Vesselview smartcraft

I have two 4 port jbox behind the helm. They both have at least one open slot.
 
Mercury should be able to confirm this but if they are not connected then i think that is when you need the crossover cable.
 
Ugh, unfortunate timing
 
Confirmed all the parts with mercury. Parts ordered.
 
Got it working tonight. Data is fed into a simrad go via the VV link. And data goes to my gauges.

one problem though is that I I have just my port key switch on then the data is sent to the simrad. I think I will need a crossover cable.
 
Sorry. That was garbled. That’s what I get for Posting from my cell phone. I got it working but if I turn on just the port ignition switch, I do not have data nor do my DTS controls light up until I switch on the starboard key switch. It’s odd because I haven’t removed any of the VV 1.5 system yet. It’s still functional.
0E4B45D7-117E-4184-84CB-F85D1D176142.jpeg
 
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Got the simrad go7 (now a vesselview 7ish) fitted tonight and also figured out a solution for the issue with the DTS not turning on with the port key. There is a twin engine wake up cable that you have to use if you have to junction boxes. Mercruiser said to plug this cable into each junction box and then into the vesselview link. That didn’t work. But if I plug the vv link directly into a j-box and plug the dts into the twin engine cable everything works fine. Weird. Either way I yanked out all of the vesselview 1.5 wiring. Nice to get that mess out from under the dash.


Now I get to figure out how to get the generator data onto the nmea2000 network.

C3122A38-891F-40C5-B5B6-783A7CDA3EF0.jpeg
 
I read through the posts you shared.

short story is I need another converter, cut the one (or two) jumpers on the NIM and intercept the can-v signal. I saw that harness in the dash already. I haven’t found the resister terminators for that network yet but I’m sure they’re in there.

It doesn’t look too difficult. Famous last words. :)

Meanwhile, my NMEA network keeps on growing. I’ve got 11 devices on it and looking to add at least three more. I’m going to have to pull the documents on that and arrange those so that the load is distributed equally.
 
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It's really that straightforward
 
Is there a consensus on which converter (yachtdevices or maretron) is better? I have a gauge in my panel that displays generator hours, so I don’t really need that information on my nmea2000 network.
 
For me, the fact that Onan/ Cummins used maretron made it a no brainer
 
jmauld said:
Is there a consensus on which converter (yachtdevices or maretron) is better? I have a gauge in my panel that displays generator hours, so I don’t really need that information on my nmea2000 network.
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I actually set both up when @ttmott and I were trying to figure out how to get the generator data to work. I kept the Yacht Devices version only because I have several more of their devices on board. Also, the YD programmers developed the capability based on my query and I beta-tested for them so I felt a little bit of loyalty because of that. I gave my Maretron to a dock-mate who used it to set up the capability on his Northern Lights Jenny, I don't think the YD would have worked for that.
I don't think there is any difference between the two once they are set up and running. I couldn't get engine hours to work with either so I think that problem may be unique to me.
I think the YD is quite a bit cheaper if that matters.
Although not absolutely necessary, Maretron benefits from having other of their devices like the DSM 410 installed, if that was true in my case I think I would stick with the Maretron. Maretron is also certainly bigger and has a more robust product line. I'm not sure whether Maretron's larger support staff is a benefit or not. With YD, you could end up knowing every one of their staff, both here and in Latvia.
 
I was hoping I was going to get a chance to check on this, but the weather has kept me from opening up the bilge, and it doesn’t look to clear up anytime soon.

Is this NIM device part of the the Kohler generators as well?
 
jmauld said:
I was hoping I was going to get a chance to check on this, but the weather has kept me from opening up the bilge, and it doesn’t look to clear up anytime soon.

Is this NIM device part of the the Kohler generators as well?
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I don't think it's called NIM but hopefully your generator has a J1939 output capability. If you can currently see generator data on your Smartcraft device you can probably convert. Here's a thread on Kohler generator conversion from a few years ago that may help:
http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/kohler-5ecd-to-vessel-view-7.74618/
 
There’s always a “gotcha”!

thank you for the link. It seems that if these systems are sending an output over smartcraft, that it should just show up on the Vesselview link. Maybe I need to start the generator to get it to show up.
 
jmauld said:
There’s always a “gotcha”!

thank you for the link. It seems that if these systems are sending an output over smartcraft, that it should just show up on the Vesselview link. Maybe I need to start the generator to get it to show up.
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Mercury stopped supporting the CAN format generator data around 2012. Newer VesselViews will only read it if it is in NMEA 2000 format. I think you're still going to need a converter.
 
jmauld said:
There’s always a “gotcha”!

thank you for the link. It seems that if these systems are sending an output over smartcraft, that it should just show up on the Vesselview link. Maybe I need to start the generator to get it to show up.
Click to expand...
The diesel Smartcraft data system is three networks which receive and transmit data over three independent twisted pairs of wires. The networks are CAN H, CAN P, and CAN V. Mercury Dieselview was the last device that supported CAN V. None of the Vesselview products support CAN V. Generator data is transmitted on CAN V. As a means to view the generator's data we convert it from Smartcraft to SAE J1939 then to NMEA 2000 (Onan generators). If your Vesselview product can interface with NMEA 2000 then it will display the generator's data. The device in the Onan generators that creates the data stream on CAN V is called a Network Interface Module (NIM). The Kohler generators if also provide the generator data on CAN V would also have a device similar to the Onan NIM. I've never seen the Kohler setup so can't be any help there.
 
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