NMEA Wiring - Raymarine S1000 to Garmin GPS

[Chubby Bunny]

Hi folks, I know that the Raymarine S1000 autopilot is discussed extensively in other threads, but I still don't understand how to make the data wiring connection between the Raymarine unit and a 3rd-party GPS (Garmin in this case).

The Ray has 4 wires for data (power is separate):
-ve out
+ve out
+ve in
-ve in

The Garmin has 2 wires for data:
Data In
Data Out

Can somebody confirm or correct the following:

1) Connect Garmin Data Out to Raymarine +ve in.
2) Connect Garmin Data In to Raymarine +ve out.
3) Connect Raymarine -ve out to ship's ground (or is it - power?).
4) Connect Raymarine -ve in to ship's ground (or is it - power?).
5) Where is the electrical ground on a 22' Cruiser, if my connections are to ground rather than to negative power.

Your help is much appreciated. If I can solve this mystery, Raymarine gets a sale!

[cemiii]

This is my understanding and I hope it helps and does not confuse you further. Hopefully someone with a garmin will chime in.

There are only two wires used for the transmission of NMEA data to and from the S1000. They are the small orange and blue. (I know the +ve from the gps goes to orange s1000 and -ve connects to blue on the s1000).

As for which of your wires on the Garmin is which, I'm at a loss..... but there are only 2 possibilities and I don't believe you would harm anything if you got them backward as they're both low level data . Somebody correct me quick if I'm wrong!

If (with your GPS on) you get the message "NO GPS LINK" or "NO PILOT " you've likely got em wrong. If you get standby and then the fishing commands, I think you've got it.

The purple and white small wires are for the safety alarm buzzer.

Your positive and negatives come out the bottom of the course computer.
No small data wires should be connected to pos or neg.

I just connected the ground that was to go to the boats main ground plate to my negative wiring block in the v-birth and it seems to work fine.

If you contact Raymarine Tech through their web site they will usually respond within 48 hours.

Chris

[kmcclish]

Hey Chubby Bunny, maybe I can help. I just connected the S1000 to a Garmin 5212 and I think I will include that little adventure in my autobiography. Unfortunately, I'm in a Half Moon Bay hotel writing this and I won't be home until Monday.

Garmin does give great support by phone (in English), while Raymarine communicates via E-mail. After going back and forth for a week, I finally got it connected up right (I think). I'm not sure either of the manufacturers will talk to me again.

I'd be glad to give you the combination of wire connections when I get back home.

My Garmin has about 20 or so wires that are possible connections and the Raymarine has four. I got so confused that I was dreaming about possible combinations. I'll give it to someone else to figure the number of combinations that this number of wires could make.

E-mail me on Monday and I'll help you with whatever I can.

Good Luck!

[tpbrady]

I think this link explains it pretty well although I am still trying to digest it.

http://www.actisense.com/Downloads/TechTalk/NMEA%200183/The%20NMEA%200183%20Information%20Sheet.pdf

It refers to two signalling from different NMEA 0183 interface standards. I didn't understand the discussion completely but the drawings seem to make sense.

[journey on]

Tom, thanks for the reference. It discusses all the various permutations for hooking up NMEA 0183 devices: singe ended to differential, differential to single ended, etc, as well as inputting to a computer; everything.

Since I only have one GPS connected to Journey On's electronics, I bought a buffer amplifier: Noland Engineering - NMEA XP15 Expander . Using that I can drive the vhf radio, autopilot, depth sounder and PC. It even has a single ended (RS-232) output for the fuel flowmeter.

Again, thanks for the ref.

Boris