FCV587 and Lowrance LCX110 Nmea0183

[Anonymous]

I am looking at purchasing this Furuno unit and I want to be able interface between the Furuno FCV587 and my Lowrance LXC110 via the NMEA 0183 communication port. I am going to use the Lowrance purely as a plotter. I want to be able to mark way points on the lowrance via the FCV587 when I run over structure or fish. Plus I want to be able to see depth and water temp on the Lowrance Plotter.

My Lowrance Manaul indicates the LCX has NMEA0183 capability. It comes with 4 wires Blue, Yellow Orange and Shield for this. My LCX manual indicates the Orange is a receive, the yellow a transmit and my unit does not use the Blue wire.

Is this possible and can you provide advice how the Furuno Unit can be interfaced to the LCX110 to achieve what I am after.

 

[Snips]

Trueblue10,
Even though both units use NMEA 0183 they are different formats. The LCX-110 is using RS-232 and the FCV-587 is using RS-422. RS-232 uses a common ground (shield) for both NMEA out (yellow) and In (orange) in the case of the LCX-110. The FCV-587 employs isolated NMEA ports, the white & blue wires are the output and the yellow & green are the input. If you connect the LCX-110 directly to the FCV-587 there is a risk of damaging the NMEA ports. I advise using a RS-232 to RS-422 converter to be safe.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Snips- So what you are telling me it is do-able. I had a bit of a look on google for the convertor and there were heaps of different types mainly for computers it seemed.

Do have a recommendation or hyperlink to a particular converter that will do the job and is simple to install/use. I am a bit confused as to a suitable converter as many look like the old serial ports on computers. Currently my LCX has just 4 bare wires associated with the NMEA0183 all coming from the loom for the power plug - so not how these are suitable. - What does the Furuno have - wires or a dedicated plug??

To go further I had heard the following - I take advice on you regarding this:- "You can connect the shield (the non insulated wire) of the Lowrance to TD-B and RD-B of the Furuno to get NMEA0183 to work. The Furuno has the RS422 interface and the Lowrance a RS232 interface for NMEA 183. To interface the single ended RS232 to the differential RS422 you have to connect the RS232 ground (shield) to the negative input/output of the RS422".

 

[Snips]

Trueblue10,
The converter I use is made by a company called Black Box and has a DB-9 connector on one end and the terminal strip on the other. If you use this type, your yellow wire would go to pin-2, orange pin-3 and shield to pin-5 of the DB-9.

As far as connecting the shield wire from the Lowrance to the Blue & Green wires of the 587, this is not recommended. Sometimes just connecting the TX/shield or RX/shield wires may work so you would have information flowing one direction but you also run the risk of damaging the NMEA port(s).

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Snips - I take it is this One:
http://www.blackbox.com.au/Store/Detail ... /IC1473A-F

What about the furuno how is that wired to it?

 

[Snips]

Trueblue10,
I am out of the office for a couple of days. I am pretty sure of how I had it wired but let me reconfirm when I return the color code for you.

Snips

 

[Snips]

Below is the Black Box unit I use and have I have it wired. I use a Keyspan adapter to input and export NMEA sentences from my computers simulation program. So the TX port on the Black Box connects to the sounders RX port.

Snips