Is there an easy way to build a display that will show some chosen NMEA
data?
I have seen on the market programmable units that sell for several
hundred $ and I know that a computer is easily interfaced but what I
need is just a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm to
display only few of the zillion data available at the underdeck main
navigation station. For example decoding just part of BWC and VTG and
displaying, say, four lines would be enough (COG, heading, bearing to
waypoint, and distance to waypoint).

Daniel

Daniele Fua wrote:
Is there an easy way to build a display that will show some chosen NMEA
data?
I have seen on the market programmable units that sell for several
hundred $ and I know that a computer is easily interfaced but what I
need is just a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm to
display only few of the zillion data available at the underdeck main
navigation station. For example decoding just part of BWC and VTG and
displaying, say, four lines would be enough (COG, heading, bearing to
waypoint, and distance to waypoint).

Daniel
Any old pc/laptop wold show the stream with:

copy com1 con

assuming the stream it connected to com1 serial port with the
right baudrate.

Sjouke Burry :

Any old pc/laptop
assuming the stream it connected to com1 serial port with the
right baudrate.

The problem with a PC is the power consumption and the waterproofness.

wold show the stream with:

copy com1 con

It will scroll too fast to be readable. But it should be easy to write a
program displaying the data.

Daniele Fua wrote in news:48da95fd$0$1080
:

Is there an easy way to build a display that will show some chosen
NMEA
data?
I have seen on the market programmable units that sell for several
hundred $ and I know that a computer is easily interfaced but what I
need is just a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm to
display only few of the zillion data available at the underdeck main
navigation station. For example decoding just part of BWC and VTG and
displaying, say, four lines would be enough (COG, heading, bearing to
waypoint, and distance to waypoint).

Daniel


We have one aboard Lionheart. It's a B&G "Network" DATA display. I
think it will display what you want except it has no chart plotter to do
bearing and distance to waypoint. For that you'd need a chart plotter
to do the calculations and to store the waypoint lat/long.

Here's its user manual:
http://www.bandg.com/upload/B&G/Docu...data_manual.pd
f
The functions you seek are under the OTHER button.

B&G Network QUAD would give you more data simultaneously. We only have
DATA, not QUAD in our system and it's located at the chart table.
http://www.bandg.com/upload/B&G/Docu...quad_usermanua
l.pdf

B&G discontinued NETWORK instruments for a newer proprietary system to
compete with Seatalk and Garmintalk (or whatever the hell Garmin calls
it). It's too bad, too, because the daisy-chained NETWORK instruments
are all STANDARDIZED NMEA 0183 data instruments that "pass through" data
fed to them, while adding their own statements if they are
talkers...eliminating the need for multiport multiplexers. they simply
plug in end-to-end with cables that match sticking out of them. At any
point in the chain, if you make the chain into a complete loop, you can
break out the NMEA 0183 data stream from all of them by slicing into the
cable and splicing your own "data out" wire (NMEA +) to the, I THINK I
REMEMBER, green wire. At any point this wire will have all the data
from all the instruments on it and can be used by non B&G instruments as
listeners, directly.

Either of these will do what you want, except for the chart plotter
functions, in one neat sailing instrument. It doesn't care where the
data comes from. Just put 12V to the RED and 12V ground to BLACK and
INPUT the data to the INPUT cable pin. Sorry I don't have the pinout
quickly available, but it's on B&G website. They'll sell you "extension
cables" you can simply cut in half to get input and output cables
already made up to connect to other manufacturer's devices. Works great
that way.

Check ebay or other used marine instrument sources for them on the
cheap. Boaters love to "upgrade" perfectly good working systems...(c;

On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:33:29 +0200, Daniele Fua
wrote:

Is there an easy way to build a display that will show some chosen NMEA
data?
I have seen on the market programmable units that sell for several
hundred $ and I know that a computer is easily interfaced but what I
need is just a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm to
display only few of the zillion data available at the underdeck main
navigation station. For example decoding just part of BWC and VTG and
displaying, say, four lines would be enough (COG, heading, bearing to
waypoint, and distance to waypoint).

Daniel

There is an NMEA-0183 FAQ on my website listed below that details the
formats of common NMEA-0183 sentences.

There is a simple program to display some NMEA data somewhere on my
site, called "nmealogr.zip" (or maybe ".exe") This was written in
Borland C for DOS, but the source code should be a useful guide for
other environments.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

Peter Bennett wrote in
news.com:

Borland C for DOS

Wow! That was a flashback towards Woodstock!

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

Thank you to all but my question was more on how to make or buy a cheap
and not necessarily versatile piece of hardware.
If I find it, a second hand B&G could be the answer but I was thinking
more of a DIY (or Do-It-Myself would be more appropriate...) box with
few smart chips and a non graphic LCD display. Any of you guys ever
bumped on something similar?

Peter, I have known your site for years and I still appreciate it
whenever I need information on NMEA.

Daniel

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:50:53 +0000, Larry wrote:

Peter Bennett wrote in
rnews.com:

Borland C for DOS

Wow! That was a flashback towards Woodstock!

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

At work, I still have a PC with DOS6 (I think), and still use Borland
C to write software for it. I use it to communicate with a data
acquisition system that I design new modules for. I've never gotten
into Windoze programming.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

Raymarine made a multifunction display which uses the sea talk bus.

If you could get one of these off ebay and also a nema to seatalk converter
this would seem to meet the requirement

Alec



"Daniele Fua" wrote in message
. ..
Is there an easy way to build a display that will show some chosen NMEA
data?
I have seen on the market programmable units that sell for several hundred
$ and I know that a computer is easily interfaced but what I need is just
a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm to display only few
of the zillion data available at the underdeck main navigation station.
For example decoding just part of BWC and VTG and displaying, say, four
lines would be enough (COG, heading, bearing to waypoint, and distance to
waypoint).

Daniel

Daniele Fua :

what I need is just a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm

I am affraid the weatherproofness and the general robustness are hard to
achieve, and you will be better off buying a moderately expensive commercial
product.

I am a big fan of the TackTick products: you just plug inside the boat an
nmea receiver that forwards over wifi the data it receives, and then you can
hang as many wireless repeaters as you like in the cockpit. The repeaters
are entirely wireless, using solar power (they have enough battery to run
through the night), and wifi to communicate with the base.