Winter Project - Instrumentation

[jssailem]

I don't think analog transducers are going away soon.

Transducer is at its heart an analog instrument. It sends out a sound wavy times the sound wave returns and turns the time of the return into a data stream. Think it will be around a while.

 

[Ward H]

Unless it is a speed transducer, which is simply an off/on switch. I think we're talking about whether the transducer, depth/speed/wind, is sending an analog or digital signal to the display. But you Navy guys..........

 

[jssailem]

The signal comes in analog and gets changed to a digital signal. Pretty clever for a Navy guy.

 

[lehighsail]

Your willing assistant is here available to hold the screwdrivers and hammers for the installation. Let me know if you need a hand at some point. Notice I did not say 'able'.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

The signal comes in analog and gets changed to a digital signal. Pretty clever for a Navy guy.

@Ward H is right both the wind speed and water speed are digital signals. For the rest, in the limit digital can only approximate an analog input

 

[Ward H]

@LeslieTroyer
Actually, how all of this works is a "bit" over my head. RS232, RS422, NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, DeviceNet, SeaTalk, SeaTalkng.
It was only when I bought the EV-100 and it came with some SeaTalkng network components did I really start looking into it. The N2K for Dummies and Seatalk NG Demystified threads, the Raymarine SeaTalkng Reference Manual and the RM instrument manuals have helped me have a basic understanding of the SeaTalkng network.
How the data moves back and forth is still beyond me.

 

[jssailem]

It moves at the speed of light.

 

[jssailem]

@LeslieTroyer has an app on his laptop that shows the string of messages on the backbone. Looks like a nonstop fast talkers TelePrompter.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

SeatalkNG is just NMEA2000 with different wire and connectors, that make running it a bit easier, and harder to get wrong. It is basically a derivative of CAN (car area network) that is in all modern autos. Like the others mentioned it is a serial protocol, so the signal is toggled high and low very fast to represent 1 or 0. Like John said looking at the messages in an analyzer helps see what is happening - so we can do that when you come out here.

Les

 

[lehighsail]

This all is why I said I would bring a hammer to help do the install.

 

[Meriachee]

The only thing you really need to know is that you need “like for like”. That means pretty much Ray and Ray, Garmin and Garmin and do on. Yes you can mix, but it’s not always so easy, and very infrequently is there supporting docs to tell you what will, and more importantly, what will not talk.
It would be really nice if all these guys would settle on something like a marinized Ethernet, and supporting languages, but that’ll probably never happen.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

@LeslieTroyer has an app on his laptop that shows the string of messages on the backbone. Looks like a nonstop fast talkers TelePrompter.

I’m not sure what’s more chatty. John or the network traffic.