rdp 139 help needed please

i have somewhat of an odd situation, my uncle lives in Europe as a fisherman and over the winter i decided to spend 3 months on his boat learning the trade and now have since decided to move there to fish as well. he has the rdp 139 /1943c 10 inch unit with only the radar hooked up to it and im sure 16 year old software as well lol. we want to connect a gps antenna to it and i was told either the furuno 320 b, bbwgps will work but is this a direct plug and play set up? also adding an ais radio would be a huge bonus if its possible and perhaps even a transducer as well. but heres the rub, he doesn't know much about the unit nor do i and its currently 5k miles away from me so finding out info is difficult as to what all is hooked up to this thing, as far as i know its just the radar and he has nothing else for it.

we were also told we could use a GARMIN 19X-HVS-NMEA0183 set up on this unit.
any info is appreciated on part numbers or where to find the proper connectors or cables to connect this stuff

ive been researching the simrad nss12 evo stuff for two days so i apologize my brain is a little fried i just realized the support is still somewhat huge for these units so i figured id ask, just found this forum and this is my first post,

furuno 320 b, bbwgps will work but is this a direct plug and play set up?

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Yes, it is direct to data port 1

also adding an ais radio would be a huge bonus if its possible

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Sorry NavNet series one doesn't support AIS you need at least a Vx2.

GARMIN 19X-HVS-NMEA0183 set up on this unit.
any info is appreciated on part numbers or where to find the proper connectors or cables to connect this stuff

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To bring in NMEA 0183 into the unit on data one, you can use a 7 pin NMEA cable (p/n 000-154-028) but I know nothing about the Garmin unit. You might try talking to them.

ive been researching the simrad nss12 evo stuff for two days so i apologize my brain is a little fried i just realized the support is still somewhat huge for these units so i figured id ask, just found this forum and this is my first post,

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If you are looking at small chart plotters, you might want to look at the Furuno GP1870F that has build in GPS and sounder.

ok thanks for the info on the direct plug and play antenna, not being able to add the ais puts me back at square one then. we were looking to have ais on screen so this will become a radar unit with back up gps, can the radar system be used on the newer models furuno sells.(i know its old so probly not). we are looking for a 12 inch screen so we can use the latest contour maps to find new fishing areas, having new or good equipment would be a huge advantage to the area we are fishing. these seem like good units and popular but im not sure how the mapping systems compare with today's technology, his unit has c maping and we haven't been able to locate an updated map as of yet for our area central Mediterranean,
also can the software for the operating system be updated via the internet with this model or do we have to send it in to furuno? he is checking on the software version today for me so i can relay that info soon.

thanks in advance,

Roughly the 14 year old unit is a bit dated (old) and pre-dates AIS. It is a good unit but a bit older than you are looking for. The radar can only move forward to the Vx2 series (no longer sold) which does support AIS, if he can find a Vx2 unit on the used market. The newer NavNet units use UHD digital radars so it can't be used with the NN3D, TZT, or TZT2. It might be better to look at replacing the unit with one of our newer models.

ok thanks i guess we will just stick with the gps radar combo, can we do radar overlay on the gps with the bbwgps antenna or do we need other things. if we can get the map system updated it may be good enough for now as a back up unit. it looks like it would cost about 1200 to add a transducer and box to it

In order to do overlay you will need a heading sensor connected. A dedicated compass or output from an autopilot. If the units is running Navionics it might be very difficult to get an updated chart.

its the c map nt+ system and im guessing the heading sensor would be the c500? sensor. just got the bbw gps antenna for it today but looks like thats not going to be enough, ugh

basically we are long liners and lay up to 25 miles of line (in a u shape) and were trying to use the radar on this with the gps to see where the line is traveling and what not so we know how fast its moving, or direction, sorry for all the questions im not at all familiar with this unit and trying to get everything i need to get the most out of it so i can bring the equipment with me when i go back. i never had a chance to really mess with it that much,

he has a compass for the auto pilot i will have to figure out a way to tie it into the unit

Yes either the C500 or PG500 would be good options for heading if you don't already have suitable heading that you can wire over.