Mnea 0183

[fred1diver]

Hey everyone, I just received my data/power cable for my lowrance hook4 and I'm trying to connect it to my standard horizon gx1200, seems simple enough exept both companies use different terminology on their installation manuals, has anyone hooled these or similar units? Any help would be appreciated, looking to know which colors go with which

Lowrance mentions tx_a, tx_b, rx_a, rx_b and ground
But standard horizon talks about out +, out-, in + and out - but no ground, where do I ground the cable?

 

[bawlmer]

Try the link below. It may be helpful. I went through this 3 years ago and managed to get it done after a few tries. I would also call SH tech support. They are on the ball.


http://www.gpscity.com/lowrance-nmea-0183-adapter-cable.html

 

[fred1diver]

thanks steve
I contacted both lowrance and SH, SH replied very quickly, but I'm still short some info, so I'm waiting for Lowrance to reply

 

[fred1diver]

I managed to connect the wires, so far it seems to work, my radio displays my coordinates
now I have to see if the ais works next time I'm on the water, that and figure out how to get a mmsi number

 

[Tally Ho]

... that and figure out how to get a mmsi number

http://www.boatus.com/MMSI/MMSI/ObtainMMSI#!

Greg

 

[Jon Bastien]

Tally Ho beat me to it; BoatUS can issue a MMSI number under certain conditions; The FCC handles the rest.

Although, looking at your info block, it appears you're Canadian- If that's true, Google tells me you can apply for free at any Industry Canada office. (Transport Canada link: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/oep-navigation-radiocomms-faqs-1489.htm#04 )

 

[fred1diver]

yeah, I'm on the canadian side, I'm going to call them today to find out the procedure to get it

 

[joker460]

Here is the form to fill out: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf08138.html

 

[fred1diver]

thanks, they are fast, I Emailed them this morning the form and by lunch I had my number

 

[bgary]

Just to add a tidbit that I learned when I did my electronics:
Some electronics require two leads for each NMEA-0183 channel (eg, TX+ and TX- are both sides of a circuit that sends data OUT of the device.)
Other manufacturers require one lead - so RX_A and RX_B are the *positive* side of two different channels IN to the device. This type of device uses the device-ground to provide ground to the NMEA-ports

To make data flow from one to the other,
-- connect TX+ to RX_A or RX_B (your choice)
-- connect TX- to boat-ground
To go the other way,
-- connect TX_A or TX_B (your choice) to RX+
-- connect RX- to boat-ground

Whichever way you go, in general the "baud rate" (data transmit speed) has to match on both devices. Normally NMEA-0183 is at 4800 baud, but if you're connecting a GPS it requires 38,400 baud (which some devices call "NMEA-0183HS", for "high speed")
Hope that helps.... took far less time to type than it took me to figure that out ;-)