Example NMEA Connections
LIVE and SailView 2009 provide several different ways to connect to your NMEA hardware. Below are some common examples.
SailView 2009, as it ships will support all of these configurations 'out-of-the-box'.
Simple Example
You have no dedicated NMEA hardware and want to get started.
A quick internet search reveals that for less than $50 (US) you can purchase a USB GPS device that outputs NMEA 0183 data. That's all you need to get started.
Install the USB GPS, install SailView 2009 and launch LIVE. Open the NMEA tab and hit Direct Serial. Either manually enter the connection information or hit Auto Scan and have LIVE find the hardware.
That's about it.
You obviously won't have wind data but you'll get SOG, COG, VMC and course information and be able to log the data.
Some NMEA Hardware
You have some instrumentation on board that can output NMEA data and would like to get more use/life out of them.
If you NMEA hardware has USB output or output via a serial (rs-232) and your PC has a port that might be all you need.
If you don't have a serial port on you PC (and most modern laptops don't) and your hardware doesn't output USB you will need a serial to USB cable. They are inexpensive and can be found online.
The 'worst' case is all you have is a couple of pins or wires marked NMEA in/out and a ground coming out of your instruments. All you need to do is connect the NMEA out and the signal ground to pins 2 and 5 respectively to a female DB-9 (standard COM port plug) and plug that into your Serial to USB converter.
SailView 2009 looks like a standard NMEA display to your hardware and only receives data so unless you solder the wrong things together you're pretty safe.
If you are unsure seek the help of someone with soldering/communication experience. If you decide to try this you do so at you're own risk. We have to say that...
Once you have the physical connection LIVE will auto detect the NMEA signal.
It almost takes longer to read than it does to do...
An Advanced Example
In a more complex environment you have a couple more options. LIVE has two ways of getting data. If you've played around with the boat simulator you are already familiar with the more flexible way.
SailView 2009 ships with a tool specifically designed for more complex environments. This tools act as a bridge between multiple NMEA devices and LIVE. The way it works is it locates all the COM ports you have configured on your system and then starts listening for NMEA data.
Once if finds ports with data it listens long enough to figure out what data is being sent on each port. It then creates check buttons for each port and each NMEA data type that you can just toggle on and off.
What makes this tool really useful is it then broadcasts the NMEA data you checked over a TCP/IP connection. Both wired and wireless!
When you launch LIVE, instead of connecting to the NMEA hardware directly you connect via TCP/IP and just give it the address the server tool is using (shown at the bottom of the server screen).
This approach has a bunch of advantages, first multiple PCs with network access can use the same data stream for LIVE (helm and tactician?). Second you can configure what data goes where. For instance our test boat has a weather head at the top of the mast with a GPS. That's nice unless the boat is pitching and rolling! We also have a GPS receiver at above the center of mass and use that GPS data in LIVE for logging and velocity measurements.