expansion ports

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gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
I have a Garmin 3210 chartplotter. It has only one input port, RJ 45 jack. I have my radar going into that.

If I add extra devices like ais or xm, I need an expansion port. $400 at worst marine, around $210 online.

Is there anything special about the garmin port expander?
Can I buy a non marine RJ 45 I/O black box?

Also, will various manufacturers VHF radios with AIS play nice with my garmin. I know nmea SHOULD make it work, but...
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
I have a 3206 which is the exact same CP with a smaller screen. I think the port expander is simply a marinized Ethernet hub but cannot confirm that. I do have the port expander to connect another CP at the nav station, my radar and sonar.

My AIS and AP are connected via NMEA 0183.

 
kenn

kenn

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Apr 18, 2009
1,271
CL Sandpiper 565 Toronto
(Nice diagram TimR! Saved as a reference.)

I know a fair amount about Ethernet and networking, and i'm starting to come to grips with NMEA standards and marine applications of Ethernet. I attended a joint Furuno/Maretron seminar earlier this spring.

I too suspect that the "marine" hubs are simply marinized hubs, though the marinazation might be extensive, including better PC boards. Since the connectors, pinouts and standards are standard ethernet, I wouldn't be afraid to try a standard small hub in place of a marine hub... nothing will blow up, the worst that could happen is that it doesn't work. Assuming correct cables etc.

I've also observed that the "marine" ethernet cables are shielded, and are usually crossover cables, instead of pin-for-pin, as is common in most current ethernet networks. Are there reasons why this is so?
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
Thanks Kenn

As for cabling...I bought standard RJ45 connectors, cable and a crimper from an electronics supply house to feed radar from the radar on the mast to the base of the mast. A female to female jumper connected the garmin cable to the plotter. Works just fine.

I think I'm in the market for an ethernet hub!
 
kappykaplan

kappykaplan

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May 1, 2011
5,474
Pearson 37 Lusby MD
Crossover cables . . .

kenn said:
(Nice diagram TimR! Saved as a reference.)

. . . and are usually crossover cables, instead of pin-for-pin, as is common in most current ethernet networks. Are there reasons why this is so?
Click to expand
Here's a SWAG: One uses crossover cables to connect PCs direct to one another to exchange data. If you don't have a crossover cable you need a router and the smarts to set up a network, sharing, etc.
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
kappykaplan said:
Here's a SWAG: One uses crossover cables to connect PCs direct to one another to exchange data. If you don't have a crossover cable you need a router and the smarts to set up a network, sharing, etc.
Click to expand
Actually you need a switch. Many people confuse the terms router and switch. A switch is a layer 2 network device that typically connects components of the same network. A router is a layer 3 device that can connect two different networks. A layer 2 switch can act as a router. A router can have a switch module to work like a switch. Confused yet? ;-)

The Garmin network in question uses all the same network so a switch or a hub would be sufficient(and cheaper). The difference between a hub and a switch is that a switch can limit broadcast and collision traffic between ports where a hub cannot. I do not think you can even buy a hub any more.
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
gettinthere said:
Thanks Kenn

As for cabling...I bought standard RJ45 connectors, cable and a crimper from an electronics supply house to feed radar from the radar on the mast to the base of the mast. A female to female jumper connected the garmin cable to the plotter. Works just fine.

I think I'm in the market for an ethernet hub!
Click to expand
Making your own cables can be a real PITA. Especially if you do not have a tester and have not done it before. You need to make sure you buy the right connectors for the type of cable you have. Stranded verses solid. Stranded cable is much easier to work with. Also, I think you need to have the cable connectors with the shielding tab built in.

BTW, Garmin does sell the correct rj45 connectors for their Cable and it includes the necessary shielding and weather caps.
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
I do have a cable tester and a crimping tool and miracle of miracles, it actually worked!

All this other stuff has my head spinning though, maybe the black n tan will help?
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
gettinthere said:
I do have a cable tester and a crimping tool and miracle of miracles, it actually worked!

All this other stuff has my head spinning though, maybe the black n tan will help?
Click to expand
Yes, the black n tan will help! That is how I learned this stuff.
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
I'm looking at the SH Matrix 2150 VHF/AIS radio.
I'll want to feed the AIS to my Garmin 3210 chartplotter and the VHF needs GPS input for the AIS.

So I need:
GPS Antenna to plotter
Radar to plotter
AIS to plotter
Maybe XM to the plotter someday
Maybe second plotter at nav station someday

GPS Antenna to the VHF

The Garmin GPS has a round plug that is integrated with the power feed. Can I tap into that to split out GPS to the AIS?

Radar, AIS and XM would all go the the ethernet hub to feed the plotter.

How would I feed the second plotter?

Simple??
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
The GPS17HVS that I use did not come with a connector. It is a NMEA 0183 antenna. You can tap into the bare wires very easily. The 3210 and it's antenna should not have any type of modular plug. The ends that connect to the devices themselves have plugs but they should be connected together via crimps, terminal block or some other means.

The second plotter gets the antenna feed via the first plotter via the GMS10 network. The first plotter does not even need to be powered on.

If you look at my nav station plotter you will see it has no dedicated connection to a GPS antenna. It does have the ability to connect to a "backup" below deck antenna in case the one on the rail gets damaged.
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
From dog:

"I don't think Garmin is using the standard ethernet pinouts for their ethernet cables. They say that a PC can't be connected to their Garmin ethernet network, probably because the pin outs for their ethernet devices is proprietary. There are 24 different combinations of pinouts they could have used. "

Are Garmin pinouts readily available an easily dealt with? Or will this become a rats nest not worth messing with.
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
I chickened out and bought the Garmin port expander.

I also bought the Standard Horizon matrix GX2150 VHF/AIS radio.
The Matrix has 6 wires for GPS & AIS wiring. I'm wondering if I can crimp one RJ45 connector to the Matrix 6 wire bundle and feed that to the Garmin port expander and be all good?

I plan on calling SH Monday to see what they might say but thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has first hand experience.
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
Don't try it. Those wires on the SH radio are NMEA 0183 only I believe. They are not compatible with the Garmin network.
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
Talked to SH.

They have wiring instructions for 3000 series Garmin plotters.
He felt it would work to use the RJ 45 connector but could not give wiring specifics.

Are you saying garmin won't work with 0183?
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
gettinthere said:
Talked to SH.

They have wiring instructions for 3000 series Garmin plotters.
He felt it would work to use the RJ 45 connector but could not give wiring specifics.

Are you saying garmin won't work with 0183?
Click to expand
Garmin works fine with 0183 but not through the network interface. It must be hard wired to the 0183 interface on the VHF.
 
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