Horizon GX1700

Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
The GX1700 manual states that the radio outputs "dsc" data, and it would seem that it would output received GPS position data from another dsc radio, however, on the very next page of the manual, it clearly states it only outputs the GPS strings pertinent to the actual position of this radio.
Has anybody tried this, and seen anything show up on a plotter about another MMSI location?
 
Oct 22, 2014
352
Pearson P303 #221 RockPort Maine
The GX1700 manual states that the radio outputs "dsc" data, and it would seem that it would output received GPS position data from another dsc radio, however, on the very next page of the manual, it clearly states it only outputs the GPS strings pertinent to the actual position of this radio.
Has anybody tried this, and seen anything show up on a plotter about another MMSI location?
This is the model I used when I was on the rocks depressed DSC and no answers. Afterwards, replaced it with an ICOM. Your boat your choice.
 
Jan 4, 2010
1,037
Farr 30 San Francisco
I think you need to hook the radio to a GPS signal for the DSC to work. Once you do that the radio will display lat/long SOG all that stuff.
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
Allow me to clarify my question. The GX1700 has a built in gps. It does all its internal dsc stuff internally. The book states that it outputs dsc based position data about other dsc stations to the rs422 bus, which suggests that you can read this data on a plotter. The list of sentences it references suggest the data being output are only internal to the GX1700 and do not relate to “other” stations.
Whether the radio itself functions as per the design spec, or any particular users experience is not part of the question, and it is my boat, and it is my choice, thank you very much.
 
Jan 4, 2010
1,037
Farr 30 San Francisco
So this is what the radio can output to the chart plotter

  1. NMEA Output (DSC and GPS Information)
    • The NMEA 0183 output sentences are DSC and DSE.
    • GSA, GSV, GLL, GGA, and RMC sentences can be output in the

    GX1700 by setting through the GPS setup menu (refer to section “14.11

    NMEA OUTPUT (GX1700)”).

    I expect the DSC sentence could throw something up on your chart plotter, assuming your chart plotter has the SW to decode it.

    The DSC stuff is limited it isn't like AIS where you will get targets on your chart plotter for every AIS transponder equipped object. The DSC will more like SV Expensive (lat/long) flooding. You won't see that message very often
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
"Position request"?
Section 9.7 in the manual?
Yes. 6.5.1 talks about “dsc output to a plotter” but I think that my be a slightly convoluted way of saying that it outputs gps data. 9.7 suggests this incoming position data is displayed, but there’s no clear indication that the data is output on the rs422 line(s) and no indication of what the sentence headers are.
Not that Ray would ever tell anybody what Lighthouse listens to or would display. :). It might be interesting to see another vessel populated in the chart display. It amounts to no more than a cool toy.

John, yeah, that’s kinda the way I read it too. The Ray a65 does not state anyplace that it’s literate enough to understand the dialect, so even if the data were output to the bus, there’s probably less guarantee that it would know what to do with it.

Such is the fun with this stuff. The possibility exists, reality is usually something quite different.

On the upside, however, the latest firmware for the Ram3 does display it, abet, as a gps position. Big deal. :)