Connecting a GP1870F to a fixed mount VHF

[Anonymous]

Thanks to help from The Reaper and JE, I think I have my big boat with the RDP148 all figured out.

Now time to do some rigging on our new RIB. I'm becoming a die-hard fan of Furuno, so I'm looking at a GP1870. Rotodial interface plus 4D charts are attractive, and in a package small enough to go on a RIB console.

The catch (for my limited NMEA skills anyways) is that the 1870 is NMEA2000 and almost all VHFs are 0183. I see there is part IF-NMEA2k2 to help me with this problem. The wiring isn't my biggest concern.

What I want to be absolutely certain is that the chartplotter is able to send the current GPS location at all times to the radio, and that the radio (Standard Horizon GX2150 AIS+) is able to send AIS locations, DSC position request responses, and DSC mayday locations that can be rendered on the chartplotter.

The only 0183 sentence that the GP1870 outputs according to the documentation I've downloaded that has a definition close to looking like lat/long is "TLL". Is this the correct data sentence that will allow the GP1870 to keep my radio informed of current lat/log? Is "Target Lat/Long" the 0183 data sentence for the boat's current position?

OR... the GP1870 documentation indicates the unit outputs a wealth of NMEA2000 codes -- none of which I can interpret. Does the location info the radio needs get sent by the 1870 in NMEA2000 format, and that's what the NMEA2k2 converter is 'converting' before sending the info to the radio? Ditto for the return path -- having the radio send AIS, or DSC position info to be rendered on the chartplotter.

Does anyone have experience interfacing a GP1870 with a NMEA0183 VHF. it seems there are very few NMEA2000 radios so far, so I'm guessing my dilemma is one that others might have faced. I don't want to buy a beautiful Furuno chartplotter and then discover it can't show the AIS targets, etc that my radio has located.

cheers and many thanks.

 

[Johnny Electron]

The GP1870F can show AIS when provided by NMEA 2000. The GP1870F can provide position information to a radio by NMEA 2000. The GP1870F has no NMEA 0183 output of any kind. You would have to convert, to bridge the data, if running a NMEA 0183 radio.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, the GP1870F is able to continuously send position data to your GX2150 and receive DSC information via one IF-NMEA2K2 in normal mode. You would need a second (separate) IF-NMEA2K2 in AIS mode to receive AIS information from the GX2150.

Yes, the GP1870F outputs a PGN (129029) and the IF-NMEA2K2 converts/outputs RMC that the radio needs. The DSC and AIS information would be converted (on separate IF-NMEA2K2 converters...see above) in NMEA0183 format, convert to a NMEA2000 PGN for display on the GP1870F.

If you don't already have a NMEA2000 backbone on the boat, you can use an FI-5002 junction box to connect a NMEA2000 drop cable from your GP1870F and connect the two IF-NMEA2K2 converters (with a short piece of drop cable so you don't have to cut the connector off of the converter) to it in order to get position data to your radio and receive DSC and AIS data from your radio.

Hopefully this makes sense. Bottom line: It will do what you need it to do with the appropriate parts and wiring.

 

[Anonymous]

If you haven't bought the VHF yet, look at getting one that accepts 2000. I did see at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show (Aus) that Icom had one coming out (506) I think that did both 0183 and 2000.
Cheers