Modern boat electronic navigation, monitoring and instrumentation networks use NMEA 2000 as a universal interconnection standard. It allows equipment to be interfaced across brands and a common format of physical connector and cabling used throughout.
NMEA 2000 networks are based on a robust Canbus architecture, but one bad device, cable or termination can have a detrimental effect on performance. Fault finding can be time consuming and tricky, so having a diagnostics device in your toolkit, will save you time, money and frustration.
Digital Yacht’s NAVDoctor is a portable NMEA 2000 network diagnostic tool/tester. It allows you to quickly check the NMEA 2000 network. It combines the functionality of existing NMEA 2000 display programs and test equipment into a single, cost effective, simple plug ‘n play box.
It’s self powered from the network and creates a local wifi point for a mobile phone, tablet or PC to connect. Once connected, you simply access functions through the mobile’s web browser so there’s no complicated software to install.
You can view and drill down on devices as well as the data on the network which is transmitted in packets called PGNs. It can even monitor physical characteristics of the network including bus voltages and load and detect frame errors.
NAVDoctor is an essential tool for every marine electronics technician or advanced DIY installer and also offers the capability of printing a network health check certificate to validate an installation. It’s available now – priced at £300 plus vat ($450) and further details at www.digitalyacht.co.uk
Note for editors: A detailed introduction pack is available to download from the link below.
