretron sensors. A PC charting program could have been easily sharing it too, had I dared bring a laptop along. At this moment I was drifting (speed 0, SOG 2.2; heading 85, COG 64) down the St. George River with…errrr…a rather high level of situational awareness. Both plotters were able to calculate current set and drift pretty accurately, and the Maretron display kept track of the little boat’s pitch, roll, and rate of turn. And I had even more redundancy than expected…it turns out that if I unplug the Maretron GPS, the E120 will switch over to the Simrad GPS that’s plugged into the CX34. The one glitch was the depth delivered by the Maretron transducer, much shallower than shown, but I’m sure there’s an explanation. Plus I had another sounder, not shown, and in fact the shoal area ahead is deeper than charted. And it’s a lovely river to gunkhole (click here for an experiment with Maptech’s chart server).
Hey, I actually can build something more substantial than sentences! Below is a plywood creation (bigger here) that will let me test the borrowed Maretron products (everything shown) and other NMEA 2000 gear either in my shop or clamped to my test boat, Gizmo. Note that all six devices shown not only share data through the rugged “Micro” size 2000 cable, but get power from it. That yellow wire is the 12v tap, supplying up to 4 amps to each side of the trunk line, which in this case is very short. Compass, 2000–PC USB gateway, GPS, and display are all on the upper or left side of the trunk. Depth/speed/water temp transducer, network test meter, and tees for the two plotters (separately powered) are on the other side. If I’d used heavier “Mini” size cable, there could be 8 amps available on either side of the tap. Putting together this little network was way easier than chopping up the plywood but there are details, like the Terminating Resisters at the trunk ends, you have to know about. Maretron has put together a useful “NMEA 2000 network designer’s guide” (and cable catalog) which is in PDF form here (if you just view individual pages, the guide portion starts on 17).
Yesterday I plugged both a Simrad CX34 and a Raymarine E120 into a little network of Maretron NMEA 2000 gear…and, hot damn, both multifunction units immediately recognized and started displaying the available heading, GPS, depth, etc. info. No setup, no multiplexer, no fussing with 0183 wires—it just worked. The Simrad also had its own GPS attached, recognized that multiple GPS sources were available, and let me choose, via a thorough set of interface menus, which one to use (see below, and bigger image here). Easy redundancy, not to mention easy data sharing across a multi manufacturer network…this is good stuff. I witnessed, and wrote about, these capabilities last winter, but actually having my hands on 2000 gear is still exciting. More to come.
Hot words about NMEA 2000 were tossed into a recent rec.boats.electronics thread:
“Oh, boy! Another proprietary, improperly documented, non-standard data protocol designed to keep the marine electronics assholes swimming in money for another decade...”
Yike! I believe that every phrase and implication — heck, every word — in that diatribe is wrong, though I do understand the frustration of hobbyists and small developers who want the same access to NMEA 2000 that they have to 0183. But 0183 can not do what needs to be done on today’s boats, at least not easily. For an example of “not easily” check out the data system on Steve Dashew’s new boat, mentioned earlier, especially the bigger version of the diagram below. I’ll be posting a lot about 2000 in future weeks as I test some interesting gear.
The author Thomas Friedman is making waves with his notion that our world has gotten so small that it seems flat again. I certainly see it in my little marine electronics world. One day I’m watching AIS equipped ships in Amsterdam Harbor, another I’m following scullers as they glide by a marina in Vancouver, Canada. All from my desk in Maine. And when I say “following”, I mean I’m actually operating a pan, tilt, and zoom camera with my Web browser. The camera is mounted in the cockpit of a test vessel belonging to a company called EyeOnBoard, which is using marina WiFi to give yacht owners (and its own 24/7 response center) amazing Web access to their vessels. The cameras are cool, but more important are all the sensors distributed around the boat. Take a look at this screen in the live demo (which understandably does not include the camera control). EyeOnBoard customers also benefit from the monitoring, and WiFi Internet access, when they’re aboard.
This is the first NMEA 0183 multiplexor I know of that can automatically switch to a back up input for any one of three reasons — “a failure to send any NMEA data, an invalid NMEA sentence checksum, or if the validity flag(s) contained within the NMEA sentence indicate that this data is not valid and should only be used with caution (for GPS and Depth data)”. In other words, you could have 4 GPSs (or, more likely 2 GPSs and 2 sounders) feeding the best available data to, say, a plotter and a PC…no manual backup switches needed. Very slick. Actisense’s site has lots of good information on the NSW-1, and it’s available for 260 pounds from at least one English online retailer (the U.S. distributor is Gem Electronics, 843–394–3565).
ConnectFest was one especially notable electronics event at a 2005 Miami Boat Show chock-a-block with the new and notable. NMEA rented a side room where something like 40 devices made by 12 different manufacturers were all connected into one NMEA 2000 backbone…and talking to each other. Members of the trade, press, and public all seemed dazzled by the possibilities. My photo shows a Raymarine E120 displaying data from multiple sources (I’m not even sure which engine, as there were several on line, but you’d know on your own boat). ConnectFest will make another appearance at the upcoming annual meeting of the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM). I suspect that 2005 is the year that the unfortunately named NMEA 2000 standard really gets rolling.
Brunswick's SmartCraft system is moving slowly from PR to products.
"That is why we designed SmartCraft with three independent CAN communication lines. It allows cross communication among these three CAN lines without risk of compromising the system's integrity and safety. In addition to the multi-bus design of SmartCraft, early on we also partnered with Swedish-based Kvaser AB on the use of 'CAN Kingdom' technology."
Airmar's new retractable triducer is featured by Motor Boating Magazine.
"The real advantage of this triducer is its ability to work with either analog or digital instruments that digitize data in a main housing or simply use NMEA 1083 or 2000 data. The digital triducer works with networking systems from Simrad, Furuno and Raymarine. This unit can span 45 degrees horizontally, making it perfect for use in a hull with a 22-degree deadrise. It also supports a 235-kHz frequency, so it doesn't compete with the standard 50/200-kHz frequency of fishfinders that may already be on board."
So you would like to have a system onboard that integrates virtually every electrical and digital element that can be found on a typical megayacht so that you will be able to control it from various touchscreens? Superyacht reviews a solution developed by Naviops and Romagna.
"Imagine a central system that receives data from all the on-board sensors and systems, from those in the engine room for checking working status and engine efficiency to video cameras, intrusion sensors, fuel and water tank level sensors, radar, GPS, wind station, depth-finder, electrical switchboard, bilge pump alarms, air conditioning etc.. Well, all these data arrive at a central unit where, by means of touchscreen technology monitors, they are not only visible but can be controlled: this means that if we want to switch on the air conditioning for example we can do it from a monitor, just as we can modify the lighting conditions in each environment or carry out navigation by integrating the system with the plotter."
In their own journal, NMEA is again promoting the NMEA 2000 standard. Not surprising of course, but just publishing these press-releases won't do much good. Companies involved in developing this standard will have to push new products onto the market, and they will have to balance the future of their proprietary systems against NMEA 2000. I've highlighted this before...
"The development of NMEA 2000 has been a collaborative effort within the marine electronics industry. The work done since 1999 has included 12 companies, Furuno, Kvaser, Litton, Navionics, Northstar, Raymarine, Simrad, Teleflex, Metal Marine, Trimble, Vector CANtech, Airmar and Japan Radio Corporation. By early 2004, Airmar, Raymarine, Kvaser, Simard and Teleflex have certified products using NMEA 2000."
ComNav has renewed its NX2 instrument package. Go here to see what's new about it and whether there's something in it for you...
"By displaying 40 different functions, the Multi Control is the most versatile NX2 instrument. Using the Copy and Paste feature, sailors can customize their data readouts. The Ocean Racing Pack also includes a Compass Transducer, Wind Data display, Wind Transducer, Log Transducer and Depth Transducer."
Active Research Limited claims to have a new NMEA combiner concept, with 4 NMEA inputs, one output, one RS232 in/output and a CAN interface. Judge for yourself...
"The Actisense NMEA combiner combines up to four variable baud rate NMEA channels (4800 baud default) into one standard NMEA output. In addition, it has an RS232 interface to connect to a PC, with variable baud rate, along with diagnostic and setup software, which allows the configuration of which sentences are allowed to pass through the unit, thus allowing the unit to act as a filter on overloaded data streams. The unit also has a CAN interface, to allow future compatibility with the forthcoming NMEA 2000 standard."
IBI News reports that B&G will demonstrate its RemoteVision wireless autopilot/instrument control system at the Southampton International Boat Show in September. Can't find anything about it, except for a short quote from Conrad Humphreys, who will be skippering HELLOMOTO during the Vendée Globe.
"RemoteVision is smaller than a palm PC and features a full LCD graphical screen and simple four-button control. It utilises wireless technology to instantly send and receive signals from B&G's h2000 Hercules and Hydra pilots and instruments. All readings from the instruments can be viewed on the RemoteVision anywhere on a vessel, "be it at the top of a 60ft mast in torrential weather or down in the galley preparing a meal," said the company."
Motor Boating Magazine takes a look at one of the ships participating in the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally, a high-seas adventure from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Gibraltar. There's a lot of electronics stuff on board this ship... Here are some of the highlights:
-“It’s the autopilot that’s the most important thing,” he says. And for autopilots, Kinney selected two Furuno NavPilot 500s and added a SC 60 GPS satellite compass."
-"The first display supports Furuno’s 1953C chartplotter with a powerful 12-kW radar for 72-mile range and 1.2-degree horizontal beam width for accurate target separation."
-"The second chartplotter, an 1833C, uses a smaller radar with dome antenna that will pump out 4-kW of power for a range of about 36 miles"
-"Called NT-Link, this is a little sister to C-MAP’s rugged commercial product, only it’s coupled with the NT recreational cartography. One notable feature of NT-Link is its ability to handle online chart updates."
-"But the real heart of the navigation package is Furuno’s NavNet system, which allows for multiple sensor displays on three different display screens—the two 10.4" monitors in the pilothouse and an additional 7" remote display on the bridge."
A lot has been said already about the slow migration from NMEA 0183 towards NMEA 2000. And of the resulting proprietary solutions introduced by most manufacturers. Here's a short introduction to Simrad's SimNet.
The all new SIMRAD Intelligent Marine NETwork replaces NMEA 0183 as our product interconnection system and is our internal data control and sharing network. By being compatible with the NMEA 2000 interfacing standard, it opens up a new world of network options. Owners and captains will now have the utmost flexibility in choosing the very best, most suitable component for their electronics package.
I was talking about having problems with watching and securing my own boat the other day. Here's another solution for those of you with similar problems (and a GSM cellphone...).
"The Harbormaster Mark II is a new remote wireless monitoring security system that checks a vacant boat's vital systems and on-board conditions. The system uses a GSM based network to send data about the boat to a central server, enabling the boat owner to be able to check their craft at any time via the World Wide Web, mobile phone, text message, fax or email."
Interesting discussion over at the BoaterEd Forums. Scotty, working for Standard Horizon says "...we currently are not planning to implement the NMEA 2000 into our systems simple because most marine electronics companies are not using that system." Now if everybody in the industry keeps using this argument, we won't get anywhere.
Les Hall: "Raymarine's C80 is about $1,500 with a 8.4" screen. To it's credit, it does have a NMEA 2000 port. However, for the same amount of money, I can get a 15" laptop with a 15" screen, a USB GPS antenna, charting software, street mapping software and a 2.6 GIGAhertz processor. The point is that the good folks who make this stuff need to start thinking a little more about the consumer by standardizing on some common features. Even the NMEA 0183 connections require hand wiring."
Garmin, a relative newcomer in this market, has launched two brand-new radars. With the introduction of these products, and a new networking system, Garmin now has an extensive line of marine electronics.
"Most of the radar units offered by other networking companies use Koden products, but Garmin is entering the market with its own sensors. They are part of a new networking system that’s based on Garmin’s very popular GPS/chartplotter technology. The network employs the widely used Ethernet system, which allows easy interface for specified plug-and-play sensors, including fishfinders, weather receivers and satellite radio systems."
The early adopters of marine electronics can be found in the competitive fishing scene. Here's a story on a guy who outfitted his boat to the fullest extend. Like the article says: "he'll be at the helm of a boat with a control panel that resembles the Starship Enterprise"
"An impressive array of electronics -- everything from a laptop computer and wireless monitors to color sonar, a Lowrance LCX-104C, and global positioning system technology -- covers the dashboard of Samson's 20-foot Crestliner walleye fishing machine. As technological trappings go, not even Mr. Spock or Capt. Kirk could claim bragging rights over Samson."
Raymarine finally launched RayTech 5.0 last week. I've written about it before.
"It is easier to enter waypoints and build routes with this latest release. RayTechRNS' new 3D Rolling Road display allows for more intuitive navigation. Among the benefits of this high performance, lightning fast redraw chartplotting package is the capability of merging chart layers with live radar data, and overlaying weather and satellite image data."
Todd Huss wrote me an email about a new product he is developing, allowing secure wireless access to navigation information anywhere on a boat. He warns me not to expect it to be cheap at launch, but have a look for yourself at their website.
"The Marine Wireless Navigation Server enables secure wireless access (802.11b 128bit WEP encryption) to navigation information anywhere on a vessel. Any number of navigation clients (handhelds, laptops, weatherproof tablet PC's) can wirelessly access data from Seatalk or NMEA enabled navigation devices such as GPS, radar, wind, depth, autopilot, and speed. Using the included virtual serial port software will enable your existing navigation applications (e.g. The Capn, Nobeltec, Raytech Navigator, SeaClear, etc...) to work wirelessly so you can navigate from the nav station, your bunk, or in the cockpit!"
Good question posed to Ben Ellison for his monthly Q&A session on marine electronics. I too wish the answer could be different...
"I’m starting to spec a 45-foot custom boat and want it to have a “future-proof” electronics networking backbone. Should I go with NMEA 2000 or Ethernet?"... ...As we say in Maine, “You can’t get there from here!” The confusing truth is that a single, universal networking protocol and hardware standard for marine electronics has not yet appeared and probably never will."
Like I said before, security is a hot issue. Besides Motor Boat & Yachting's special feature on this topic, Yachting World has one as well in their June 2004 issue. So if you can't get enough...
"The modern way to protect your boat is to use the latest remote technology to keep an eye on it for you. Mike Kopman reports on alarms, tracking devices and electric fences"
Boat security seems to be a hot topic today... Further to my earlier post on this new boat security system, the Yachtwatcher, Motor Boat & Yachting has a special feature on this topic to be published in their June 2004 issue.
"A boat is an expensive bit of kit to leave in the open air unattended for long periods. But is boat theft as rife as is supposed? We talk to some of those involved in chasing lost boats and discover what type of security products are just the job to give you peace of mind."
Not a first of its kind, but German firm NAVCOS has launched Yachtwatcher YW 5000, which sends a text message to a yacht owner's mobile phone in the vent that it is broken into or it should leave its moorings. Besides that, you can even send individual control commands via your mobile phone and turn on or off the refrigerator or the bilge pump for example.
"After activating the Yachtwatcher YW 5000, on board sensors are used to monitor the status a yacht, and GPS measurements are taken at regular intervals. The same system can also be used to activate equipment on board the yacht, such as a bilge pump, or a refrigerator. The YW 5000 features a 12 channel GPS receiver, integrated dual band GSM modem, power management system for lower power consumption, and can store 32,000 positions, which can be accessed and analysed to determine the route taken by a boat should it be stolen."
Stentec Software has launched their new GPS-Navigation program WinGPS 4. One of the nicer features is that it, supposedly, helps you get the most out of the Bluetooth enabled NMEA multiplexer from ShipModul I wrote about before.
"The Miniplex-42BT comes with an extra utility which allows the multiplexer to be fully configured. Full configuration will also be possible from the GPS-navigation program WinGPS 4 Pro, which is currently being developed by Stentec Software."
More and more private yachts are using real time tracking systems to locate their vessels via a web based interface, anywhere and anytime. PurpleFinder seems to be one of the most popular. It has two basic features, PurpleFinder Reporter and PurpleFinder Guard.
"PurpleFinder Reporter - enabling two-way location, monitoring and communication with your remote people and assets worldwide."
"PurpleFinder Guard - providing two-way data communication to enable you to locate, monitor and protect your vulnerable people and assets around the world. Providing the DSAS Ship Alert System for discreet ship to shore emergency notifications."
Looking at what you need in terms of technology, hardware and software, it can be deployed relatively easy. You can even embed your location on your boat's website in real-time... One other nice feature is called 'geofencing':
"Geofencing - send us your latitude-longitude boundary coordinates and we will preprogramme your D+ unit to automatically broadcast the yacht's position if this boundary is crossed. Perfect for bareboat charter! If the coordinates are set to the harbour or marina entrance then you will be notified as soon as the yacht is moved."
The Garmin Marine Network: How Not To Get Lost At Sea
Apr 16, 2004
Engadget discusses Garmin's new plug-and-play systems (GPSMAP 3010C & 3006C) that put GPS, weather, sonar, radar, and other important data at boaters’ fingertips. It also highlights Garmin's proprietary Marine Network, yet another alternative to NMEA 2000, the standard that somehow takes a long time to mature. One of the advantages of the Garmin approach is that it uses ethernet as a backbone. Since ethernet cables can be used for powering devices as well, this will make a supposedly plug and play boat network a lot less complicated in terms of wiring...
"From Garmin, a couple of new waterproof GPS handhelds designed specifically for seafarers. The GPSMAP 3010C (pictured above) has a 10.4-inch color LCD screen, while the GPSMAP 3006C has a smaller 6.4-inch screen. Both of them work with the Garmin Marine Network, Garmin's new line of peripherals that you can attach to the handhelds. The first two to be available will be the GDL 30, which connects to XM's satellite weather service and can download real-time graphical weather data (there's another version, the GDL 30A, if you want to tune into satellite radio, too), and the the GSD 20, for adding sonar. A marine radar attachment should be ready sometime next year."
As long as standards like NMEA 2000 take to lang to penetrate the market, more proprietary initiatives will have a chance. Brunswick's SmartCraft is definitely one of them. Onan, the marine generator set manufacturer, signed a license agreement that will allow users to read data from Onan product through the SmartCraft Networked databus system.
"The user can view genset status, including AC voltage, AC frequency, coolant temperature, oil pressure, battery voltage, and genset hours; be alerted to a pre-alarm condition; and, if the genset shuts down, view the notification and diagnostic message in text. For the boatbuilder, the common display frees up valuable space previously taken by multiple monitoring devices."
Gizmodo points at Raymarine's new C Series Multifunction Navigation Display, a product also highlighted by Ben Ellison in SAIL Magazine.
"Raymarine's C-Series Multifunction Navigation Display is, at heart, a simple LCD monitor. What makes it powerful is its ability to serve as the interface to a wide array of Raymarine-brand equipment, including radar units, fish-finders, GPS charting units and more. Three models are available, in 7-inch, 8-inch, and 12-inch sizes, and prices vary depending on your custom configuration."
Yachting World's May issue reviews an electronic chart system, LookSea, that uses a 360-degree "pan-and-tilt" video camera and 3D interface to make navigating more easy and safe. Through the advanced technology of augmented reality, LookSea enhances your electronic navigational picture with continuous, real-time views of the surrounding ocean. LookSea happens to be a sort of spin-off from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), where the owners of the company behind LookSea used to do research into augmented reality. And funny enough, the system was even tested on the predecessor of the U.S. Navy's High Speed Vessel (HSV) SWIFT which I wrote about yesterday.
For more reviews of this interesting system you can visit Klein Associates. At the bottom of the page you will find some relevant links.
"LookSea Pro is the most advanced electronic chart system available and can also provide a focal point for your integrated bridge system. The LookSea system takes video data from an exterior camera, converts electronic chart data into computer generated, 3D graphics and synchronizes those images with GPS and heading data to create an augmented view of your situation on a video monitor."
In an article discussing assistive technologies in sailing I came across YachtAware, a company which creates integrative technology that connects navigational instruments to a main computer. In this case it helped disabled people compete in the Transpac, but it could be a good solution for many.
"YachtAware installed one of its systems on the B'Quest. It placed sensors all over the 40-foot yacht: including the sails, the hull, water tanks, and the engines. The sensors are hooked up to the main computer that provides instant information and makes recommendations on a course of action. The sensors also sound an alarm when someone goes beyond the railing, possibly falling overboard. "It even translates Morse code, which I don't know," Miyares said. "It's important to communicate to other ships during emergencies." Also, if the boat breaks away from its anchor the YachtAware system calls the skipper's cell phone to relay what happened."
If your communications, networking and securtity needs are extensive you'd might consider Virtek's CommBox. It combines a router, email server, least cost route switch, and lot's of other features in one box. Altough developed with large vessel requirements in mind, increasingly private yachts will be equiped with these types of solutions as well.
"CommBox is designed not only for today's data communication requirements, but also with the future in mind. Anything that can communicate through the Internet can communicate through CommBox. CommBox supports all standard mail clients. It can run as a stand-alone e-mail server or as a mail relay server to enhance the performance of existing mail systems. CommBox utilizes dedicated black box technology for superior stability compared to software solutions. Configuration is easy as any user with privileges can control CommBox from any computer in the network with a web browser. CommBox supports all dial-up connections, MPDS and leased line."
A company called Marine Robotic Vessels (MRV) International has developed the Ghost Guard. This brilliantly named vessel (an Unmanned Surface Vessel or USV) uses some technologies that will hopefully be available to all of us very soon. It will give 'push-button sailing' a whole different meaning...
So what's next? The boating equivalent of DARPA's Grand Challenge for autonomous ground vehicles?
"Almost any hull can be configured by MRVI as a Ghost Guard™ to function as an affordable method of mounting water-borne surveillance in all weathers and by day and night. The heart of the Ghost Guard system is MRVI's new generation software, which comprises remote command and control, navigation, route planning/re-planning, event and crisis management, full onboard diagnostics and dial-up diagnostics. COTS-sourced integrated systems, including camera and vision systems, will provide surveillance that could not be mounted in any other way. Using a launch and recovery system, Ghost Guard can be deployed, operated and recovered from vessels underway." Click here to download the Ghost Guard video (62MB, .avi).
Since I was discussing Bluetooth-enabled devices already, here is a round-up of different Bluetooth GPS receivers currently available. Although the review is focused on the use of these devices together with PDA's with streetmap software installed, they are compliant with NMEA standards. This means they will work with your Pocket PC navigation software as well. Just beware of the fact that they are not necessarily ready for use in a (harsh) maritime environment.
There is definitely a benefit in using this type of solution over using something like Mitac's Pocket PC with integrated GPS: "The major benefit of a Bluetooth-enabled GPS receiver is that it doesn’t have to be physically connected to the Pocket PC. That eliminates a tangle of cables that dangle in your way while you are walking or driving. In addition, Bluetooth solutions let you position the GPS receiver for optimal GPS reception, and your Pocket PC separately for the best viewing. Bluetooth can travel around corners, and through clothing and other material."
I've talked about the potential of radar and navigation capabilities on cellphones before, but in Japan it is already happening. Although currently meant for navigation in a city environment, it's a perfect example of how cellphones are becoming powerful enough to perform such functions. Combine that with the fact that both cellphones and marine instruments are becoming more and more Bluetooth-enabled, so they can communicate wirelessly, and you will realize that we don't need a dedicated navigation-PC anymore.... Just the monitor.
"Japanese firms Index and Jicoux have developed a navigation system application that runs on 3G GPS phones with digital compasses (which, at the moment, means KDDI's au service in Japan). It includes the ability to show a "radar display" of the location of nearby friends, places of interest, or bus and train stations useful in getting to your destination. There's also a B2B aspect to the service in that, as with most web-based map systems, it would be possible to pay to have your business location displayed on the radar."
The BBC is running a story on the advances of in-car entertainment. It's not difficult to see how all of this can be applied to yachts as well. Especially the smaller, multi-cabin, boats will benefit from the economies of scale that are being realized in the automotive industry. It's not difficult, nor very expensive (Amazon), to create a personalized entertainment set-up in every cabin. And in the cockpit or saloon as well for that matter. In case you don't feel like any roof-mounted displays, why not use Sony's new wireless Air Board (LF-X1) which is for sale as of last Friday.
One other nice feature that is discussed by the BBC article is voice-control over all these entertainment devices. Again, the development in the automotive sector will create a precedent for yachting. Voice-control can not only be applied to entertainment, but to navigation as well, even more since PC technology is making a strong entry into the maritime environment.
"We're also building in 20GB hard drives Now you can take your home movies, and potentially other DVDS, record them onto a disc, record them onto a unit and keep them in the car. Now you don't actually have to bring in the DVD or the discs."
"A lot of it is voice-controlled and voice-interactive as well, the navigation systems, for example. But voice technology is far from perfect, and a screen can also be a life-saver. A rear view mirror can be connected to a video camera on the back bumper, or simply show an image of the backseat, obviously of potential use for baby monitoring."
If you'd like a more detailed view on things like NMEA-0183 and GPS, have a look at Peter Bennett's website.
"The NMEA 0183 Interface Standard defines electrical signal requirements, data transmission protocol and time, and specific sentence formats for a 4800-baud serial data bus. Each bus may have only one talker but many listeners."
"The National Marine Electronics Association has introduced the long awaited NMEA 2000 interface standard. The standard contains the requirements of a serial data communications network to inter-connect marine electronic equipment on vessels. It is multi-master and self configuring, and there is no central network controller. Equipment designed to this standard will have the ability to share data, including commands and status with other compatible equipment over a single channel."
Awarded by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), is Marelux's Yacht Controller. It's not cheap (think $5K), but it's a great 'gadget'. A do-it-all remote control for operating your yacht, even if you're not on board...
Marelux Yacht Controller allows an owner with minimum boating experience to use a small handheld device to totally control the movement of the yacht, and is especially useful for docking. "You can even step onto a dock and handle your own dock lines (though it’s probably a good idea to have someone onboard ready to take over if something goes amiss)."
I raised a question about the rise of the NMEA 2000 standard on Google Groups and got some interesting (but technical) answers that might help you decide on whether or not to spend your time and/or money on this subject and related electronics...
Meindert Sprang: "My biggest problem is the cost involved. To get your first product on the market, you have to buy the standard documents and test suites and apply for a vendor- and product ID. This will cost $10,500 total, quite a hurdle for small manufacturers. My 'all time favourite' would be a marriage between NMEA-0813 and SeaTalk and some other features.
Joe Wood: "Therefore, my favorite solution is NMEA 0183 sentences, text readable ASCII and all, over IP multicast Class E addresses with some entity keeping track of an IP address registry. At 100BaseTX rates each device can put out whatever sentences it wants at whatever rate it wants and the consuming devices can simply subscribe to those multicast IPs it is interested in. Streaming video and all. The silicon is there; the software is there, too."
ShipModul Marine Electronics has come out with a new product, a Bluetooth enabled NMEA multiplexer, that facilitates wireless communication between your PC and marine instruments like a GPS, wind & depth meters or compass. The multiplexer functions as a sort of 'hub' between these different devices, and since it's a Class 1 Bluetooth device, it operates within a theoretical range of 300ft. It works with all products that are based on the NMEA-0183 standard. This surely a nice product, but let's hope Zigbee-devices will arrive soon so that we can cut all cords between sensors, displays, multiplexers (if required at all al that time) and PC's.
"The MiniPlex-42BT communicates with a computer through its' Bluetooth interface for computerized nagivation. No cables need to be attached. Just placing your laptop at the chart table, or just being on board for that matter, is enough to communicate with your navigation system. Both NMEA outputs (talker ports) allow distribution of the NMEA data to up to eight instruments."
Simrad has launched a NMEA 2000 compatible networking system. Using an active interface SimNet is also able to connect to existing equipment using NMEA 0183.
"The new Simrad SimNet plug and play integration system provides an exceptionally easy installation and interface between plotters, radar, autopilots, VHF radios and other instruments. SimNet offers the simplest solution for the integration of marine electronics and is set to revolutionize on board connectivity between navigation, steering and communication systems. It's size makes installation of onboard networks easy, 10mm holes are all that are required to feed the cable through bulkheads and walls and deck. This has been achieved by downsizing the plugs themselves and by designing the system to run without the large "ferrite interference suppresser" blocks found on other data cabling systems."
Networked systems, allowing you to have integrated access to all relevant data on one display, are all the rage these days. Over at Practical-Sailor.com they have a review of two high-end systems: Furuno vs. Raymarine.
"Lots of marine electronics makers produce stand-alone components like a radar, chartplotter, or depthsounder. It used to be the only way to go. But, nowadays integrated units are all the rage, and are available from several manufacturers, including SI-TEX and Simrad. But to take things to the highest level, to what is today the state of the art, you'll need a "networked" system."
KVH has developed a new system, eTrac, allowing crew to send out an emergency message containing realt-time position data. Other systems are availaible, but this complies with all new standards like SOLAS and has low lifetime cost.
"Sadly, the danger of hijacking by international terrorists or boarding by pirates is not limited to large commercial ships," explained Ian Palmer, KVH's vice president of satellite sales. "The ability to alert shore-based authorities instantly to any danger is critical to the safety of crews, passengers, harbors, and people on shore. With its global satellite communications capability, multiple 'panic buttons' and integrated GPS, the KVH eTrac SSAS is well-suited for this task."
Article in The Boating News detailing the effort to stuff an Island Packet 485 with electronics. It's high-end from a main-stream perspective, and the company that carries out the work offers some learnings.
"One aspect to keep in mind is the use of the inverter with the new systems on the market today. The sensitivity of displays in some computers and LCD TVs have created the need for a pure sine wave unit Household items such as microwaves don't seem to have these same problems but a pure sine wave inverter will be more reliable for a computer-based navigation system."
An alarm system that can be hooked up to your outdoor soundsystem might provide a very good solution when problems arise, be it thieves or water.
"Billed as “The only marine alarm system that won’t be ignored,” the VoiceAlarm not only sounds a siren or air horn if a problem is sensed, but it also broadcasts a message in your own (recorded) voice. And it’s loud. With a 240-watt onboard speaker system, your voice can be heard from up to a mile away! Here’s a sample message from the VoiceAlarm Web site: “Warning! Warning! The vessel Laid Back at mooring buoy number 23 in the Salinas Yacht Club Harbor has experienced a high water alarm. Please contact the dockmaster at the Salinas Yacht Club at 727-555-1234 and John Smith at 727-555-1234, immediately!”
Since boats are increasingly stuffed with electronics (instrumental, entertainment, camera's etc), it might make sense to network your boat. And if you do so, consider to create a wireless network since not many boats are built with network drops in every room, let alone on deck.... Another compelling reason is that more and more marina's provide internet access via a Wi-Fi access point, and some companies even offer it up to 30 miles at sea. Business Week runs a 'basics' article on when and how to setup a wireless network. Of course boats have specific requirements, this is a topic I will cover later on.
"Why should I even consider a wireless network for my home? The first question is really why you would want any sort of network. The most common reason is to allow more than one computer to share a broadband Internet connection. Increasingly, though, the home network is moving beyond PCs to include consumer-electronics devices (for example, to obtain electronic TV program guides), game consoles (for online multiplayer gaming), and home-security and heating-and-cooling systems (for control and monitoring)."
Will wireless standard ZigBee be adopted for yachting automation?
Feb 23, 2004
A new wireless standard called ZigBee might especially catch on in the maritime sector. It will enable, a.o., navigational instruments to ccommunicatie wirelessly (with a PC) and has very low power requirements. Furthermore, it will make it very easy to use devices like a PDA or even a cellphone as a wireless monitor. There are similar proprietary things available, but I think a standard based approach will win in the end.
"What you need is a tiny, cheap, low-power wireless device that's only job is to send or receive a few bits of data now and then. That's why ZigBee was created. Designed for home, building, and industrial automation, ZigBee, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, is a catchy buzzword for an ungainly sounding wireless standard -- in this case, IEEE 802.15.4.
ZigBee, which operates at 2.4-GHz, is two-way so it'll be able to log your house's electric, water, gas usage, and send it to your computer for analysis. (That way, you'll have documented evidence next time you yell at your kids for leaving the lights on.) Because ZigBee has a range of only about 30 feet, and sends data in infrequent bursts, batteries could last for a couple of years without having to replace them. Light switch and thermostat manufacturers have joined the ZigBee alliance, along with the usual suspects, such as Philips, Motorola, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard."
Although it has a slow uptake, the NMEA 2000 standard is gaining ground (subscription required). However, it will not be the only networking technology used on yachts, since especially entertainment functionality will require a different performance.
"The NMEA standards committee did look at basing the successor to the 0183 standard on Ethernet, which can easily transmit data in the 10-megabit-per-second range compared to CANbus' relatively sedate 250 kilobits per second. But the committee decided against it since Ethernet-based systems have higher electrical power needs than a CANbus system. 'CAN is a type of Ethernet, but it doesn't have the power requirements,' Anderson said. 'We have a strong eye to cost (when choosing a system). And we didn't want to drive up the cost, especially for small boats.' Because of its limited bandwidth, an NMEA 2000 network can't be used to move around video, radar or electronic chart images. However, that is where proprietary high-speed systems like Furuno's Ethernet-based NavNet and Raymarine's HSB network can be used in conjunction with NMEA 2000 to handle data-heavy applications."
"One company that has embraced NMEA 2000 is Teleflex Morse, which offers a fully compatible NMEA network called MagicBus, along with a variety of instruments and controls. "We started five or six years ago and looked at where the next-generation boat would go," said Teleflex’s Kern. "We were struck by the idea of an open architecture standard. As we progressed, we became more and more convinced it was the right solution. We feel this architecture has the best chance of being around down the road."
NMEA 2000 didn’t go away, it’s just taking a while to hatch
Feb 14, 2004
NMEA 2000 is a standard that "contains the requirements of a serial data communications network to inter-connect marine electronic equipment on vessels. It is multi-master and self configuring, and there is no central network controller. Equipment designed to this standard will have the ability to share data, including commands and status with other compatible equipment over a single channel." Within the home entertainment industry there are similar initiatives and it's always a chicken-end-egg problem when it comes to adoption.
"NMEA itself is certainly feeling good about its standard, reporting brisk sales of manuals and lively recent gatherings of interested companies. And the work of elevating 2000 from national to international status is also going well. Perhaps most important, certain little birdies are telling me that a number of important new NMEA 2000 products will hatch at the fall boat shows. Then perhaps the pioneering efforts of Teleflex and its early adopters will really pay off."
Available within months from now, RNS 5.0 promises to be the integrated solution for sailing. Very importantly, it is as open as possible towards electronics from other manufacturers.
"So what we have here is almost everything it takes for an entirely integrated bridge, and surprisingly the integration extends well beyond Raymarine's own extended family of dedicated electronics."
Home automation applied to yachting, is basically what the Yachtica Integrated System offers, although very proprietary and expensive. But surely there will be a market for this product. It would be interesting to see, however, how technologies like ZigBee and Bluetooth will come along in the maritime market, possibly combined with less expensive software to control them.
"For instance, the master of the vessel shown can not only manage the VIP lighting from anywhere aboard but can also set up scenarios like "film" whereby the dimming, air conditioning, power blinds, etc. can all be set with one-touchscreen -or remote control- button push. Then, while watching the film, he or she could be advised of genset and anchor issues, even take remote action as needed. Oh, and this omniscience can extend off the yacht via cellular."
With highly expensive equipment on board, and even on deck, securing access to your yacht is of critical importance. Several solution directions are possible, this article particularly elaborates on on-board security cameras.
"Digital video tracking is often used these days instead of deck sensors, another type of security system that has been around for several years. As the name implies, deck sensors are feelers placed in various locations underfoot that detect movement. Like digital video tracking, deck sensors are interfaced with voice systems to warn individuals to stay put until you come outside to meet them, and the sensors will trip an alarm if the warning is ignored. However, because installation of these deck sensors requires that your yacht essentially be torn up, Pullens says that CCTVs provide the same advantages more effectively."
Telematics in yachting will provide huge advantages in many ways, with safety ranking as a top application. This article gives an overview of what's availaible on the market today.
"Moreover, telematics technology is on the verge of making major-league contributions to three highly significant areas of the marine realm: vessel safety, onboard security, and owner-assistance underway. And these contributions, in my opinion, rate right up there importance-wise with the invention of the first workable marine VHF radio."
Sailing World is running an article on how wires are being obsoleted by some interesting wireless technology developments. This could save cost and improve sailing performance at the same time.
"Is it far-fetched fantasy? Nope, we're talking here and now. With advances in wireless technology driven by worldwide market demand, racers can either equip their boat with a complete wireless system or upgrade existing instrument systems for wireless data retrieval and display. Wireless technology will allow racers to shave weight all over the boat. There may even be cost savings in boat construction, as boatbuilders will no longer have to spend precious time leading wires."
. I’ve always stubbornly resisted the Mac/iPod/Jobs fervor/hype—in fact, this is my first ever Apple product—but, wow, today my propeller beanie is tipped toward Cupertino. Plenty of smart marine developers have also noticed the slick capabilities of the iPhone/Touch apps platform. Being demoed above, for instance, is 
d XM weather/audio—won’t need a hub (though note that one is still possible, and 
Xantrex Technology, showing how his 
special Garmin GPS port). But I also blame the standard itself, or non standard really, since there is no common plug, let alone standard wire colors (so you’re delighted to come across nice labelling like Northstar’s at right), or even a uniform nomenclature. Plus the typical bare wires are fine gauge, making them hard to handle and hard to secure strongly. Finally, the variable way the negative side of an 0183 data IN or OUT wire pair works—sometimes wired to its negative OUT/IN opposite, sometimes wired to ground, sometimes not wired to anything—further confuses things, and often means that there’s a partial crossover between the power connection strip (upper left) and the data strip. The photo below, and 
I won’t go into Zeus’s claims of efficiency, low noise, etc., though you might want to check out the 
called CANet, which can connect the smaller 292, 392, and 492 plotters with two new black box fishfinders or the new 398 full fishfinder. It sounds like a CANbus variant but is 1 megabit (?). The GSD-22 bb is Garmin’s “first digital sonar, allowing for more precise target separation and depth performance” and also supports Garmin’s MarineNet (Ethernet).
At the NMEA show, Maretron showed off a prototype of this ultrasonic wind sensor that also measures air temp, barometric pressure, and relative humidity. In other words, the 
n NMEA 0183 format (or 2000) via bare wire, standard serial plug, USB, Bluetooth, etc. etc. I have a cheap 
This is the first NMEA 0183 multiplexor I know of that can automatically switch to a back up input for any one of three reasons — “a failure to send any NMEA data, an invalid NMEA sentence checksum, or if the validity flag(s) contained within the NMEA sentence indicate that this data is not valid and should only be used with caution (for GPS and Depth data)”. In other words, you could have 4 GPSs (or, more likely 2 GPSs and 2 sounders) feeding the best available data to, say, a plotter and a PC…no manual backup switches needed. Very slick. Actisense’s site has lots of good information on the 
ConnectFest was one especially notable electronics event at a 2005 Miami Boat Show chock-a-block with the new and notable. NMEA rented a side room where something like 40 devices made by 12 different manufacturers were all connected into one NMEA 2000 backbone…and talking to each other. Members of the trade, press, and public all seemed dazzled by the possibilities. My photo shows a Raymarine 
Brunswick's SmartCraft 
Airmar's new retractable triducer is 
Companies involved in developing this standard will have to push new products onto the market, and they will have to balance the future of their proprietary systems against NMEA 2000. I've highlighted this 
ComNav has renewed its NX2 instrument package. Go 
"The Actisense NMEA combiner combines up to four variable baud rate NMEA channels (4800 baud default) into one standard NMEA output. In addition, it has an RS232 interface to connect to a PC, with variable baud rate, along with diagnostic and setup software, which allows the configuration of which sentences are allowed to pass through the unit, thus allowing the unit to act as a filter on overloaded data streams. The unit also has a CAN interface, to allow future compatibility with the forthcoming NMEA 2000 standard."
"RemoteVision is smaller than a palm PC and features a full LCD graphical screen and simple four-button control. It utilises wireless technology to instantly send and receive signals from B&G's h2000 Hercules and Hydra pilots and instruments. All readings from the instruments can be viewed on the RemoteVision anywhere on a vessel, "be it at the top of a 60ft mast in torrential weather or down in the galley preparing a meal," said the company."
-“It’s the autopilot that’s the most important thing,” he says. And for autopilots, Kinney selected two Furuno NavPilot 500s and added a SC 60 GPS satellite compass."
A lot has been said already about the slow migration from NMEA 0183 towards NMEA 2000. And of the resulting proprietary solutions introduced by most manufacturers. Here's a short 
I was 
Interesting 
Garmin, a relative newcomer in this market, has launched two brand-new radars. With the 
The early adopters of marine electronics can be found in the competitive fishing scene. Here's a story on a guy who outfitted his boat to the fullest extend. Like the 
Raymarine finally 
Todd Huss wrote me an email about a new product he is developing, allowing secure wireless access to navigation information anywhere on a boat. He warns me not to expect it to be cheap at launch, but have a look for yourself at their 
Like I said 
Boat security seems to be a hot topic today... Further to my earlier 
Not a first of its kind, but German firm NAVCOS has 
Stentec Software has launched their 
More and more private yachts are using real time tracking systems to locate their vessels via a web based interface, anywhere and anytime. 
Looking at what you 
Gizmodo 
Yachting World's May 
For more reviews of this interesting system you can visit 
In an 
"CommBox is designed not only for today's data communication requirements, but also with the future in mind. Anything that can communicate through the Internet can communicate through CommBox. CommBox supports all standard mail clients. It can run as a stand-alone e-mail server or as a mail relay server to enhance the performance of existing mail systems. CommBox utilizes dedicated black box technology for superior stability compared to software solutions. Configuration is easy as any user with privileges can control CommBox from any computer in the network with a web browser. CommBox supports all dial-up connections, MPDS and leased line."
A company called Marine Robotic Vessels (MRV) International has 
"Almost any hull can be configured by MRVI as a Ghost Guard™ to function as an affordable method of mounting water-borne surveillance in all weathers and by day and night. The heart of the Ghost Guard system is MRVI's new generation software, which comprises remote command and control, navigation, route planning/re-planning, event and crisis management, full onboard diagnostics and dial-up diagnostics. COTS-sourced integrated systems, including camera and vision systems, will provide surveillance that could not be mounted in any other way. Using a launch and recovery system, Ghost Guard can be deployed, operated and recovered from vessels underway." Click 
Since I was 
One other nice feature that is discussed by the BBC article is voice-control over all these entertainment devices. Again, the development in the automotive sector will create a precedent for yachting. Voice-control can not only be applied to entertainment, but to navigation as well, even more since PC technology is making a strong entry into the maritime environment.
If you'd like a more detailed view on things like NMEA-0183 and GPS, have a look at Peter Bennett's 
Awarded by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), is Marelux's Yacht Controller. It's not cheap (think $5K), but it's a great 'gadget'. A do-it-all remote control for operating your yacht, even if you're not on board...
The multiplexer 
Simrad has launched a NMEA 2000 compatible networking system. Using an active interface SimNet is also able to connect to existing equipment using NMEA 0183.
Networked systems, allowing you to have integrated access to all relevant data on one display, are all the rage these days. Over at Practical-Sailor.com they have a 
"Sadly, the danger of hijacking by international terrorists or boarding by pirates is not limited to large commercial ships," explained Ian Palmer, KVH's vice president of satellite sales. "The ability to alert shore-based authorities instantly to any danger is critical to the safety of crews, passengers, harbors, and people on shore. With its global satellite communications capability, multiple 'panic buttons' and integrated GPS, the KVH eTrac SSAS is well-suited for this task."
"One aspect to keep in mind is the use of the inverter with the new systems on the market today. The sensitivity of displays in some computers and LCD TVs have created the need for a pure sine wave unit Household items such as microwaves don't seem to have these same problems but a pure sine wave inverter will be more reliable for a computer-based navigation system."
An 
Since boats are increasingly stuffed with electronics (instrumental, entertainment, camera's etc), it might make sense to network your boat. And if you do so, consider to create a wireless network since not many boats are built with network drops in every room, let alone on deck.... Another compelling reason is that more and more marina's 
"NMEA itself is certainly feeling good about its standard, reporting brisk sales of manuals and lively recent gatherings of interested companies. And the work of elevating 2000 from national to international status is also going well. Perhaps most important, certain little birdies are telling me that a number of important new NMEA 2000 products will hatch at the fall boat shows. Then perhaps the pioneering efforts of Teleflex and its early adopters will really pay off."
"For instance, the master of the vessel shown can not only manage the VIP lighting from anywhere aboard but can also set up scenarios like "film" whereby the dimming, air conditioning, power blinds, etc. can all be set with one-touchscreen -or remote control- button push. Then, while watching the film, he or she could be advised of genset and anchor issues, even take remote action as needed. Oh, and this omniscience can extend off the yacht via cellular."
"Digital video tracking is often used these days instead of deck sensors, another type of security system that has been around for several years. As the name implies, deck sensors are feelers placed in various locations underfoot that detect movement. Like digital video tracking, deck sensors are interfaced with voice systems to warn individuals to stay put until you come outside to meet them, and the sensors will trip an alarm if the warning is ignored. However, because installation of these deck sensors requires that your yacht essentially be torn up, Pullens says that CCTVs provide the same advantages more effectively."
Telematics in yachting will provide huge advantages in many ways, with safety ranking as a top application. This article gives an 
"Is it far-fetched fantasy? Nope, we're talking here and now. With advances in wireless technology driven by worldwide market demand, racers can either equip their boat with a complete wireless system or upgrade existing instrument systems for wireless data retrieval and display. Wireless technology will allow racers to shave weight all over the boat. There may even be cost savings in boat construction, as boatbuilders will no longer have to spend precious time leading wires."