NMEA2000 Backbone?

NewDay#16 · **Joined:** 12 Oct 2007 11:01 **Posts:** 35

New Day came to us with only the original Datamarine depthfinder and speedo and an antique Raymarine radar with CRT. The PO must have kept his handheld GPS. Essentially, the boat is free of electronics, an excellent opportunity to install the latest technology - NMEA2000. This means laying down the backbone cable onto which are connected the various new goodies that I'll get for the next 3-4 Christmases.

Question: Has anyone strung an NMEA2000 backbone cable in a T37? I'd like to know where and what difficulties were encountered.

John
New Day T37 #16

NewDay#16 · **Joined:** 12 Oct 2007 11:01 **Posts:** 35

Tom said in direct email -

I have not done so, but I've considered this as a future improvement. Given other wiring jobs I have done, I would think the best route may be from the panel down into the small alcove under the outboard part of the navigation station, back along the hull and entering the battery compartment, and then aft along the inboard side of the fuel tank. At the aft bulkhead it can be brought through and up to the underside of the pedestal area. Access for NMEA T-connectors may be dodgy around the pedestal area, but good at the panel.

Depending on your wind instument connections, you might need to extend it forward to the mast connection panel under the forward end of the saloon table. Wires can be taken in back of the port water tank for this, as that is where everything else from the mast is routed.

These are just my "pipe dreams" from having thought about how I would do it. If there's anyone out there who already has - please share!

Tom Wells

T37 #224 Higher Porpoise

Running on Empty · **Joined:** 06 Dec 2011 09:01 **Posts:** 23

I installed a Garmin brand NMEA 2000 backbone and it was a lot easier than expected. I ran it from the mast all the way to the steering quadrant so I can hook things in along the way. Very simple connections, powers the GHP 10 wind instrument from the mast, the wind display has a drop cable that hooks in belowdecks from the Scanpod at the helm, and it also has a drop cable that interfaces my Garmin 740s with the whole network so I can see the wind info on the CP. Very handy and actually no sweat to install.

Joe
SV Running On Empty

Down2TheC · **Posted:** 18 Jun 2013 06:38

I'll second that. Very simple. I just assembles my new rig. I went B&G because they stick with the standards and take no converters, and their multi function T41 displays are absolutely the coolest things out there. The B&G Speed, Depth, Wind pack was a great starter for me. One transducer for speed, depth, and sea temp. Wind was easy to mount and includes a cable that was about 60 ft. (Need to figure out where to stash the extra 8 ft.)

http://www.maretron.com/products/N2KBuilder.php
That's a nice design tool if you want to map it out before doing it.
You'll see mini and micro sizes for the cables/connectors. Micro should be fine for a T37 size. Micro handles 4A worth of gear hooked up.

Some basic tips...
There is no wiring, just plugging in, routing the cables, and installing the gear. Everything is 5 pin connectors and the cable is just a 5 wire bundle. pos and neg 12V and two bus wires for data and a shielding.

Near the companionway you'll most likely have a bunch of things plugging in. I have 3 T41's replacing the datamarine instruments, 2 NMEA converters for USB to my PC, the GPS branches off there, and the power as well. Save some cash and get a much cheaper 4 connection block rather than stringing lots of T connectors together.

The power connector screws in anywhere like any other and ends with the two power wires. I hijacked the 12V connection from the old instrument since it was already on the switch I wanted. You can also get a power connector that ends with a T.

Best GPS deal out there is the new Lowrance. $200ish gets you tfhe GPS, cable, and T connector, and it has internals to report a magnetic heading to the network.

I had 4" datamarine round holes to fill. The T41 squares cover the holes but only if mounted in the center of the old space. I epoxied a 1/4" plywood spacer in the hole and they mounted fine. Raymarine would have covered as well.

The old DMI depth sounder transducer came out easily and had the same size hole. Just new Life Caulk... no tools.

I hooked up the whole rig (except Depth trans) on my dining room table once the parts arrived. Nice to know it all works before going through installation. (Don't forget a fan to watch the anemometer go)

The biggest effort in the whole upgrade was fishing the line through the mast.

Good luck!

Tartan37.com

NMEA2000 Backbone?

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