Supplementary Hardware
Table Of Contents
AIS Receiver USB dongle
This AIS receiver is cheap , consume almost no power and is simple to connect (USB dongle):http://www.radargadgets.com/buyais.htm
It works on Windows with a supplied driver and is recognized directly by my Linux kernel 2.6.35 (Ubuntu 10.10) as /dev/ttyACM0. Output is NMEA readable by OpenCPN. Resuts as good as when using my FT857 + sound card + AISMON under Windows or FT 857 + sound card + GnuAIS under Linux.
GPS Devices
| Model | Vendor | Linux | Windows | Mac OS X |
| BU-353 USB | Various | Yes, native | Yes with driver | Yes with driver |
| Foretrex 201 | Garmin | Pl2303 driver and gpsd. Gpsd hotplugging is disabled for the device, so you need to edit the gpsd udev rules. | ? | ? |
| GPS126 GPS128 | Garmin | "Send Route to GPS" Only the waypoints are transferred, not the route | ? | |
| GPSmap 76CSx | Garmin | GPS is connected via USB cable. Works with OCPN stable 2.3.1 and beta 2.4.708 on Ubuntu 10.04 with kernel 2.6.38 and gpsd 2.95 via Network LIBGPS as NMEA source | ? | ? |
| Nokia E71 + EXTGps | Nokia+Symarctic | ? | WinXP SP3 Yes Win7 Data yes - OpenCPN No |
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| QSTARZ 51 Channel Bluetooth GPS | Qstarz | Yes native. Works great as per help file wiki Bluetooth GPS Ubuntu Install | Could not get it to work with Windows and MaxSea. never tried on OpenCPN on Windows. | |
| RayNav 300 | Raymarine | Works on Linux Debian, build the serial cable and you're set | Works on Windows XP | Not tried |
| NL-302U | Navilock | XP & 7U46 fine | ||
| NL-402U (u-blox5 chipset) | Navilock | Works, tested on Ubuntu 10.10 | Works tried on Windows XP and Windows 7 32-bit | Not tried |
| ND-100S SiRF-III | Nobrand | Works well with Ubuntu | seems similar.Successfully connected and continuously returning nmea-signal. Vista. Works with Win 98 and XP |
Not tested |
| Holux GM-210 USB | Sony Viao with Vista | |||
| RBT-1000 Bluetooth |
RoyalTek Windows Configuration Tool, best results when set GLL to 5 with Config Tool |
not tested | works with USB Bluetooth Dongle, WinXP SP3 | works with built in Bluetooth of MacBookPro OS X 10.6.4 |
| SKYTRAQ GM 65 |
Skytraq - chipset Venus 6 USB - NMEA 0183 |
not tested | Yes, with driver tested with Win7 64 & 32. |
Yes, with driver |
| GP-01 USB Eastern Star 7 | MC-Marine | Yes, "out of the box" | Yes with driver | ? |
| GP-01S USB SiFR Star III | MC-Marine | Yes, "out of the box" | Yes with driver | ? |
| Earthmate GPS LT-40 | DeLorme | Yes, "out of the box" | Yes with driver | Testing |
NMEA Gateways & Multiplexers
NMEA 0183 devices can be connected to a computer via a USB gateway or multiplexer that has been designed for that purpose. A gateway provides a single input and output whereas a multiplexer provides several inputs and one or more outputs.
Although an NMEA 0183 device can be connected directly to a serial port, this is not recommended since the NMEA uses V.11 (RS-422) signals and serial ports use V.28 (RS-232) signals. The two can inter-work, but reliability cannot be guaranteed.
Most of these devices use serial-USB interface chips made by just two manufacturers: FTDI & Prolific. Both these chip makers provide Windows & Mac OS X device driver downloads on their web sites.
Although an NMEA 0183 device can be connected directly to a serial port, this is not recommended since the NMEA uses V.11 (RS-422) signals and serial ports use V.28 (RS-232) signals. The two can inter-work, but reliability cannot be guaranteed.
Most of these devices use serial-USB interface chips made by just two manufacturers: FTDI & Prolific. Both these chip makers provide Windows & Mac OS X device driver downloads on their web sites.
| Model | Vendor | Type | Linux | Windows | Mac OS X |
| MiniPlex-USB(-AIS) | ShipModul | Mux | Yes, with driver | Yes, with driver | |
| USG-1 | Actisense | GW | Yes, with driver | ||
| NM42U | Noland | Mux | Yes | ||
| NMEA,Seatalk,AIS,USB | gadgetPool.de | Mux | Yes | Yes, with driver | Yes, with driver |
Serial Cables
Building a serial (rs232) cable for your gps and/or ais
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This article is in not complete. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Everyone is allowed to edit after creating an account and/or logging in. |
FTDI's RS232 to USB adapter cable
I thought I would pass along my experience with FTDI's RS232 to USB adaptercable. I got mine from Mouser Electronics (www.mouser.com part number 895-TTL-232R-5V-WE).
One end is USB type A male. The other end is tinned wire.
I connected pin 2 to Data Out and pin 5 to Ground. The output I saw (using
either hyperterm or tera term) was garbled. The problem was that RS232 wants 0
to -5 V and my instrument was putting out 0 to 5 V.
I was able to use a utility program from FTDI
(http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities/FT_Prog_v1.9.zip User's Guide
http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/AppNotes/AN_124_User_Guide_For_FT_PROG\
.pdf) to invert the expected input on that pin and every thing worked.
If your nav instrument actually uses the RS422 protocol called for by the NMEA
standard, FTDI has a similar cable for that.
The part number above is for a cable with a black, opaque USB plug. There is a
"BT" option that has a black cable and a transparent plug with a couple of LEDs
in it. Besides letting you know the thing is working, it could provide a little
entertainment on night watches.
I like this adapter since it is a single stage, single part solution.
Coleman Blake
Wind Sensor/NMEA Output
Clipper Mast Headunit Has NMEA at 4800 Baud Rate sentences are MWV and XDR not compatible with VWR sentence needed for ST1000 Autopilot but runs guages on OpenCpn http://www.sailsmarine.com/ItemDetail.aspx?c=115564&l=bAutopilot Integration
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This article is in not complete. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Everyone is allowed to edit after creating an account and/or logging in. |