Simrad NSS8 engine monitor

[Kevin]

I was at the local WM and the Simrad NSS8 caught my attention. I pushed some buttons and asked some questions to one of the sales guys. Seemed like a really nice unit. I came home and read every piece of literature I could find online. I made contact with Steyr to see if the engine monitoring would work via the MNEA 2000, which I have never used before. They are checking to see if my software version will work or not. They said if I have a CAN bus 6 pin plug with a resistor cap at the gauge/start panel it should work but I am going to wait to purchase the display until they give me the final ok. I want to see RPM, temp, boost, fuel consumption etc.

For years all my navigation has been eyeballs and a Garmin 478 with a plane jane ducer hooked up to it so it is time to upgrade.
I have read about NMEA 2000 and CAN but am still confused to say the least. It sounds similar to my stand alone engine management system in my car which I did install and tune myself.

The connectors at the start panels are 6 pin Duetch connectors. It seems as though there should be a cable that would link the start panels to the Simrad but can't find anything online that looks like a direct conversion. You electronics gurus have any ideas that will simplify my thought process?

[Bruce]

Kevin,
Setting up a 2000 network is simple. Very little actual programming, its almost a plug and play system with just a bit of setting up depending on the device. Cables, t's and terminator resistors can be had from any electronic maker. Cables come in various lengths.

You can buy Garmin starter kits online just about any place you shop.

http://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-NMEA- ... OgodRWkAlA


Gather how many devices you will have to determine t's and cables lengths.

Here are some basic setup pics. You have my number if you need help or have questions.

If I remember right in the beginning steyr wasn't nema 2000 compatible unless they updated the software. If they are a J1939 data only(I can't remember for the life of me) there are boxes that will convert the J1939 data to nema 2000.

To me the only critical thing I ever ran into on the 2000 network setup up was making sure the 12vdc power cable was hooked up to a clean (free from rf and noise) power source. A few times I had issues with component computers loosing setup data on power up. But that was rare and nothing a good solid connection at the electric panel doesn't solve and not just y'd into a bunch of 12vdc feeds.

[Kevin]

Thank you Bruce,
I guess the big thing is software version at this point. I believe you are correct with the software. I think sometime in 2006 they made it NMEA. They also tweaked it from 212hp to 230 and added a different injector. Even though I bought in late 2006 my motors are 2005. Once they tell me J1939 or NMEA2000 I will be able to move forward. I still need to figure out Duetch to NMEA but that will come with time. I am not scared of splicing if I have to.

[Bruce]

As long as you can get the plug and know which pins are the data, its a breeze.

[Yannis]

Wow guys, I'll collect my toys and will go play at another court. You are un believable !!

[TailhookTom]

Wow guys, I'll collect my toys and will go play at another court. You are un believable !!

Yannis -- I'm coming to your game! I have an NSS8 that I just bought and it supposedly connects to my Yamahas easily -- maybe if you have these guy's brains -- me, I'm happy it powers up since I installed it.

Tom

[Yannis]

Tom,

Here in the Med you only need a radar and all these contraptions if you travel at night; which means if you have anything beyond, say, 60-70 feet (smaller craft do not consider night cruising for fear of an accident in case you hurt something that floats, let alone the waves you can't see).
In that case, you're rich enough to have a crew, which means that, as an owner, you still have no idea about these electronic machines.
Also, fishing is completely different, so for a non professional fisherman all these seem useless.
All discussions on the dock revolve around who is who and "look at that bikini" type of thing.
My boat had a furuno (fishfinder ? depthfinder ? bazooka? I have no idea). Last week I removed it, closed the through hull and forgot all about it.

Yannis.

[Navatech]

Yannis, even in the Med a "fish finder" is very useful... It helps to locate underwater "structure" (reefs, wrecks etc)... Whether for fishing or diving purposes... In addition, knowing the depth is a navigational aid... If it were me, I'd put that fish finder back in...

Many many years ago an Israeli naval vessel hit one of the "almost" islands (submerged sea mountains) in Greek waters... The two front compartments were breached... The vessel had to make it all the way back to Israel in reverse... They were afraid (and rightly so) to exert any additional pressure on that bulkhead between the 2nd and 3rd compartment...

If you have a problem getting stuff at reasonable (i.e. US) prices (yes, I know more about Europe then I'd like) I can help you get it here (U.S.) and then ship it to you as "personal gift", "commercial sample" or whatever else which would help you minimize the tax man's "bite"... At the very least you'd save the obscene margins European middle men charge...

For the record, it's not so much that these middle men are that greedy (though there's some of that too), but rather that they simply have to make more money before taxes so that they can survive after taxes...

[lobsta1]

If you have a problem getting stuff at reasonable (i.e. US) prices (yes, I know more about Europe then I'd like) I can help you get it here (U.S.) and then ship it to you as "personal gift", "commercial sample" or whatever else which would help you minimize the tax man's "bite".

Just be aware, I believe the Navionics group (Lowrance,Simrad,Maretron) have a geographic lock on their products. I don't think that smart units will work outside the Western Hemisphere.
Al

[Yannis]

Thank you Nav and Lobsta,

No, the issue is not the cost. Its the KISS approach. Consider; I don't fish and I never will, I don't like fish. Then, my playground has been cartographed continuously for the last 25 centuries, so there are very little surprises, there are practically no currents, no ebbs and tides whatsoever that could potentially alter the sea floor, you can tell the date on a coin at 20 meters deep even in a port, never foggy, and I always cruise during the day. My gps informs me of reefs and shallows with adequate precision which I'm extremely cautious with, and I usually visit places over and over again so I'm familiar with the waters I cruise. Yes, while it is not 100% certain that I will never encounter a mishap, still, I'm satisfied with the enhanced relative safety that the above provide. The only thing is perhaps the precision with which one can moor inside a port, and how much anchor to drop but there are ways to it too. If I had a sailboat I might think differently, but with 90 cm of draft I can without all these electronics. Even the compass is useless most of the time ...

[Bruce]

Americans like toys. The more the better and if we can tie them all together its the shizzle.

Our motto is: He who dies with the most toys, still dies. Then some ungrateful offspring gets them.

[Navatech]

He who dies with the most toys, still dies. Then some ungrateful offspring gets them.

That's better then not spending the money, the tax man taking a chunk of it (inheritance taxes) and then your grateful (or otherwise) offspring gets to spend the remainder... At least you got to enjoy the toys for a while...

[CaptPatrick]

and then your grateful (or otherwise) offspring gets to spend the remainder

And it then becomes an inherited sum and the beneficiary gets to pay taxes on it all over again...

[Navatech]

And it then becomes an inherited sum and the beneficiary gets to pay taxes on it all over again...

As I implied on the other (politics) thread... It seems as if governments today believe your money is actually theirs and we have to be grateful they leave us anything...

[CaptPatrick]

OK, back to engine monitors....

[Kevin]

Nothing wrong with some toys here and there for sure. My boat has been the most bare bones when it comes to gadgets, mainly happy to have engines that run! Having the nav system and engines that jive will be the shizzle fo rizzle.
I might even splurge and hook the fuel sender up to it. Never had a gauge before. I am really stepping things up a notch.

[Bruce]

Go for it Kevin.
I like it when you can eliminate the guages and run everything engine and navagation thru a flat screen. Use murphy gauges in the ER for backup and your good to go.

Gerry Santiago's Zero Cavity 31 was very close to that.

The future is bringing military heads up display to use. I think the Escalade has that option either now or soon.

[wmachovina]

Bruce, is there anyone who sells sensors that are 2000 compliant for older mechanical engines,ie 450 c series?

[Bruce]

Biil,
Not that simple. You need a computer that will process the engine data and then send that out as a nema 2000 compliant data string.

Bob Lico may know if Smart Craft(cummins brand) has made a conversion to make the 450C digital compliant. When I retired, they did not. The Q series came out and it was already digital.

Yanmar used the Teleflex Magic Buss system to read the analog info and convert to digital and send out nema 2000. Thats what I did on Gerry Santiago's Zero Cavity 31. We also use servo's for throttle control and electric shift and had electronic controls.

You can use the same for any engine except for the fact its thousands of dollars for all the components.

Everything was displayed on a flat screen on the bridge.





These were the engine data and control computers that Teleflex created to work with the mechanical engines.





The single panel makes the helm real clean looking. When Pat built the center console, he installed the control heads.
On one of the pull down feet panels are buttons for the sync function also.



Floscan has the NEMA 2000 boxes to run their sensor fuel data to your flat screen, rather than their own gauges. Thats what I installed on Steve Marinake's 31 last year and the fuel data is displayed on the GPS screen.

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Will this work?? Only a couple of hundred$$.

http://nolandeng.com/rs11.php

[Craig G]

Does anybody know if those units will work with EFI gas engines. I just bought a Rinda Technologies computer scan unit for my Mercruiser 7.4 EFIMPs with the first generation ECM. I was surprised to be able to read fuel flow among many other things when I plugged it in to my engine's computer. Sure would be nice to buy a multi function display unit that would accept a cable to hook up to my engines. No need for any extra flow scan fuel sensors that way.

[Preston Burrows]

Computers and Bertram's...........it just don't sound right!

What's next,Facebook heads up display on the flybridge?

Or should I say FB HUD?

When I bought my B28 the most modern 'electronics' on it was a Danforth compass!
Well it had a light on it so counts as electronic...

Kevin - Have you finalized plans/itinerary for your Bahamas trip?

[Bruce]

That looks like a very viable option Joseph. Thanks for posting, looks to be just that simple after all. Look what I've missed in 4 years.

Craig,
I'd call them but I don't think by reading their web site that it will plug into the same computer plug that the Rinda unit does.

B&G does though. I've used it before.

[Kevin]

Not yet Preston. I think I will refresh the original post and see what dates works the best for the majority. I am flexible with dates. I think the more people and boats we can get the better. For me it is all about weather. I did talk to John Brownlee in the upper keys and he is in. He said his boat ready after getting lots of projects done.

[TailhookTom]

Kevin:

I played around with my NSS8 manual on Saturday - man, there isn't much they can't tell or display. Apparenlty my Yamahas are new enough that I can plug them in and see pretty much anything and everything that is going on inside their computers -- not just rpms and temps -- but pretty much everything except for what month the yamalube was made. Now I'm thinking I buy another NSS8 next winter and have some real fun with them connected to each other.

Tom

[Kevin]

Tom,
Did you get the sonic hub for tunes? Are you running autopilot with it? Curious if it is just a pump T'd inline with hydros and a NMEA cable running straight to display. I saw the pictures of a wreck down here on side scan imaging and got chubby!

I know is Wifi, but do you think it would recieve wifi from a flying camera such as the drones that some of us have? Having that daylight veiwable screen would be awsome instead of iphone first person flying.

[Kevin]

Well I am a Simrad NSS8 owner now. Finished up install today. Easy since the antenna is internal. The only thing I have hooked up to it is a transducer. I guess this is where I start the engine interface.
These are amazing machines. Fascinating how much they can do if you throw money at it. I used to be all about Garmin. Times change.