Topic: Lowrance Gen 3 and VHF DSC Question

[Mile2885]

Okay,  I've got my Lowrance HDS units networked  and connected. Now I've have moved to getting my Standard Horizon GX1600 properly connected to the units.

Can anyone tell me if I'll be able to see when distress calls are made on my plotters?  I've connected the radio to the HDS9 Gen 3 via NEMA 0183 but the coordinates on the Plotter don't match what's on the radio.   I'm not sure if I need to upgrade to a radio with AIS. Guess I don't  know/understand enough about the system.

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[dbhazjack]

I believe the 0183 connection only can allow one talker, with multiple listeners. In your case, your Lowrance will be sending (talking) GPS data, and your radio will be receiving (listening) that data. But I don't think it will go the other direction like NMEA 2000. 

Now I see your radio has it's own GPS. I would check your NMEA 0183 settings on the Lowrance and see if your radio shows and is selectable. Also check in your radio settings to see if your Lowrance is listed. 0183 is very tricky with the micro wires and connections. Easy to hook up wrong. Good luck.

[ATGEP]

Make sure the radio is set the same protocol as the head unit.  HH.MM.SS ETC. That may clear up the disparity. If the radio indicates the GPS is linked, the data connection should be ok.  Unfortunately, I know of no way of testing it as the CG does not allow a test time for DSC as far as I know.

[DevMah]

I believe the 0183 connection only can allow one talker, with multiple listeners. In your case, your Lowrance will be sending (talking) GPS data, and your radio will be receiving (listening) that data. But I don't think it will go the other direction like NMEA 2000. 

Now I see your radio has it's own GPS. I would check your NMEA 0183 settings on the Lowrance and see if your radio shows and is selectable. Also check in your radio settings to see if your Lowrance is listed. 0183 is very tricky with the micro wires and connections. Easy to hook up wrong. Good luck.

Correct 0183 is one way serial data transmission... more than likely the radio will be the listener.


Dev

[Salmon King]

The way I understand it is...
If it is connected properly and the protocols match plotter should show all incoming signals not just an emergency call.
The gps setting on the radio needs to match the settings on the plotter.

It is entirely possible that I have this all wrong but that's how I understood it when the Lowrance tech explained it to me.

[DevMah]

I believe the 0183 connection only can allow one talker, with multiple listeners. In your case, your Lowrance will be sending (talking) GPS data, and your radio will be receiving (listening) that data. But I don't think it will go the other direction like NMEA 2000. 

Now I see your radio has it's own GPS. I would check your NMEA 0183 settings on the Lowrance and see if your radio shows and is selectable. Also check in your radio settings to see if your Lowrance is listed. 0183 is very tricky with the micro wires and connections. Easy to hook up wrong. Good luck.

Correct 0183 is one way serial data transmission... more than likely the radio will be the listener.


Dev

I spoke to a friend of mine who uses 0183 and I stand corrected.

It can do both by by sending different sentences or receiving as long as the VHF has both the Nema 0183 input and output wires.

Dev

[Mile2885]

I have the GPS signal on the radio but have some extra wires. I'm not 100% sure it's correct. I got the coordinate issue resolved. Thanks for all the input!

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[jetdoctor]

NMEA 183 uses 3 wires in most cases--one for the gps to transmit to the radio, and one for the radio to transmit to the GPS.  The third is a common data ground.  On Garmins, the data ground is also the power ground.  The Standard radio manual has many scenarios illustrated.  The other wires are for remote speakers.  If you hook up the third wire, the DSC data will be shown on your plotter. 
The problem I was having trying to connect my Garmin 54DV to a West Marine VHF 585 was the inability to match baud and ports.  Most use a 38400 baud, and there was no way to set this on the radio.  Maybe there is a firmware update that takes care of this, but I cannot see wasting any more time on it.  I finally gave up and returned the radio.  I have a Standard GX2200 coming which has it's own GPS.  I plan on networking it with the 54DV to see the AIS since we operate around a lot of commercial traffic. 
NMEA183 is a standard, and it would make sense that the wiring colors would match between the GPS and the radio.  It would be an easy task to connect color to color.  Unfortunately, that is not the case .  I was looking at various radios from various manufacturers, and they all have their own color schemes . 
Good Luck,
Doug   

 

[Mile2885]

I've never seen DSC info pop up on the plotter. Maybe I'm just zoomed too far in when calls come out - or maybe most folks are just using the radio wo DCS for distress calls.

[Threeweight]

Just took a quick look at my SH 1700 (same radio, but with built in GPS) box, where it says:

"The GPS Position of a received DSC Distress or Position Request call can be shown on a compatible GPS Chart plotter simply by connecting 2 NMEA wires. "

Technically, I think they mean 4 wires (2 additional needed beyond the 2 that allow the radio to recieve GPS data so it can transmit your own DSC call).  NMEA 0183 can both send and receive data from other devices.  The original AIS radio's were Standard Horizon's and Icom, and both only do 0183.

Don't have my manual handy, but it should tell you how to hook things up.  If you have any issues, call Standard Horizon, they have great customer support.

When someone makes a DSC call, you will hear an ear splitting screech from the radio which tells you such a call has been made.  I only saw it once on my old boat (SH 1600 radio as well), and it switched my radio to channel 16, and displayed the GPS coordinates of the boat making the call on the screen of the radio.  I did not look for it on the plotter, as the guy quickly came on the radio to apologize to the Coast Guard because his kid had been playing with his radio.