NMEA TO WIFI (AND WIFI TO NMEA) MULTIPLEXER WITH SEATALK SUPPORT
During the months of May to September, I am sailing in Greece. Orders received during this period will be dispatched once a week every Thursday
Very important note: Since January 2021, this multiplexer is available using TH (Through Hole), SMD (Surface Mounting Devices) technologies or as a KIT to be assembled. If you order it from the present listing you will receive a KIT. But, please, check the new listing at: https://www.ebay.ie/itm/274679593242 .
This is a kit to be assembled by the buyer. When you complete the kit, you will have an identical unit to the fully assembled module described below. If you never used a soldering iron before, please consider the fully assembled version of the multiplexer instead. It also advisable that you read the instructions manual in order to access your capabilities to carry on the assembling of the kit.The front and back pages of the manual can be found in the following links:
https://www.vela-navega.com/downloads/Nmea2wifi_kit_front.pdf
https://www.vela-navega.com/downloads/Nmea2wifi_kit_back.pdf
also see this: https://www.vela-navega.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=177#p714
The module allows bidirectional wifi communication between your smartphone, tablet or laptop and your boat instrumentation. Your smartphone will be able to display navigational information or control an autopilot. The system has 2 opto-isolated full NMEA 0183 compatible input ports. One port is used to receive instrument Nmea 0183 data at the rate of 4.800 or 9.600 baud or SeaTalk1 data. The other port has an adjustable baud rate from 4.800 up to 38.400 and can receive AIS data. The 2 streams of data may be combined and transmitted over wifi to connected receivers. In addition, the module also has an output NMEA 0183 port with an adjustable baud rate from 4.800 up to 38.400. The output port can transmit data received by the 2 input ports or by wifi. You can use this module in different ways. You can use with a PC running navigation software such as OpenCPN or you can use it with several free apps for Android or Ios. For example, you can use SeaWi to get a backup of your chart-plotter on your tablet or you can get Sonar Chart Live maps on your Navionics Boating HD app .
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Power Supply Voltage: 7V up to 16V DC
Power Consumption: less than 70mA with Wifi ON or 30mA with Wifi OFF
Input Ports: P1 and P2 - optical isolated
Output Port: P3 - RS-422 compatible
Baud Rates: P1 (4800 or 9600 or SeaTalk) P2 & P3 (4800, 9600, 19200 or 38400)
Internet Protocol: UDP or TCP
INSTALLATION:
The power supply to the module (usually 12V) and the serial ports use screw connectors. The connectors have printed labels in the PCB. The labels for the power supply are 12V (positive) and GND (negative). The 2 serial input ports have labels A1 and B1 (port 1) and A2 and B2 (port 2). If your Nmea data is available though a differential port you connect the A (or +) terminal to the module A1 (or A2) and the B (or -) terminal to the module B1 (or B2). If your Nmea data is available through a single ended port (such as RS-232) you connect the Output terminal to the module A1 (or A2) and the Ground (or common) terminal to the module B1 (or B2). The output serial port uses a 3-way screw connector label as A3 B3 and GND. If the receiving device has an opto-isolated port, you connect A3 to the A (or +) terminal of your receiving device and B3 to the B (or -) terminal of your receiving device. If the input port of the receiving device is not opto-isolated you should connect A3 to the input terminal of the receiving device and GND to the common (or ground) terminal of the receiving device. In that case you should not use B3. Refer to the included picture when connecting a SeaTalk1 bus line to the port 1. Support may be obtained in www.vela-navega.com/forum.
CONFIGURATION:
The module is totally wifi configurable. When you supply power to the module for the first time it will start with factory settings and it automatically creates a wifi network named NMEA2WIFI. You should disconnect your smartphone (or your PC) from other networks and connect to NMEA2WIFI network using the password 12345678. When you are connected you write 192.168.4.1 in the navigation bar of your browser and you will receive the following web page which allows you to configure your module.
Firmware Version 5.6
NMEA2WIFI AP NETWORK
You can operate NMEA2WIFI in two modes: AP or Client Sation. In AP (Access Point) mode, NMEA2WIFI creates a wifi network and smartphones, tablets or computers connect to this wifi network to receive/send data from/to NMEA2WIFI. In Client Station mode, NMEA2WIFI joins an existing external wifi network and transmits/receives wifi data on that network. NMEA2WIFI always creates its own AP network, even when you set NMEA2WIFI to join an existing network. In this panel, you specify the name and the password of the wifi network that smartphones, tablets and computers should use to join this network. When working as an Access Point, NMEA2WIFI uses IP address 192.168.4.1 and supports DHCP. A maximum of 5 clients can join the network and are assigned consecutive IP addresses (eg 192.168.4.2 ...). Security is WPA2-PSK. Ssid and Password can have a maximum of 15 characters and a minimum of 4 and 8 characters, respectively. When you need to change any setting of NMEA2WIFI you should connect to this newtork and then write 192.168.4.1 in the navigation bar of a browser to get the page that you are reading now.
EXTERNAL NETWORK
If you have already a working wifi network and want NMEA2WIFI to join that network as a Client Station, you should enter here the authentication parameters that NEMA2WIFI should use to join this existing network. Ssid and Password can have a maximum and a minimum size of characters as before. The IP address of NMEA2WIFI on this network is assigned by the network and appears on the corresponding text box when NMEA2WIFI gets a connection.
SERIAL PORTS SETTINGS
NMEA2WIFI has two input serial ports named as P#1 and P#2 and one serial output port, named as P#3. The baud rate of serial input P#1 can be 4800 or 9600 baud. In addition we can set SeaTalk in the baud rate listing box setting of P#1. If we do so, input on P#1 is interpreted as being SeaTalk datagrams and conversion of these datagrams to Nmea 0183 sentences takes place. The baud rates of P#2 and P#3 are adjustable between 4800, 9600, 19200 or 38400. It is important to note that if the baud rate of the output port is inferior to those of the input ports, data may be lost.
Data transmitted over the output serial port P#3 can be any combination of 3 data streams: data from the input serial port P#1; data from the input serial port P#2; and data received by WIFI.
WIFI SETTINGS
NMEA2WIFI can use UDP, TCP or both protocols to send and receive data through wifi. You can turn one protocol inactive by setting its port number equal to zero. Non zero port numbers, either UDP or TCP, should be in range from 1024 up to 65535. By default, NMEA2WIFI uses UDP broadcasting on port number 2000 (compatible with Navionics Sonar Chart Live). UDP broadcasting assures that all the clients connected to the wifi network listening to the specified UDP port number will receive the packets by the multiplexer.
You should set the protocol (UDP or TCP) and the corresponding port number on the connection device(s) that receive/send data from/to the NMEA2WIFI multiplexer. You also need to specify the IP address of the mutiplexer. In the case of AP ONLY mode, you specify the IP address 192.168.4.1. If the multiplexer is connected to an external network you specify the IP address that is assigned by the external network. It is important to note that only one connection with the multiplexer can be active through the TCP protocol but, at the same time, you can have multiple UDP connections.
Finally you can set which data will be transmitted by Wifi. It can be any combination of the NMEA0183 data appearing at the two input serial ports P#1 and P#2.
SETTING OPERATING MODES
In addition to the above parameters, you have 2 radio buttons to choose between: (i) working in AP mode only or (ii) also connect as a Client Station. You press the SET button for NMEA2WIFI to accept the parameters in this page. If there are no errors in the parameters, NMEA2WIFI changes its operation to the mode and settings selected.
FACTORY SETTINGS
Pressing the Set Factory Defaults button is the same as an hardware reset of the system. The factory setting uses the following parameters: Mode: Access Point; Ssid: NMEA2WIFI; Password: 12345678; IP Address: 192.168.4.1; Wifi Protocol: UDP; UDP Port Number: 2000; Serial Port P#1 Baud Rate: 4800; Serial Ports P#2 and P#3 Baud Rates: 38400; Serial Output on P#3: none; Wifi Output: both P#1 and P#2.
You can operate NMEA2WIFI in two modes: AP or Client Sation. In AP (Access Point) mode, NMEA2WIFI creates a wifi network and smartphones, tablets or computers connect to this wifi network to receive/send data from/to NMEA2WIFI. In Client Station mode, NMEA2WIFI joins an existing external wifi network and transmits/receives wifi data on that network. NMEA2WIFI always creates its own AP network, even when you set NMEA2WIFI to join an existing network. In this panel, you specify the name and the password of the wifi network that smartphones, tablets and computers should use to join this network. When working as an Access Point, NMEA2WIFI uses IP address 192.168.4.1 and supports DHCP. A maximum of 5 clients can join the network and are assigned consecutive IP addresses (eg 192.168.4.2 ...). Security is WPA2-PSK. Ssid and Password can have a maximum of 15 characters and a minimum of 4 and 8 characters, respectively. When you need to change any setting of NMEA2WIFI you should connect to this newtork and then write 192.168.4.1 in the navigation bar of a browser to get the page that you are reading now.
EXTERNAL NETWORK
If you have already a working wifi network and want NMEA2WIFI to join that network as a Client Station, you should enter here the authentication parameters that NEMA2WIFI should use to join this existing network. Ssid and Password can have a maximum and a minimum size of characters as before. The IP address of NMEA2WIFI on this network is assigned by the network and appears on the corresponding text box when NMEA2WIFI gets a connection.
SERIAL PORTS SETTINGS
NMEA2WIFI has two input serial ports named as P#1 and P#2 and one serial output port, named as P#3. The baud rate of serial input P#1 can be 4800 or 9600 baud. In addition we can set SeaTalk in the baud rate listing box setting of P#1. If we do so, input on P#1 is interpreted as being SeaTalk datagrams and conversion of these datagrams to Nmea 0183 sentences takes place. The baud rates of P#2 and P#3 are adjustable between 4800, 9600, 19200 or 38400. It is important to note that if the baud rate of the output port is inferior to those of the input ports, data may be lost.
Data transmitted over the output serial port P#3 can be any combination of 3 data streams: data from the input serial port P#1; data from the input serial port P#2; and data received by WIFI.
WIFI SETTINGS
NMEA2WIFI can use UDP, TCP or both protocols to send and receive data through wifi. You can turn one protocol inactive by setting its port number equal to zero. Non zero port numbers, either UDP or TCP, should be in range from 1024 up to 65535. By default, NMEA2WIFI uses UDP broadcasting on port number 2000 (compatible with Navionics Sonar Chart Live). UDP broadcasting assures that all the clients connected to the wifi network listening to the specified UDP port number will receive the packets by the multiplexer.
You should set the protocol (UDP or TCP) and the corresponding port number on the connection device(s) that receive/send data from/to the NMEA2WIFI multiplexer. You also need to specify the IP address of the mutiplexer. In the case of AP ONLY mode, you specify the IP address 192.168.4.1. If the multiplexer is connected to an external network you specify the IP address that is assigned by the external network. It is important to note that only one connection with the multiplexer can be active through the TCP protocol but, at the same time, you can have multiple UDP connections.
Finally you can set which data will be transmitted by Wifi. It can be any combination of the NMEA0183 data appearing at the two input serial ports P#1 and P#2.
SETTING OPERATING MODES
In addition to the above parameters, you have 2 radio buttons to choose between: (i) working in AP mode only or (ii) also connect as a Client Station. You press the SET button for NMEA2WIFI to accept the parameters in this page. If there are no errors in the parameters, NMEA2WIFI changes its operation to the mode and settings selected.
FACTORY SETTINGS
Pressing the Set Factory Defaults button is the same as an hardware reset of the system. The factory setting uses the following parameters: Mode: Access Point; Ssid: NMEA2WIFI; Password: 12345678; IP Address: 192.168.4.1; Wifi Protocol: UDP; UDP Port Number: 2000; Serial Port P#1 Baud Rate: 4800; Serial Ports P#2 and P#3 Baud Rates: 38400; Serial Output on P#3: none; Wifi Output: both P#1 and P#2.