I have been trying to solve some problems with the navigation electronics. One of them is the AIS from the VHF not showing up on the chart plotter. The chart plotter is a Furuno NavNet vx2 (also known as a GP-1920c… also known as a RDP-149). The V HF is Standard Horizon GX 2150 Matrix AIS+. The existing connection looked like this;
VHF NavNet vx2 ------------------------------------- Brown - Blue White Grey Yellow Green Black & Green
I changed the baud from 4800 to 38400 (allowing AIS to go out ‘all the time’) and I changed the wiring to the following;
VHF NavNet vx2 ------------------------------------- Brown Green Blue White Grey Yellow Green Black
In both cases they used ‘Data 2’ on the NavNet vx2. I noticed that the VHF was still getting GPS from the NavNet vx2 while on the NavNet vx2 I noticed that VDM sentences were arriving. It seemed like the NavNet vx2 did not know what to do with the VDM sentences (they are a package of multiple AIS sentences). I had tried to update the firmware on the NavNet vx2 and failed. I decided that it may have failed because the SD was a vfat and not a simple FAT format. With few remaining options I decided to try, once again, to upgrade the firmware. Success! Now AIS vessels show on the chart plotter. There may be more to do on this (at some later date) as vessel name missing (just its MMSI number and stuff like COG, SOG, etc). For now – I have to use the VHF if I want the vessel name. I am also not seeing myself on vessel watch services even though my MMSI is accurate. Odd. Not sure if DSC is working with the chart plotter but I do have the baud at 38,400 and it is possible on a single cable at this baud. Finally; still no need for an expensive fluxgate compass (heading sensor) – but this may change when I get into trying to solve the radar problem tomorrow.
Here are my notes (does not show the final wiring I used – mentioned above);