nmea and garmin 541s

[motocrunch]

I am unsure so I will ask. I have bought a Garmin 541s for a chart plotter backup to my Lowrance lcx-112c. I want to install a Garmin gfs10 fuel sensor. What I am unsure of is do I have to buy the starter kit backbone? Or can I just plug it into the nmea input on the 541s. There is a dedicated plug but I am guessing It still needs the starter kit. Which is correct

[Prowler@c]

Yes. You need to build an NMEA2000 network. Starter kit needed.

[motocrunch]

Thanks for the confirmation

[Prowler@c]

You're dash layout looks like you would be a good candidate for the new
Simrad NSS12 evo2. Sick unit and will work with your existing ducer. Also comes with structure scan which is a great tool for finding dive spots.

[motocrunch]

I just installed a new Airmar B117 0 degree thru hull for my Lowrance unit and the Garmin will be using the factory dual frequency skimmer as a back up. also waiting for the gps/glonass antenna to get here......next purchase after paying a few old bills will be a re-power. I found a gxm 51 antenna for 350.00 but that seems like a lot just to get weather info. when I can get it on the phone free

[Tyson Brown]

Here's an example NMEA 2000 network. The main components are the end-of-line resistors and a power input that some of the bus devices (like your fuel flow sensor) use. If you plugged your fuel sensor straight into your plotter, it probably wouldn't be supplied with power from the plotter, and it might not communicate right without the end of line resistors.



Real-life example (LowranceNET = NMEA 2000):

[Tyson Brown]

Originally Posted by motocrunch

.... I found a gxm 51 antenna for 350.00 but that seems like a lot just to get weather info. when I can get it on the phone free

Phones don't work where I go. I get signal maybe 5-10 miles off coast, then nothing.

[motocrunch]

Thanks Tyson, I know nmea has been around for a while now, but I still miss my Loran C.
Its pretty new to me, and I wish I had went this way from the beginning. A nmea network is the only way to go.
Looks so simple and not getting power to run the gfs10 from the chart plotter makes a lot of sense.
Next question: should I set up the Lowrance or the Garmin is there significant cost/performance differences. I understand that the XM antenna for the Lowrance is only a hundred bucks but the nmea connectors cost more. I appreciate any input. Say I was to try the Simrad or another manufacturer later on an electronics upgrade are there compatible systems that may not require a refit of nmea components.

[kmoose]

IMHO Garmin is the way to go, especially when it comes to user friendly software. Most of the commercial fishermen I know use Garmin plotters and stand alone fishfinders of numerous brands. The fish finding capabilities of the Garmin products is really starting float to the top but it's expensive. What you have will probably do all you need but if you ever start using 10"+ chartplotters you will never want to go back to anything smaller.

[motocrunch]

Lowrance is 10.4"

[Tyson Brown]

I like the Lowrance touchscreens a lot. However, don't buy your plotter based on the cost of the NMEA connectors. As a matter of fact, just ignore all that. NMEA 2000 is a standard communications path, and anyone's cords/connectors will work with anyone's devices.

You may or may not be able to get your plotter to understand data from a 3rd party sensor (fuel flow, memory module, etc...), but at least you don't have to be concerned about the network backbone (cords / connectors / power feeds / resistors) itself.

You might want to stop by West Marine or some store like that and give some of the units a try - you can try out creating & navigating to waypoints, see how easy it is to pull stuff up.

Second best thing is to look at demo videos or product emulators online.

Lowrance HDS G2 Touchscreen: http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/HDS-Gen2-Touch/

Garmin new products: http://marine2015.garmin.com/en-US/coastal

[Tyson Brown]

Originally Posted by motocrunch

Say I was to try the Simrad or another manufacturer later on an electronics upgrade are there compatible systems that may not require a refit of nmea components.

I'm not 100% sure if your fuel flow sensor would always be able to talk properly with any plotter - it may. The plotter wouldn't have any trouble RECEIVING the data, but it *might* not understand it. At worst, you might have to replace the sensor, but you would not ever have to change the NMEA 2000 network backbone parts (cables / connectors / etc)

[motocrunch]

All great info.....man I cant believe that I have gone so long without this knowledge. Been diving and fishing commercially since 2004 and been around boats all my life.
Admittedly this is my first brand new boat. But knowing what I know now I would have done things differently. thanks again to all for the info

[Seal Rock]

Originally Posted by motocrunch

All great info.....man I cant believe that I have gone so long without this knowledge. Been diving and fishing commercially since 2004 and been around boats all my life.
Admittedly this is my first brand new boat. But knowing what I know now I would have done things differently. thanks again to all for the info

NMEA 2000 is an industry agreed upon standard, more data and greater bandwidth than NMEA 0183. The starter kit includes a piece which provides 12V to the network (your backbone and all those T's) to power connected sensors and stuff like that. I believe the Garmin XM antenna runs off such power source. This makes it convenient only having to run one cable to a device. Some devices like a Fusion radio actually require a special NMEA adaptor (available through Fusion because, again, NMEA is a standard) that doesn't push 12V through the NMEA cable to the device.

The bottom line if all your individual devices have software and firmware up to date and they have code for running such an inpute the devices automatically show up as options, readouts, etch. For example, when I plugged the NMEA 2000 cable into the Fusion and the Garmin plotter a music icon showed up on the plotter.

What NMEA won't do is pass high bandwidth information between devices like sonar images, radar returns, etc. For that you need to network such devices.

Hope that helps.

[kmoose]

Originally Posted by motocrunch

All great info.....man I cant believe that I have gone so long without this knowledge. Been diving and fishing commercially since 2004 and been around boats all my life.
Admittedly this is my first brand new boat. But knowing what I know now I would have done things differently. thanks again to all for the info

I didn't know Tempest was still producing new consumer level boats. I really like their hull designs. Who over there is selling them?