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ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Microcontroller: ESP32 (2 cores – 4MB – 240 MHz)
Power Supply: from the N2K bus (use 1A fuse if connecting directly to a battery)
Power Consumption: less than 90mA with WiFi ON
less than 10mA with WiFi OFF and Serial OFF
NMEA 183 Input Ports: P1 and PX (internal) - optically isolated
NMEA 183 Output Port: P2 - RS-422 compatible
N2K Port: input and output (fully bidirectional)
Baud Rates:
P1 and PX = 4800, 9600, 19200 or 38400
P2 and USB = 4800 , 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 or 115200
NMEA 0183 Filtering: serial inputs and output, N2K output and WiFi inputs
N2K Message Filtering: on the incoming N2K data
Firmware Update: Over The Air (OTA) without cables
WiFi protocols: UDP and TCP
Other: Multiplexer Pairing and operation in Simulation or Debug modes
INSTALLATION:
Before installation and to get acquainted with the multiplexer, it can be powered from a USB micro cable. Once connected to the Access Point (see below), choose Sim Mode and the unit will simulate NMEA 0183 instruments and AIS data. This mode can be used to check connections to applications like iNavX, QTVLM, Navionics, OpenCPN, etc. In order to carry out the installation, please follow the instructions found in https://www.vela-navega.com/index.php/n2k0183.
Take notice that you need a cable terminated by a 5pin M12 male connector with stripped wires at the end that connects to the N2K0183. All instructions regarding the connections of the serial ports and in particular the connection of the P2 output port to a non-optically isolated Nmea0183 listener must be respected. In this case, the small adapter supplied with the multiplexer must be used.
CONFIGURATION:
The multiplexer is totally WiFi configurable. When powered for the first time, it starts with factory settings and automatically creates a WiFi network named N2K0183. You should disconnect your smartphone (or your PC) from other networks (if possible turning mobile data OFF) and connect to the N2K0183 network using the password 12345678. When connected, type the address 192.168.4.1 in the navigation bar of your browser and you will receive the following web page which allows you to fully configure the multiplexer and modes of operation.
USE N2K0183 AP ONLY
ALSO CONNECT TO EXTERNAL
ENTER SIMULATION MODE
ENTER DEBUG MODE
N2K0183 AP NETWORK
You can operate the N2K0183 multiplexer in two modes: AP or Client Station. In AP (Access Point) mode, N2K0183 creates a wifi network and smartphones, tablets or computers connect to this wifi network to receive/send data from/to N2K0183. In Client Station mode, N2K0183 joins an existing external wifi network and transmits/receives wifi data on that network. N2K0183 always creates its own AP network, even when you set N2K0183 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, N2K0183 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 192.168.5.2 ...). 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 N2K0183 you should connect to this network 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 N2K0183 to join that network as a Client Station, you should enter here the authentication parameters that N2K0183 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 the multiplexer on this external network can be assigned by DHCP or it can be a static one. In order for the multiplexer to obtain an automatic IP from the network/router you enter 0 in the IP Address text box (this is the default). In order to force a static IP you need to specify it, exactly, on the IP Address text box. Make sure that you enter an unused IP belonging to the DHCP pool of the existing network or router. When the connection to an existing network succeds, the IP address will be shown in the header of this page just below the firmware version number.
SERIAL PORTS SETTINGS
The N2K0183 multiplexer has 2 input serial ports named as P1 and PX and one serial output port, named as P2. The serial input port PX is not directly accesible at the multiplexer screw connectors. In order to use PX you need to remove the lid of the case and identify the pads labelled as AX/BX from which you take wires externally. The baud rate of serial ports P1 and PX is adjustable between 4800, 9600, 19200 or 38400. The baud rate of port P2 can be 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 or 115200. 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 if you route the serial inputs to the serial output. All data output by P2 is simultaneously output by the USB port of the multiplexer. Port P1 has a special mode of operation. If you set USB on the baud rate of port P1, data from that port is not input from the connectors A1/B1 but, instead, it is read from the USB port of the multiplexer. In that case data is read at the baud rate specified on P2. The wide text boxes for each serial port refer to NMEA0183 sentence filtering. If you do not need sentence filtering, you enter 0 (zero) in these boxes. See below for an explanation about sentence filtering. Data received on the input ports P1 and PX can be transmitted to the output port P2 to wifi either using the UDP or the TCP ports or both and to an external (EXT) paired multiplexer. It can also be converted to N2K messages and sent over the N2K bus.
N2K PORT SETTINGS
The N2K0183 multiplexer can receive and send N2K messages from and to the N2K bus. The received N2K messages from the N2K bus can be filtered and then converted to Nmea0183 sentences and routed to the serial port P2, to wifi (UDP or TCP) or to a paired multiplexer (EXT). On the other direction, Nmea0183 sentences from the serial input ports or from wifi can be filtered and then converted to N2K messages to be transmitted over the N2K bus. In order to set a filter for the incoming N2K messages see the the note 'N2K message filtering' below. In the case of the outgoing Nmea0183 sentences see the note 'Nmea0183 sentence filtering' below. If you do not want filtering, just enter 0 (zero) in the filtering wide text boxes. Only a small set of Nmea0183 sentences is capable of being translated to N2K messages and vice versa. You can also select advanced settings for the operation of multiplexer, by pressing the shown button.
WIFI PORTS SETTINGS
The N2K0183 multiplexer can send and receive wifi data in a client/server configuration where the multiplexer is the server and the connecting devices are the clients. You can use either the UDP, the TCP or both internet protocols to send and receive wifi data. You 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, N2K0183 transmits using 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 sent by the multiplexer. You should also set the same protocol (UDP or TCP) and the corresponding port number on the connection devices that receive/send data from/to the N2K0183 multiplexer. When you use the TPC protocol, you need to specify the IP address of the multiplexer. This address, in the case of AP ONLY mode, is 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. The wide text boxes for each wifi ports refer to NMEA0183 sentence filtering. If you do not need sentence filtering, you enter 0 (zero) in these boxes. See below for an explanation about Nmea0183 sentence filtering. Finally you can set what to do with the received wifi data. It can be be transmitted to the serial output port P2, to the N2K bus, to the EXT output for a paired multiplexer or to the other internet port.
NMEA0183 SENTENCE FILTERING
The N2K0183 multiplexer is capable of filtering input Nmea0183 sentences arriving at the 2 input serial ports and at the UDP and TCP input ports. It can also filter output Nmea0183 sentences before being transmitted on the output serial port or before being converted and transmitted on the N2K bus. Filtering is a process that we can use to pass or to block specified Nmea0183 sentences. The filtering is governed by a 'filtering string' of up to 40 characters that you can enter in the wide text boxes for each of the referred to ports above. The first character of the filtering string is a number, between 0 and 9. When this number is 0 and nothing follows, no filtering takes place. When this number is 9, the port is ignored (neither read nor written by the multiplexer). When this number is between 1 and 8, a sequence of successive sentences is periodically dropped independently of the rest of the filtering string. For example, if that number is 4, it means that 4 successive sequences are dropped and only the following one is taken for filtering analysis. The second character can only be 'Y' or 'N' and refers to the checksum of the Nmea0183 sentence. If the character is 'Y', the checksum of the sentence is verified and the sentence is ignored if the checksum is not correct. If the character is 'N', no checksum verification is performed. The filtering strings '0' and '0N' are equivalent 'all-pass' filters, and '0Y' blocks sentences with a wrong checksum. The third character can only be 'A' or 'R'. 'A' means that only the sentences that are referred to in the rest of the filtering string are ACCEPTED (pass through) by the port. 'R' means that only the sentences that are referred to in the rest of the filtering string are REJECTED (blocked) by the port. The fourth character is a separator. We will use '-' as a separator but characters such as '+', '.', '~' and others can also be used. Each Nmea0183 sentence is specified by 5 characters. The starting 2 characters refer to the talker ID and the following 3 characters refer to the TYPE of sentence. You can specify up to 6 sentences to be accepted or to be rejected. Following are some examples of filtering strings. If you want a port to pass only the sentence DBT (Depth Below Transducer) generated by a source with ID SD (Sounder, Depth) you can use the string '0YA-SDDBT'. If the filter is to pass only DBT sentences independently of the talker ID, you use '0YA-xxDBT' as the talker ID xx means that it should be ignored. In the same way the TYPE xxx means that it should be ignored. For example, the filtering string '0YR-SDxxx' rejects any TYPE of sentence generated by the SD talker ID. An example of a string that specifies 2 sentences is '0NA-IIDBT-xxRMC'. It means that the filter only passes DBT sentences generated by the talker ID II and RMC sentences whatever is the talker ID.
N2K MESSAGE FILTERING
N2K message filtering refers to the filtering of the messages read from the N2K bus before they are converted to Nmea0183 sentences. As in the case of Nmea0183 sentences you need to enter a text string of characters that define the (only) messages that you want to accept or to reject. In this case, the starting character can only take 3 values: '0' (no filtering) 'A' (accept only) or 'R' (Reject only). If this character is '0' nothing should follow. On the contrary, if the starting character is 'A' or 'R', at least one N2K message should follow. The starting character and the N2K messages must be spaced by a separator character as in the Nmea0183 filtering case. For the purpose of filtering, N2K messages are defined by a sequence of 7 hexadecimal (0, 1, ... 9, A, B, ... F) characters. The first 2 characters refer to the SRC and the remaining 5 characters refer to the PGN. If you use Debug Mode you can see the messages that travel on the N2K bus and its equivalent hexadecimal string inside square brackets. The filtering string A-211F50B, for example, means that only PGN 1F50B (or 128267 in decimal) originated by SRC 21 (or 33 in decimal) passes the filter. If we wanted the referred to PGN to pass the filter independently of the SRC, we would use A-xx1F50B as xx means that the SRC should be ignored. In the same way, the string A-21xxxxx means that only N2K messages generated by source 21 (or 33 in decimal) are accepted.
SETTING OPERATING MODES
In addition to the above parameters, you have 4 radio buttons to choose between 4 modes of operation: (i) working in AP mode only (ii) also connect as a Client Station (iii) Simulation Mode (iv) Debug Mode. In order to change the mode of operation, you select the corresponding radio button and press SET. You also need to press the SET button for N2K0183 to accept any changes that you make in the parameters of this page. If there are no errors in the parameters, N2K0183 changes its operation to selected mode and settings.
HARD RESET AND UPDATE
When you press the HARD RESET button the multiplexer loads its factory settings. When you press the UPDATE button you can check and load the latest available software for the multiplexer. The factory setting uses the following parameters: Mode: Access Point; Ssid: N2K0183; Password: 12345678; IP Address: 192.168.4.1; Wifi Protocol: UDP; UDP Port Number: 2000; Serial Port P1 Baud Rate: 4800; Serial Ports PX and P2 Baud Rates: 38400; Serial Output P2: none; UDP Output: P1.
You can operate the N2K0183 multiplexer in two modes: AP or Client Station. In AP (Access Point) mode, N2K0183 creates a wifi network and smartphones, tablets or computers connect to this wifi network to receive/send data from/to N2K0183. In Client Station mode, N2K0183 joins an existing external wifi network and transmits/receives wifi data on that network. N2K0183 always creates its own AP network, even when you set N2K0183 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, N2K0183 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 192.168.5.2 ...). 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 N2K0183 you should connect to this network 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 N2K0183 to join that network as a Client Station, you should enter here the authentication parameters that N2K0183 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 the multiplexer on this external network can be assigned by DHCP or it can be a static one. In order for the multiplexer to obtain an automatic IP from the network/router you enter 0 in the IP Address text box (this is the default). In order to force a static IP you need to specify it, exactly, on the IP Address text box. Make sure that you enter an unused IP belonging to the DHCP pool of the existing network or router. When the connection to an existing network succeds, the IP address will be shown in the header of this page just below the firmware version number.
SERIAL PORTS SETTINGS
The N2K0183 multiplexer has 2 input serial ports named as P1 and PX and one serial output port, named as P2. The serial input port PX is not directly accesible at the multiplexer screw connectors. In order to use PX you need to remove the lid of the case and identify the pads labelled as AX/BX from which you take wires externally. The baud rate of serial ports P1 and PX is adjustable between 4800, 9600, 19200 or 38400. The baud rate of port P2 can be 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 or 115200. 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 if you route the serial inputs to the serial output. All data output by P2 is simultaneously output by the USB port of the multiplexer. Port P1 has a special mode of operation. If you set USB on the baud rate of port P1, data from that port is not input from the connectors A1/B1 but, instead, it is read from the USB port of the multiplexer. In that case data is read at the baud rate specified on P2. The wide text boxes for each serial port refer to NMEA0183 sentence filtering. If you do not need sentence filtering, you enter 0 (zero) in these boxes. See below for an explanation about sentence filtering. Data received on the input ports P1 and PX can be transmitted to the output port P2 to wifi either using the UDP or the TCP ports or both and to an external (EXT) paired multiplexer. It can also be converted to N2K messages and sent over the N2K bus.
N2K PORT SETTINGS
The N2K0183 multiplexer can receive and send N2K messages from and to the N2K bus. The received N2K messages from the N2K bus can be filtered and then converted to Nmea0183 sentences and routed to the serial port P2, to wifi (UDP or TCP) or to a paired multiplexer (EXT). On the other direction, Nmea0183 sentences from the serial input ports or from wifi can be filtered and then converted to N2K messages to be transmitted over the N2K bus. In order to set a filter for the incoming N2K messages see the the note 'N2K message filtering' below. In the case of the outgoing Nmea0183 sentences see the note 'Nmea0183 sentence filtering' below. If you do not want filtering, just enter 0 (zero) in the filtering wide text boxes. Only a small set of Nmea0183 sentences is capable of being translated to N2K messages and vice versa. You can also select advanced settings for the operation of multiplexer, by pressing the shown button.
WIFI PORTS SETTINGS
The N2K0183 multiplexer can send and receive wifi data in a client/server configuration where the multiplexer is the server and the connecting devices are the clients. You can use either the UDP, the TCP or both internet protocols to send and receive wifi data. You 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, N2K0183 transmits using 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 sent by the multiplexer. You should also set the same protocol (UDP or TCP) and the corresponding port number on the connection devices that receive/send data from/to the N2K0183 multiplexer. When you use the TPC protocol, you need to specify the IP address of the multiplexer. This address, in the case of AP ONLY mode, is 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. The wide text boxes for each wifi ports refer to NMEA0183 sentence filtering. If you do not need sentence filtering, you enter 0 (zero) in these boxes. See below for an explanation about Nmea0183 sentence filtering. Finally you can set what to do with the received wifi data. It can be be transmitted to the serial output port P2, to the N2K bus, to the EXT output for a paired multiplexer or to the other internet port.
NMEA0183 SENTENCE FILTERING
The N2K0183 multiplexer is capable of filtering input Nmea0183 sentences arriving at the 2 input serial ports and at the UDP and TCP input ports. It can also filter output Nmea0183 sentences before being transmitted on the output serial port or before being converted and transmitted on the N2K bus. Filtering is a process that we can use to pass or to block specified Nmea0183 sentences. The filtering is governed by a 'filtering string' of up to 40 characters that you can enter in the wide text boxes for each of the referred to ports above. The first character of the filtering string is a number, between 0 and 9. When this number is 0 and nothing follows, no filtering takes place. When this number is 9, the port is ignored (neither read nor written by the multiplexer). When this number is between 1 and 8, a sequence of successive sentences is periodically dropped independently of the rest of the filtering string. For example, if that number is 4, it means that 4 successive sequences are dropped and only the following one is taken for filtering analysis. The second character can only be 'Y' or 'N' and refers to the checksum of the Nmea0183 sentence. If the character is 'Y', the checksum of the sentence is verified and the sentence is ignored if the checksum is not correct. If the character is 'N', no checksum verification is performed. The filtering strings '0' and '0N' are equivalent 'all-pass' filters, and '0Y' blocks sentences with a wrong checksum. The third character can only be 'A' or 'R'. 'A' means that only the sentences that are referred to in the rest of the filtering string are ACCEPTED (pass through) by the port. 'R' means that only the sentences that are referred to in the rest of the filtering string are REJECTED (blocked) by the port. The fourth character is a separator. We will use '-' as a separator but characters such as '+', '.', '~' and others can also be used. Each Nmea0183 sentence is specified by 5 characters. The starting 2 characters refer to the talker ID and the following 3 characters refer to the TYPE of sentence. You can specify up to 6 sentences to be accepted or to be rejected. Following are some examples of filtering strings. If you want a port to pass only the sentence DBT (Depth Below Transducer) generated by a source with ID SD (Sounder, Depth) you can use the string '0YA-SDDBT'. If the filter is to pass only DBT sentences independently of the talker ID, you use '0YA-xxDBT' as the talker ID xx means that it should be ignored. In the same way the TYPE xxx means that it should be ignored. For example, the filtering string '0YR-SDxxx' rejects any TYPE of sentence generated by the SD talker ID. An example of a string that specifies 2 sentences is '0NA-IIDBT-xxRMC'. It means that the filter only passes DBT sentences generated by the talker ID II and RMC sentences whatever is the talker ID.
N2K MESSAGE FILTERING
N2K message filtering refers to the filtering of the messages read from the N2K bus before they are converted to Nmea0183 sentences. As in the case of Nmea0183 sentences you need to enter a text string of characters that define the (only) messages that you want to accept or to reject. In this case, the starting character can only take 3 values: '0' (no filtering) 'A' (accept only) or 'R' (Reject only). If this character is '0' nothing should follow. On the contrary, if the starting character is 'A' or 'R', at least one N2K message should follow. The starting character and the N2K messages must be spaced by a separator character as in the Nmea0183 filtering case. For the purpose of filtering, N2K messages are defined by a sequence of 7 hexadecimal (0, 1, ... 9, A, B, ... F) characters. The first 2 characters refer to the SRC and the remaining 5 characters refer to the PGN. If you use Debug Mode you can see the messages that travel on the N2K bus and its equivalent hexadecimal string inside square brackets. The filtering string A-211F50B, for example, means that only PGN 1F50B (or 128267 in decimal) originated by SRC 21 (or 33 in decimal) passes the filter. If we wanted the referred to PGN to pass the filter independently of the SRC, we would use A-xx1F50B as xx means that the SRC should be ignored. In the same way, the string A-21xxxxx means that only N2K messages generated by source 21 (or 33 in decimal) are accepted.
SETTING OPERATING MODES
In addition to the above parameters, you have 4 radio buttons to choose between 4 modes of operation: (i) working in AP mode only (ii) also connect as a Client Station (iii) Simulation Mode (iv) Debug Mode. In order to change the mode of operation, you select the corresponding radio button and press SET. You also need to press the SET button for N2K0183 to accept any changes that you make in the parameters of this page. If there are no errors in the parameters, N2K0183 changes its operation to selected mode and settings.
HARD RESET AND UPDATE
When you press the HARD RESET button the multiplexer loads its factory settings. When you press the UPDATE button you can check and load the latest available software for the multiplexer. The factory setting uses the following parameters: Mode: Access Point; Ssid: N2K0183; Password: 12345678; IP Address: 192.168.4.1; Wifi Protocol: UDP; UDP Port Number: 2000; Serial Port P1 Baud Rate: 4800; Serial Ports PX and P2 Baud Rates: 38400; Serial Output P2: none; UDP Output: P1.