Connect your NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 marine electronics with an onboard computer

On-board computers are common equipment in today's world, and there are a number of different ways to get enter your vessel data into the computer with the help of Actisense products, depending on; format.

Connecting NMEA 0183 to PC
It is not recommended to connect NMEA 0183 devices to a PC directly, without some form of isolation. Doing this opens up the risk of ground loops that can damage both the PC and the NMEA 0183 device. For full protection of both the NMEA device and your PC, we recommend using an Actisense USG-2, which has isolation on; both the input and the output, and a USB connection that allows easy connection to the built-in PC.

A slightly cheaper option that we recommend as an absolute minimum electrical protection when interfacing NMEA 0183 devices to a PC Actisense OPTO-4. This will provide isolation to the PC input but not the output. If your PC does not have a serial port, you also need; a USB to serial adapter.

Alternatively, the USBKIT-REG / USBKIT-PRO can be used to connect an Actisense device to the PC using the serial connection on the the device. This method can be simpler because it removes the requirement for a serial cable and a serial to USB converter. However, it does not provide the same level of protection; as it is for the Opto-4 method.

Connecting NMEA 2000 to PC
To transfer NMEA 2000 data from the NMEA 2000 The network to a PC is a simple process thanks to the Actisense NMEA 2000 to PC Gateway (NGT-1). NGT-1 is sold as two; variants, but in most scenarios (where the computer has a USB port) the NGT-1-USB is the product of your choice because it allows "plug and play".

The NGT-1 can transfer all 163+ PGNs and is also compatible with Mac and Linux as well as Windows, meaning you are not limited by a particular operating system.

An important point to note: The application used with the NGT-1 is responsible for configuring the NGT-1 for each session when it opens the COM port to the NGT-1. For example, the NMEA Reader will by default set NGT-1 to "Receive:All". This means that the NGT-1 will receive all PGNs available on; the NMEA2000 network and it will appear in the NMEA Reader.

Så What do you do with all this data once it reaches the computer?
There are a number of different options available when you have data on; your PC, depending onå use cases and requirements. This can range from using chartplotter software such as OpenCPN with your 0183 data, to running diagnostics on; your NMEA 2000 network with NGT-1 and Actisense NMEA Reader.

A common scenario is to use NGT-1 with Maxsea TimeZero, which is a widely used program for is marine navigation/chart plotting on your PC. Timezero will configure the NGT-1 for the data it needs and can display, giving you access to your NMEA 2000 data on; a clean, graphical screen.

We can however, a step further than that; comes with diagnostics and data should you need it.

Using our free download program NMEA Reader in combination with the NGT-1 gives you access to all the PGNs that currently there are the bus. Since NMEA 2000 PGN is not human-readable, decoding is required in order to display it first. data in them, which is where our NMEA Reader program excels. Each PGN (except properties) is decomposed, especially; each field is displayed with its own parameters in a converted, readable format, which makes diagnostics on; your network simple.

Using our free download program NMEA Reader in combination with NGT-1 gives you access to all PGNs currently available on; the bus. Since NMEA 2000 PGN is not human-readable, decoding is required in order to display it first. data in them, which is where our NMEA Reader program excels. Each PGN (except properties) is decomposed, especially; each field is displayed with its own parameters in a converted, readable format, which makes diagnostics on; your network simple.