NMEA 0183 interface for Garmin and Furuno - The Hull Truth

AlbieNut · 07-29-2002, 04:56 PM

Has anyone interfaced the Garmin 182 NMEA port with the Furuno 600L? I followed the setup instructions on the Garmin manual and the wiring diagram and setup on the Furuno with not luck.

The nomenclature used by Furuno regarding signal polarity is not consistent with Garmin's naming convention. The NMEA signal names on the Furuno are TD-H, TD-C, RD-H, and RD-C. Garmin's signals are NMEA OUT (Tx) and NMEA IN (Rx). According to Garmin's manual, these are to be connected to the NMEA device signals RXD+ and TXD+ respectively. The RXD- and TXD- signals for differential type interfaces are connected to ground.

Both units are NMEA 0183. However, Furuno is version 1.5 or 2.0 and Garmin is version 2.3. Is there that much incompatibility between version 2.0 and 2.3 or am I missing something in my connections/setup?

SilverSurfer · 07-29-2002, 06:23 PM

FWIW, my Furuno 582L is receiving nav info from my garmin 182c, but the garmin is not receiving info from the sounder.

AlbieNut · 07-29-2002, 06:43 PM

SilverSurfer;

How did you connected the Furuno 582L to receive nav info from your Garmin 182C? I tried the same connection between the 600L and 182 with no luck.

Thom · 07-29-2002, 07:45 PM

There's nothing to it, and don't worry about the apparent version incompatibility, they are backwards compatable. Here's the connection sequence.

Garmin Blue to Furuno Yellow

Garmin Brown to Furuno White

Garmin Black to battery ground and Furuno Black and Furuno Green - connect all three wires together and then to a power ground.

Thom

"I command thee, O fish of the ocean, rise to my bait"

Saltdog · 07-29-2002, 08:13 PM

Thom, you are absolutely the best. I was thinking of feeding the data output from my Furuno black box sounder/1833 radar to my Garmin 2006 so I could get depth and temperature displayed on the Garmin. It seemed too painful to puzzle out the wiring, but what you described should work for that NMEA/NMEA, right?

SilverSurfer · 07-29-2002, 08:30 PM

wired just as Thom stated.

and port 1 on the comm tab set for nmea/in/out

SilverSurfer · 07-29-2002, 08:36 PM

no sounder info on the gps as of today, but depth shows up on the data fields on the top of the screen but it always is --.--

that depth data field was never there until I turned on nmea communication.

it would be nice to capture depth along with a waypoint.

Thom · 07-30-2002, 06:03 AM

Yes, what I described will work with the NMEA/NMEA settion on your COMM tab. Also make sure you have Port 2 tuned to the ON position (I'm assuming a 182 has the second port).

I have a Furuno 600L and have its data output being sent to a Garmin GPSMap-76, a GPSMap-2006, and a Raytheon SL-72 Radar. Each of the three listeners is accepting the data supplied from the Furuno

Hell, I may as well confuse you just a bit and tell you the reso of my wireing setup. Maybe this will give some heart to those who are a bit intimidated by doing the interface connections:

OK, when I say 76 I mean a Garmin GPSMap-76. When I say 2006 I mean a Garmin GPSMap-2006, 600L is the Furuno depth finder, SL-72 is the Radar, 59 is an ICOM M-59 radio with DSC, 127 is an ICOM M-127 Radio with DSC, and AP-12 is the Auto Pilot.

Here goes:

The 600L provides data (speed, depth, and temperature) to the radar (which uses the speed in some situations), the 76 and the 2006.

The 76 provides navigation data to the 600l and location data to the M-59 for its DSC function.

The 2006 provides navigation data to the SL-72 and the AP-12, and location data to the M-127.

None of my connections are done by way of soldered wires, and certainly not by crimped wires (I'd just as soon just twist them together and wrap them with scotch tape).

I made up a junction box by drilling a bunch of holes, which were filled with stainless screws, in a chunk of plexiglass and then pouring some epoxy into a shallow tupperware container. The plexiglass was set in the epoxy and the ends of the screws, which now stuck up as studs, were left exposed. Then every wire from every device was run to one individual stud. There is one row of studs for the positive side and one row for the negative side. After that I did my interface by making up jumper wires that connect the studs. Here's what it looked like in the making:

With this setup I no longer have to cut and splice in wires when I change electronics or add to the mix. All I have to do is remove the nuts from a couple of screws and remove the data wire for that device, stick in the wires for the new device and use jumpers to connect it to whatever I want. This works well for me.

Now, on the question of capturing depth data with waypoints. I have been assuming that I am capturing that information because the depth display is there on my 2006. So I just went and took a look at my waypoints and found that one of them that I resaved this year does in fact have the depth saved with it, and has it down to the tenth of a foot (this is the Sea Buoy at Oregon Inlet, which happened to be in 56.4 feet of water at that time). I also found a couple of others that have depths associated with them so they too must have been captured while out on the boat. Apparently it does work.

What I was concerned about was that Garmin may might have set up the software such that only depth data supplied from an attached GSD-20 would be captured. That is apparently not the case.

Thom

"I command thee, O fish of the ocean, rise to my bait"

SilverSurfer · 07-30-2002, 07:31 AM

Thanks Thom, I'll check the comm2 when I go out again. If I recall right it is still 'garmin data transfer'.

AlbieNut · 07-30-2002, 12:33 PM

Thom;

That was my first impression as well... There's nothing to it. I made the same connections you described, set both ports on the Garmin to NMEA IN/OUT mode and the Furuno to NMEA ver 2.0. Nothing shows on the Furuno data display. Today I measured both Garmin Tx ports (blue and green lines) with a scope and there is a data burst being transmitted every 2 msec. Do you think the NMEA interface on the Furuno might be FUBAR? [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

Thom · 07-30-2002, 04:43 PM

Yikes,

I'd check the wires one last time before I got on the line to Guruno. Make absolutly sure that the Furuno Yellow wire is connected to the Garmin Blue and that the Furuno Green wire is connected to the Garmin's black power ground wire.

Whoops, I almost forgot one thing. The Furuno will not work (output data) in simulator mode. You have to run it. I did the original test on mine by turning it on and looking for water temperature showing on the Garmin. It was winter and the temperature was somewhere in the 30's. Then I crawled up under the boat, while my son was up dry and comfortable inside the boat (what's wrong with this picture?) and I spun the paddle wheel by hand and he yelled out that it was showing Speed Through The Water (on both the Garmin and the Radar). Anyway I thought I should mention the Simulator thing,it not accepting data when in that mode that is.

Thom

"I command thee, O fish of the ocean, rise to my bait"

john sturdivant · 07-31-2002, 06:55 PM

hey guys

i have a similar setup, garmin 2010 talking to a raytheon sl72 radar, sitex autopilot and a furuno 582l sonar. i also have the sonar set to talk with the gps. after pulling out what little hair i have left i still can not get depth info from the sounder to the garmin. although the garmin shows water temp and water speed from the sounder. i have tried every combination and have had no luck, now i just watch the depth on the sounder and have given up on the depth on the screen of the gps.all other data interfaces work flawlessly. one other note i can get no sonar info to the gps (water speed and temp) unless my sonar is reading the bottom. offshore for albacore yesterday in 1000 fathoms the garmin showed no sonar data. maybe a future garmin software update will fix the shortcoming.

JOHN
SPORT-CRAFT 252

AlbieNut · 08-01-2002, 09:53 AM

I went back and reconnected the GPS and Sonar. The Furuno is now showing NAV data on the display. I also got the GPS to receive the Water Temp and Water Speed by disconnecting the Furuno black wire (TD-C) from ground. If this wire is connected to ground it will not communicate with the Garmin. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]
I will find out if I can get depth info once I get it in the water. Thanks.

Thom · 08-01-2002, 10:29 AM

Albienut,

I can not immagine why that would work that way, having to disconnect the data output negative line from the Furuno to make the data input line work, and the dat output too for that matter, but if that's what it takes then that's what it takes.

You know, I think you should shoot out a message to Furuno telling them what your machine is doing, particularly the disconnection making it work, and see if they can tell you why. I'd shoot the same question out to Garmin for that matter.

Thom

"I command thee, O fish of the ocean, rise to my bait"

Dragoon · 08-01-2002, 01:04 PM

I had the same problem getting my Garmin 215, Furuno 582L and 1712 radar to talk to each other. I never could get the depth reading to work on the 215 or 1712. Finally I changed the NMEA ver on all three to 1.5 from 2.0 and all started working fine. I believe the problem lies in the fact that the depth sentence in ver 2.0 is in meters instead of feet.

SilverSurfer · 08-04-2002, 05:53 PM

Ok, 3 days in a row on the boat [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img] and this is what I found.

turned on port 2 on the garmin. I really don't think this did anything, because I am not using port 2 wires anyway.

changed one of the data fields to water temp(nmea from furuno sounder) and it works.

still no depth info on the data screen or when saving a waypoint.

position information is being displayed on the JRC radar, but the radar screen does not display waypoints, but I do not plot a trip, I merely am using waypoints for marking poorly marked channels and add buoys that are uncharted. so maybe that is the way it works. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

didn't try to disconnect the wire that Albienut suggested. I didn't feel like pulling the instrument panel this weekend.

Couldn't figure out how to change the garmin nmea from version 2.0 or 2.3 to the 1.5 version, but it was easily changed on the furuno sounder.

more than I had before the weekend but still not working totally correct. I'll keep working at it.