MFD12 network and a new Airmar Weather unit

I'm interested in adding weather data to our boat's setup.

We've got four MFD12 units and various sensors. There's an FA-50 with it's own GPS and VHF.

The settings say there's a GP-320B on on COM1 of one of the MFD12s. I'm assuming that's NMEA0183. It also says there's an H2183 connected via CAN to the DRS_RADOME.

My question is would/should I be able to replace the GP-320B and/or the H2183 with an Airmar 220WX?

http://www.airmartechnology.com/weather ... tml?id=153

Or are the MFD12's able to only speak to the 320B?

And if the MFD12 will speak to the 220WX which network connection "should" I use? The 220WX supports both 0183 and 2k and I have sufficient cabling present to connect either way.

There's a SIMRAD autopilot on the boat and I believe it's using 0183 to the GP-320B. I'm assuming this would probably need to keep using 0183

There's also an H2183 on-board, connected to the radome. Would the 220WX be able replace the data provided by the H2183?

The boat was setup this way be previous owners. I have no information as to why it was setup this way. It seems odd to have both a PG-700 and a H2183, as aren't they kind of duplicating each other?

I'm assuming any changes here will necessitate re-running the MFD12 setups.


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My question is would/should I be able to replace the GP-320B and/or the H2183 with an Airmar 220WX?

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Can you, Yes. Should you? probably not. Unless you need the money, I would recommend keeping them working as is and just add your 220WX to the NMEA 2000 network. You can pick whichever one you wish to use as a primary source in your GLOBAL - DATA SOURCES in the setup wizard.

Or are the MFD12's able to only speak to the 320B?

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Of course not. They can read 0183 data sources, NMEA 2000 sources, and available Furuno network sources of most standard items.

There's also an H2183 on-board, connected to the radome. Would the 220WX be able replace the data provided by the H2183?

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I don't know how the heading data compares between the two units, but I wouldn't remove the H2183 if it is working. It is always good to have extra backup sources of data.

It seems odd to have both a PG-700 and a H2183, as aren't they kind of duplicating each other?

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Yes they are but it is good to have backup sources if you need them. The PG700 if in a good location on a fiberglass boat will be a much better heading source than the H2183 or the 220WX.

I'm assuming any changes here will necessitate re-running the MFD12 setups

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Correct. Always run the setup on the master first, then each slave; one at a time.

It's a mystery, but a previous owner/installer put the H2183 way UP on the mast. A good 18' above the water. Which makes for a pretty bad location for the H2183's gyro functions. It's also tied into the DSR4 radome's N2K connection, not down using 0183 or N2K into the rest of the boat. I've seen worse but this genuinely puzzled me.

I'll be putting the 220WX in place of the H2183 and running N2K to the rest of the boat's network, leaving the radome to use it's own siamese cable. The 200WX will have N2K and could, potentially, also support some other GPS puck over N2K. I don't have budget for the satellite compass.

The PG-700 is forward and at the waterline. I plan to move the H2183 to be likewise closer to the waterline. Is there any reason it would have to be more than 3' away from the PG-700? I have the N2K network there and it'd sure be convenient to make use of that existing cabling (with suitable connectors, of course). If they wouldn't conflict I've got a good place where the H2183 could go and still be readily connected to the network.

Three feet should be fine.

Alrighty then, thanks!