Author Topic: Smartcraft networking with Humminbird Si units (Read 52290 times)

Rotorfixer · « **on:** March 31, 2009, 11:34:21 AM »

Hello all,

I just wanted to post somthing on this subject. I have read in a few of the other forums that people have been saying that they could not get the NMEA out for their Humminbird units to show in their Smartcraft displays. I would have not purchased a Humminbird if I was not sure it would work, and I am sure that a few people have decided not to purchase based on these posts.

I have recently connected my 798C Si to my Smartctaft Sc1000 gaugues and will be installing a SC5000 display in the next week or so (I will let you know how that goes). I connected the Wite NMEA (+) of the Humminbird to the White NMEA wire of the Smartcraft, and the Black NMEA (-) of the Humminbird to the blue NMEA wire of the smartcraft. I set the Humminbird to output NMEA signal (in the settings menu (Advanced user)) and had to go into CAL1 and CAL2 of the smartcraft gauges to enable GPS, and the GPS screens. I was a little suprised that the smartcraft does not appear to read the depth output from the Humminbird. I guess you might need the smartcraft depth transducer for that (I will do more research).

I have enabled and have functioning the following Smartcraft screens: Course over ground, GPS speed, GPS position, Distance to waypoint, Course to wayoint and Fuel burn to waypoint.

I hope this helps some of you!
Peter.

RGecy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 31, 2009, 02:52:54 PM »

Peter,

Thanks for posting that and letting us know. As I understand it, the Smartcraft Gauges should be compatible and many people have integrated the Humminbird Units to them. I think the majority of problems come from not turning NMEA output on or not connecting the correct wires.

Good Luck,

Robert

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #2 on:** April 08, 2009, 02:25:15 PM »

I had one of our Engineers contact me about a post on the Smartcraft gauges. It seems that the gauges (and this may vary by the software version that they are using) looks for the “GP” prefix on the NMEA 0183 sentences. Once we process the GPS data and output it from the Humminbird unit it has the “IN” prefix (this is when the depth and water temperature gets added). So if connecting the NMEA output from the GPS Receiver’s NMEA ‘pigtail’ wire does not work (and after remembering to set the “NMEA Output” menu to the “On” setting) than you may need to use the raw NMEA 0183 output from the GPS Receiver that has the “GP” prefix on the NMEA sentences. We recommend doing this by using one of the AS-SysLink cables:

Rotorfixer · « **Reply #3 on:** April 11, 2009, 10:32:29 AM »

The Smartcraft system also pulls navigation sentences from the GPS system (I would imagine that is obviously post processing by the head unit) for distance to waypoint and course to waypoint information. So connecting it in this fashion would disable these functions would it not?

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #4 on:** April 13, 2009, 05:03:27 PM »

You are correct. Since this data is added post-processing it would not be present if connected in the manner posted above.

nitroglo · « **Reply #5 on:** July 25, 2009, 06:54:33 PM »

I have a 797c2i and want to connect it to smartcraft speedo. What cable do I need? I read this thread and purchased the "as-syslink" cable. Now I am questioning if I am doing this right. My unit has internal GPS and the cable has an external GPS connector. What do I do with this extra connector? Just seal it up and tie it off is what I'm guessing.

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #6 on:** July 27, 2009, 02:00:47 PM »

From what I have heard you will not be able to connect the NMEA output from an Internal GPS unit to the Smartcraft gauges as all of the NMEA sentences will be post processed and have the “IN” prefix. This is only possible with the external GPS units – though you could connect an external GPS to your system if you wanted to.

nitroglo · « **Reply #7 on:** July 27, 2009, 08:33:02 PM »

Quote from: Humminbird_Greg on July 27, 2009, 02:00:47 PM

From what I have heard you will not be able to connect the NMEA output from an Internal GPS unit to the Smartcraft gauges as all of the NMEA sentences will be post processed and have the “IN” prefix. This is only possible with the external GPS units – though you could connect an external GPS to your system if you wanted to.

would any of the humminbird gps receivers work with my unit?

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #8 on:** July 28, 2009, 01:36:37 PM »

With the 797c2i Si unit you are limited to using the GR16 GPS Receiver. You cannot use the newer GR50 and GRHA GPS Receivers due to their higher power requirements that the 797 unit cannot supply.

nitroglo · « **Reply #9 on:** August 04, 2009, 08:49:04 PM »

Just a follow up on my post.
With "Humminbird Gregs" assistance I succeeded in connecting my "797 with internal gps" to my smartcraft guages (without adding an external gps receiver).
I am getting all the "goodies" except "depth" (no surprise, because nobody has ever had any success in getting the depth reading without the "smartcraft depth transducer"). We didn't do anything that hasn't already been discussed on this forum, but I just wanted to let others with the "797 internal gps" know that it does work on some units. My 797 was purchased in april 07. My smartcraft speedo is version 3.04 and my tach is version 4.00. I don't know why mine works, but I am very very happy that it does. So if any of you have the same version stuff that I listed above, it would be worth at least trying it before you add an external gps receiver. You will get alot more info if you can connect "post head unit" rather than "pre head unit" (having the info coming directly from 797 rather than directly from gps receiver).
Once again, thanks to "Greg" for all the expert advice. (If I didn't have his help, I would still be spinning my wheels).

pebe · « **Reply #10 on:** August 26, 2009, 07:52:53 PM »

Hope i am right posting my additional Question in this Thread.

If i understand right, that means that if i connect a Unit, for example a PC to the NMEA Out from the Receiver there is no Post Processing Data available, even no Depth Information.

But the Receiver uses only the NMEA Input Pin from the Headunit.
What happend if i split the Cable between the Receiver and the Headunit and uses the NMEA Out Pin from the Head Unit instead of the NMEA Out from the Receiver ?

Is this a Way to get Post processed Data like Depth ? (to have a Notebook on Board to plot Course, build Map and so on ? I dont care about the Sentence itself using GP or IN Prefix, both work with Dr.Depth)

pebe

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #11 on:** August 27, 2009, 01:38:47 PM »

“If i understand right, that means that if i connect a Unit, for example a PC to the NMEA Out from the Receiver there is no Post Processing Data available, even no Depth Information.”
Yep.

“But the Receiver uses only the NMEA Input Pin from the Headunit.”
I don’t know what signals/data the GPS receiver gets from the head unit.

“What happend if i split the Cable between the Receiver and the Headunit and uses the NMEA Out Pin from the Head Unit instead of the NMEA Out from the Receiver ?”
I dunno.

“Is this a Way to get Post processed Data like Depth ? (to have a Notebook on Board to plot Course, build Map and so on ? I dont care about the Sentence itself using GP or IN Prefix, both work with Dr.Depth)”
If it works it is a way to do this but it would be easier to just take the post processed NMEA data from the NMEA pigtail wire. This is the shorter cable that comes out of the GPS Receiver connector.

pebe · « **Reply #12 on:** August 27, 2009, 04:22:57 PM »

So, from the Pigtail i get the Post processed Data from the Headunit, inkl. depth and so on !?
But the Thread Starter couldnt use this Connetion, because the NMEA Sentences have the Prefix IN instead of GP ?

I Thought that the Pigtail only gives the Direct Signals from the receiver for example to use in other Third party Plotters ?
(I believe this was my mistake... in thinking about that Stuff ? )

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #13 on:** August 28, 2009, 10:32:24 AM »

Right; from the pigtail connection you get the post-processed information like water depth and temp.

The SmartCraft gauges that started this thread do not recognize the IN prefix that we use so the NMEA data had to come directly from the GPS Receiver which uses the GP prefix that the SmartCraft gauges do recognize. So far these are the only brand gauges that I know of that have this specific need.

The NMEA pigtail was originally designed to work as an output to another NMEA 0183 capable device such as another GPS unit or autopilot with post-processed NMEA data.

Darnice · « **Reply #14 on:** August 28, 2011, 10:15:42 PM »

Yep, I just got a 597 HD DI to replace my old Matrix 17
Well it works with the smartcraft gauges, except I lost the Distance and course to Waypoints display on the smartcraft.
Odd cause I get speed, and heading info and GPS clock but I lost the DTW display.
Humminbird should fix the software on internal GPS units to correct this.
The old Matrix 17 worked perfect, I am not impressed when you "upgrade" and loose functionality.
Compeditors don't have this issue.

SalmonKingLodge · « **Reply #15 on:** February 01, 2012, 11:42:12 PM »

Newbie to the boards here. Had one of the first 987c SI combos and spent way too much time mapping my favorite salmon rivers. Very cool tech.

I'm having a brand new 25' jet boat built with a 200 HP Mercury SportJet and a Smartcraft speedometer. My new 998c SI combo Sonar/Chartplotter is on order, so I don't have it in hand yet. So, since most of this info is a few year old, is the info on how to connect the Humminbird GPS info to the Smartcraft speedometer still valid? Do I need to buy another cable to hook up the speedometer or does the cable that comes with the 998c SI combo have both outputs.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Humminbird_Greg · « **Reply #16 on:** February 02, 2012, 11:19:02 AM »

It has changed SKL.
The new 998c Si unit you will receive will probably have the newer cable with it that supports the $GP prefix on the NMEA sentences that the SmartCraft gauges used to look for (I am assuming that this has not changed). So all you would have to do is connect up the Green and Black wires to your SmartCraft gauges and set the NMEA Output menu to the “On” setting.

No, we do not have a SmartCraft connector on the GPS Receiver.

SalmonKingLodge · « **Reply #17 on:** February 02, 2012, 12:51:46 PM »

Greg - Thanks for your quick reply! I'll let everyone know how this works out.

Ralbertina · « **Reply #18 on:** August 21, 2018, 11:21:25 AM »

I'm hoping someone can weigh in on this topic and provide me with some guidance. Through reading the various forums on the above topic, I've attempted to link my Helix 12si (gen 1) unit to a smartcraft sc1000 speedometer with no success. My phoenix 921 with smartcraft gauges and Helix units was purchased in 2016. From the manuals and wiring diagrams that came with my boat, it appears for the smartcraft gauge, the white and blue wires are for the nmea 0183 gps connection with the white wire (+) and the blue wire (+/-).

I also purchased the AS-HHGPS cable (red, green, white, black wires), and thus far I've tried without success the following: I spliced the white wire from the AS-HHGPS cable to the white wire of the smartcraft gauge, and the black wire from the AS-HHGPS cable to the blue wire of the smartcraft gauge. I terminated the red and green wires by taping them to the cable. Thru the Cal menu on the smartcraft gauge, I enabled gps speed on the speedometer gauge. On the Helix unit, I turned on nmea 0183 gps and left gps at 5khz.

My questions are: Do you have any thoughts on what I may have missed? Should I try reversing the wiring connection? Do I need an external gps antenna to make this configuration work?

Any advice you have would be welcome. Feel free to email me at Ralbertina@yahoo.com. Kind regards, Ray

rnvinc · « **Reply #19 on:** August 21, 2018, 11:36:30 AM »

Quote from: Ralbertina on August 21, 2018, 11:21:25 AM

I'm hoping someone can weigh in on this topic and provide me with some guidance. Through reading the various forums on the above topic, I've attempted to link my Helix 12si (gen 1) unit to a smartcraft sc1000 speedometer with no success. My phoenix 921 with smartcraft gauges and Helix units was purchased in 2016. From the manuals and wiring diagrams that came with my boat, it appears for the smartcraft gauge, the white and blue wires are for the nmea 0183 gps connection with the white wire (+) and the blue wire (+/-).

I also purchased the AS-HHGPS cable (red, green, white, black wires), and thus far I've tried without success the following: I spliced the white wire from the AS-HHGPS cable to the white wire of the smartcraft gauge, and the black wire from the AS-HHGPS cable to the blue wire of the smartcraft gauge. I terminated the red and green wires by taping them to the cable. Thru the Cal menu on the smartcraft gauge, I enabled gps speed on the speedometer gauge. On the Helix unit, I turned on nmea 0183 gps and left gps at 5khz.

My questions are: Do you have any thoughts on what I may have missed? Should I try reversing the wiring connection? Do I need an external gps antenna to make this configuration work?

Any advice you have would be welcome. Feel free to email me at Ralbertina@yahoo.com. Kind regards, Ray

Did the advice given in your 2017 thread here not help ...??

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=860616&highlight=Smartcraft

Rickie

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