Tips & tricks for monitoring and maintaining elaborate networks

Large and complex networks can be intimidating, especially for an installer and a carrier carrying out some of the the work itself. This short article will provide some tips and tricks for managing these elaborate networks, making your life easier.

Perhaps the most important part of the whole process ä r the planning stage. When we talk about installing new networks, or adding extra equipment to networks that are already large and comprehensive, it is important that the "idea" is carried out ;rable. Careful network and cabling planning makes it much easier to manage a busy network.

Sure, på small ships, the network topology and power management may not be a problem, but on large systems the voltage drop and current consumption of each device are critical and calculations must be made for this.

You can read more about Use cases and power usage include: https://actisense.com/news/how-to-calculate-a-voltage-drop/< /a>

Part of planning is creating and maintaining charts. Large networks will have a large number of devices, cables and connections. There is nothing that can be kept track of; in your head, and it doesn't make sense anyway when another installer comes out to the boat because they wouldn't have a clue where anything was connected.

You can see example på Actisense network diagram.

With this in mind, the network and devices should be designed and installed with ease of maintenance in mind. if it is possible. Devices should be easy to remove and replace or inspect and the network cables and power cables should also; be hidden but easy to find in the scenario that something needs to be replaced.

Cable management is a bit of a "given" tip but it's always worth it to mention. Äeven if the NMEA 2000 cable ä ;r easy to handle, can NMEA 0183 cabling can be a real nightmare if it is not handled correctly; very sweet.

It is an all-too-common sight to discover that behind the shoot there is a profusion of threads like a red nest. Although this is not the end of world, doesn't it make life easier when we want to monitor or replace an instrument or make a new connection to additional devices. Keep cables tied together and use cable and wire where possible to keep the installation clean, tidy and easy to manage.

Apart from; n the physical layer and planning of the networks, it is also recommended; to have a couple of gateway devices installed that can provide you with network data.

A NMEA 2000 to PC interfaces such as Actisense NGT-1-USB is a perfect example of this. The device can transfer all available NMEA 2000 data to a PC application that you can monitor, along with a list of all currently connected and powered devices on the backbone, and the SRC address + manufacturer information for the products. This makes it much easier to manage and monitor your network by providing a "live" insight into what is currently going on; your NMEA 2000 network.< /p>

Exactly the same principle can be applied with a NMEA 0183 to PC gateway as Actisense USG-2 . The only difference is that this can only monitor the output of the device connected to it, so if you want to monitor several data streams, you need a multiplexer like NDC-5 is used to combine NMEA The 0183 sentences to an output before it is connected to USG-2.

A good alternative to this if you föredrar trådlös communication är Actisense W2K-1 Wireless Gateway. The device is connected to the NMEA 2000 network and logs every bit of data to the internal SD card, and can also be configured to output data through a number of different formats. A common application of this is to use W2K-1 configured to output data in NMEA 0183, and an application such as Navionics or OpenCPN.

The recently added Actisense-i the diagnostic capabilities of W2K-1 adds an extra layer to your bow when monitoring your network, as the device now can display a number of parameters and pieces of information that give you a basic insight into what is happening right there; time on the network. Thanks to W2K-1's ability to connect to another network as a client allows the vessel to be monitored on distance if there is a trådlös or 4G/5G connection on board.