wrote in news:1176244717.431800.16850
@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.



Until you add navigation computer software.....

The Cap'n, for instance, uses the wind, speed log, depth, and other data
in making its "informed" decision on what to tell the autopilot to
do....not just steer a course. It uses drift caused by wind and current,
extrapolated by the GPS as well as the wind to make course decisions,
putting in the appropriate crab angle to get the desired course over
ground, constantly adjusting the course it wants the autopilot to steer
as conditions change. At night, you can switch it into wind mode and
have it steer the boat, in the dark, to the relative wind, instead, IF it
has WIND data to use, of course....

Once filled with these sailing instrument outputs, it's like having a
ghost at the helm...a very well-founded helmsman ghost, indeed. Now, the
ghost is watching and plotting AIS aboard the ghost ship "Lionheart" with
the latest version. MO DATA!

In an effort to force you to buy THEIR brands, manufacturers are
proprietarizing (is that a word??) their "systems" to prevent, or at
least retard, your choices.

This is why we decided to add more B&G "Network" instruments to the ones
already aboard Lionheart (Amel Sharki 41 ketch) when my friend Geoffrey
bought her. B&G Network instruments, including B&G Pilot, which, itself
quite independently if you like, can read all the wind/speed/depth/etc.
sailing instrument data in its NMEA-0183 "loop" B&G ingeniously created
to get around the stupid ONE talker limitation of NMEA 0183, while
retaining all the data for external use. These instruments are no longer
produced, but they are available from many sources. A standardized
jumper cable goes from instrument to instrument putting all of them in a
loop, even the control head for the Network Pilot autopilot. The
standard NMEA-0183, standard speed, data jumps from instrument to
instrument around the complete loop, with each instrument retransmitting
what it has received, while adding and updating its own particular NMEA
statements and passing it all on to the next instrument. This works just
great! Independently from any external computer, you can simply switch
Network Pilot to WIND and it ignores data coming in the NMEA IN port from
the external NMEA network outside the B&G loop...steering the boat quite
happily from the B&G WIND instrument's speed/azimuth output inside the
loop. This gives us redundant steering from many sources, in case of
equipment failure or computer crash, instantly, with no changes other
than pushing a button on the Pilot. Works great and the "learning" the
Pilot's computer does to smooth out turns, etc, is uncanny. B&G's NEW
instruments all have a proprietary data network that's not friendly to
outsiders....on the NMEA network. I'm glad I'm not fighting that extra
conversion box they sell to translate it. With B&G "Network", you just
opened any wire in the loop and tapped the data out of the inside of it
and fed it to your multiplexer input (only 1 for all the B&G instruments
in the cluster). No translation was necessary...less boxes.

The coordinated turns in any REASONABLE wind/current/speed situation is
so smooth....no overshoot or undershoot....Ghosts don't oversteer..(c;

Larry
--

On Apr 10, 11:38 pm, Larry wrote:
wrote in news:1176244717.431800.16850
@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

SNIP

The coordinated turns in any REASONABLE wind/current/speed situation is
so smooth....no overshoot or undershoot....Ghosts don't oversteer..(c;

Larry
--

Larry

Many thanks for your info.

Matt

And then I think it's fair to say, that if you use Raymarine/SeaTalk it is
(depite disadvantages of a propritary standard) extremely easy to
interconnect and at absolutely no extra cost. So if you do; why not
interconnect and get the extra features for free. And true wind is a must,
unless you call yourself 'Wilbur Hubbard' and is satisfied with sloppy
sailing and use your saved energy on being rude to people posting relevant
questions.

Bjarke

wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 10, 11:38 pm, Larry wrote:
wrote in news:1176244717.431800.16850
@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

SNIP

The coordinated turns in any REASONABLE wind/current/speed situation is
so smooth....no overshoot or undershoot....Ghosts don't oversteer..(c;

Larry
--

Larry

Many thanks for your info.

Matt

This past winter I thought it would be a great time to upgrade my
dated sailing instruments. I spent many hours researching all the
vendors, and in the end I went with Raymarine. I was so impressed
with the ease of self installation and setup, that I ordered a new
C80, GPS, and Wheel pilot the same night. My "old" (2006) GPS unit is
still in perfect working condition, and I am using it as a backup
now. I was worried about the Seatalk standard at the start, however,
I am a absolutley impressed with the whole system. With the C80, and
the autopilot the both offer NMEA out which will broadcast many of the
Seatalk (not all) sentences to other on board equipment. Although the
instuments cost a bit more than others up front you are getting a well
engineered product, that you should not have to fuss with.

Mike

"mlkress" wrote in news:1176468858.686885.36230
@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

I was worried about the Seatalk standard at the start, however,
I am a absolutley impressed with the whole system.

I'd just wish they'd drop the wired serial bus nonsense and go BLUETOOTH
with everything on the boat! It's time everything was WIRELESS, even the
sensors in the bilge! The speed log Bluetooth pairs with the log
transducer. The radar scanner Bluetooth pairs with the radome for video
and control.

Same with all the rest....(c;

Larry
--

The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?

There's also the potential reduction in cabling. You can have multiple
sensors daisy-chained together on the network instead of running wire from
each of them to a display. Less wire, less weight, less to break, less to
pay for. Granted, a single network is a potential single point of failure.
Or a defective device can, in some situations, disrupt the rest of the
network traffic. Fortunately it's easy to plug/unplug such devices to skip
over them. I keep a space seatalk 3 port junction and an extra 25' cable on
board just for such situations.

If he's upgrading the chartplotter make sure the power wiring to it is
correct. The gauge on mine is a little too thin and results in just enough
voltage drop to be a problem when the systems battery starts to drain. When
it was 12v at the battery terminals it was 11.4v at the plotter and got
worse as the system battery drained. Re-wiring with heavier gauge power AND
ground to the plotter eliminated this problem. So have your friend use a
volt meter at the equipment, and then at the battery, to make sure it's
sufficient. It'll save him the debugging headaches later...

wrote:
Question to the collective.

A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments located
in the cockpit bulkhead.

The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.

Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.


Matt

At the very least, make sure the GPS is connected to the VHF-DSC via
NMEA. This way, in the event of an emergency, or even if just
communicating with other boaters via DSC, your GPS position will
automatically be transmitted. The Coast Guard's new systems make use of
this feature. So does Sea Tow.

Larry Weiss
"...Ever After!"