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Pat Anderson
Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 8553
City/Region: Birch Bay, WA
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Daydream
Photos: Daydream and Crabby Lou
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 Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:03 pm Post subject: Daydream's Coastal Explorer System is Installed and Working! |
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Finally, frustrated no more! Our Coastal Explorer nav system is installed and working!
The heart of the system is a Toshiba Satellite laptop that is sitting on the shelf behind the center window. It is set up to run with the lid closed when not running on battery. I got this used for $140 on Craigslist. It is running Coastal Explorer, which I was able to get via upgrade for $99. It is outputting to a USB monitor that I got on Amazon for $99, on a bracket that I got on Amazon for $15. The expensive parts were the Vesper Marine amplified antenna splitter, $242, and the Digital Yacht AIS / multiplexer, $229. The NOAA and USACE digital charts were of course free. I also have a wireless mouse, and will get a wireless keyboard. So I am into this a little over $800.
The laptop (sorry, it is a bit blurry):
It outputs to a USB monitor mounted on a bracket than hangs down from the electronics shelf.
The laptop is running the current version of Coastal Explorer with all the free NOAA and USACE digital charts for the West Coast and the Great Loop. It gets its NMEA data, including location, speed and course, from the Raymarine C-80. The magic link is the Digital Yacht AIS / multiplexer mounted behind the helm, The NMEA output from the C-80 is connected to the NMEA input of the AIS /multiplexer, which multiplexes the NMEA data from the C-80 with AIS data and then passes it to the laptop via a USB cable for Coastal Explorer to display. The NMEA output of the AIS / multiplexer is wired to the NMEA input of the C-80, so the AIS data is also available to the C-80.
The big issue was the device drivers for the Digital Yachts AIS / multiplexer, detailed in the "Frustrated" thread, but I resolved that this morning and now have the FTDI drivers installed, and all is peaches and cream!
The only potential addition I might make is a Quantum Bytes PC, which is about $170, on which I would install a second copy of Coastal Explorer and all the digital charts. The Rose Point license allows installation on three PCs. The Quantum Bytes could be mounted on the shelf in the vee-berth, and then the Toshiba laptop would be a backup computer if the Quantum Bytes computer were to crash. Maybe overkill, I'm not really sure.
The installation of this system was all driven by the fact that we do not have chart chips for our antique C-80 for the Great Loop. The Raymarine is 11 years old and uses the obsolete CF (compact flash) cards from Navionics. Navionics has stopped selling CF cards, but even if they were available, it would cost a fortune for all the CF cards for the Great Loop, plus, I don't even know if Navionics has cartography for the river system.
All in all, I think this is a pretty workable solution, and Coastal Explorer just has the greatest interface for voyage planning.
Our back up will be an iPad and two iPhones running Navionics. If the PC crashes, we still have the Navionics for location and the C-80 for depth, radar and maybe AIS if I can figure out how to display AIS data on the C-80 display!
_________________
DAYDREAM - CD25 Cruiser
CRABBY LOU - CD16 Angler (sold 2020)
Pat & Patty Anderson, C-Brat #62!
http://daydreamsloop.blogspot.com
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BrentB
Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 4419
City/Region: Greenwood
State or Province: IN
Photos: BrentB
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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I think you just won nerd of the year LOL
Great job!
_________________
Brent Barrett |
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Pat Anderson
Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 8553
City/Region: Birch Bay, WA
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Daydream
Photos: Daydream and Crabby Lou
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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| BrentB wrote: | I think you just won nerd of the year LOL
Great job! |
Well, I suppose the NOTY award would actually require it all to be WiFi networked! |
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BrentB
Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 4419
City/Region: Greenwood
State or Province: IN
Photos: BrentB
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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| or bluetooth |
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hardee
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 12632
City/Region: Sequim
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Sleepy-C
Photos: SleepyC
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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Pat said:
| Quote: | | "and maybe AIS if I can figure out how to display AIS data on the C-80 display!" |
Pat, if you are running a multiplexer, that should have output that would feed the AIS into the C-80. I'm thinking the C-80 has only a couple of ports. That is what I ran into with my C-120 so had to add the multiplexer for that to get AIS into that MFD. The Vesper Watchmate and the Standard Horizon both feed AIS input to the C-120 via the multiplexor. If the SH is not on, the WatchMate feeds, if the WatchMate is on it is the primary feed to the C-120.
I didn't do the hook-up, but that is the design and detail I got from Marty at Rodger's when they put it together there.
Harvey
SleepyC 
_________________
Though in our sleep we are not conscious of our activity or surroundings, we should not, in our wakefulness, be unconscious of our sleep. |
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NancyandBud
Joined: 15 Aug 2016
Posts: 199
City/Region: Nashville
State or Province: IL
C-Dory Year: 2001
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Willow
Photos: Willow
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:15 am Post subject: |
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Well done Pat.
Reading about your frustrations was discouraging, but you persevered to a successful solution. Congrats.
_________________
"Is there a 12 step program for people addicted to sailing? Yes, & the 13th step is called a C-Dory" Marc Grove
Fair Winds and Following C's to us all. |
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ken35216
Joined: 12 Mar 2013
Posts: 569
City/Region: Destin, Florida
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Lady Onyx
Photos: ken35216
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:28 am Post subject: |
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| Where is the "like" button? |
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Pat Anderson
Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 8553
City/Region: Birch Bay, WA
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Daydream
Photos: Daydream and Crabby Lou
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 12:38 pm Post subject: |
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| hardee wrote: |
Pat, if you are running a multiplexer, that should have output that would feed the AIS into the C-80. I'm thinking the C-80 has only a couple of ports. That is what I ran into with my C-120 so had to add the multiplexer for that to get AIS into that MFD. The Vesper Watchmate and the Standard Horizon both feed AIS input to the C-120 via the multiplexor. If the SH is not on, the WatchMate feeds, if the WatchMate is on it is the primary feed to the C-120.
I didn't do the hook-up, but that is the design and detail I got from Marty at Rodger's when they put it together there.
Harvey
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Harvey, the Digital Yacht AIS receiver is both a receiver and a multiplexer. When I wired it all up, I DID wire the AIS / multiplexer to the C-80 NMEA input, so it is actually ready to go! In fact, I was going to buy both the AIS receiver and a separate multiplexer, but Brad, one of the Rose Point support techs, checked the Digital Yacht AISPro100 specs and replied that the Digital Yacht eliminated the need for a separate multiplex for what I wanted to do. Rose Point's support people answer their phone and read the support forum, their support is second to none (plug for Rose Point!).
What I don't know, and am dreading diving into the terrible Raymarine manuals, is how to configure the C-80 to display the AIS data. I'm sure somebody here has done that, and if so, I would appreciate the step-by-step recipe! |
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hardee
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 12632
City/Region: Sequim
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Sleepy-C
Photos: SleepyC
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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Pat,
I don't think I can give you the step by step, but I believe it is in the menu.
Go to display, look for layers, and AIS and turn that on.
I know that the baud rate from the multiplexer has to be set right, but not sure what that rate is.
(I have mine on the chart display but not the radar screen, and I have one chart screeen with radar overlay. I have the beeping alarms turned off on both the C-120 and the Watchmate, but I get a red flashing bar on the Watchmate, that is all I need for an alarm.)
I will be on the boat later this weekend, and can try and find it if you are still looking.
Harvey
SleepyC
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