NMEA Reader NMR183. User Guide

NMEA Reader NMR183 User Guide This Guide and the information contained therein is the property of AMI Marine (UK) Ltd. It must not be reproduced or otherwise disclosed without prior consent in writing from AMI Marine (UK) Ltd

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Document Issue Date Modification Number (where applicable) Brief Record of Change and Reason for Change Iss01 Rev00 19.06.13 Original Issue Iss01 Rev01 30.09.13 Amendment to wording Page 10 Iss01 Rev02 10.10.13 Clear instruction on charging the batteries Iss01 Rev03 21.10.13 General Update Iss01 Rev04 24.10.13 Security Update Iss01 Rev05 30.10.13 NMEA Sentence Function Improvements Iss01 Rev06 18.03.14 Change of address Iss02 Rev00 01.12.14 Addition of External Power Option Iss02 Rev01 27.08.15 Additional BAUD rate added NOTE:All alterations must be verified by re-authorisation and approval of the complete document. Page 3 of 22

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IMPORTANT WARNINGS Read before using the reader: Warnings and precautions. To avoid possible unit damage, electric shock or personal injury, follow these guidelines: Use the reader only as specified in this manual. The NMEA reader has been designed to be used on 5V RS422 and 24V instrumentation systems, higher voltage will permanently damage the unit. Do not use the reader or test leads if they appear damaged, or if the reader is not operating properly. Always use proper terminals. Verify the reader s operation by measuring a known data source. If in doubt, have the reader serviced. To avoid false readings, recharge the battery as soon as the battery indicator appears low. Never use the reader whilst recharging the battery as this will cause incorrect charge level indications. Do not use the reader around explosive gas or vapour. NOTICE Compass safe distance is 1.8 metre. NOTICE No user serviceable parts inside, servicing only by properly qualified and certified technical staff. NOTICE This guide is for informational use only, and may be changed without notice. This guide should not be construed as a commitment of AMI Marine (UK) Ltd. Under no circumstances does AMI Marine (UK) Ltd assume any responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The equipment should only be used for the purposes intended by the manufacturer; any deviation from this will void the warranty of the product. Page 5 of 22

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NMR183 NMEA Diagnostic Tool OPERATORS MANUAL CONTENTS Introduction... 9 Charging the NMR183... 10 MENU Screen... 12 NMEA Scroll... 13 NMEA Sentence... 14 NMEA Output... 15 GPS Data... 17 Pulse Input... 18 Pulse Output... 19 Warranty Form... 21 AMI MARINE (UK) LTD Unit 9, Crosshouse Centre Crosshouse Road Southampton SO14 5GZ United Kingdom Tel No +44(0) 23 8048 0450 Fax No +44(0) 23 80480451 E-mail technical@amimarine.net Web www.amimarine.net Page 7 of 22

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Introduction The NMR183 NMEA reader is a simple easy to use handheld device for use with any marine equipment that outputs NMEA0183 data. The NMR183 allows the easy monitoring of NMEA serial data which conforms to the international IEC61162 standard. As well as monitoring the NMEA data the NMR183 will also log the received NMEA data onto an SD card, transmit NMEA data from text files located on the SD Card, will accept Speed Log pulses and also transmit simulated Speed Log pulses. A replaceable 100mA fuse is provided offering protection against high voltage inputs. Visual Overview Power / Charging Socket Tactile Button Key Pad Probe Sockets SD Card Slot 5 VGA Colour screen Power Switch Ext/Off/Bat Fuse Holder The MENU button will bring you back to the menu screen with the options. The UP button moves the highlight up the options. The DOWN button moves the highlight down the options. The SELECT button selects the highlighted option. The SD CARD button starts the data logging function. The BAUD UP button increases the baud rate. The BAUD DOWN button decreases the baud rate. The HOLD button freezes the NMEA Scroll for easier viewing of the incoming data. Page 9 of 22

Charging the NMR183 The NMR183 has 2 of the latest Lithium Polymer batteries giving 2800mAh, enough for up to 3 hours of constant use from one charge. It can take up to 4 hours to charge from flat. The NMR183 is charged using the 24V power pack provided via the Power/Charging socket. Only the power pack provided should be used to charge the NMR183. The power Switch has three positions: BAT - The unit will run from the internal batteries and the 24V external input will have no effect. OFF - The screen will be switched off and the internal batteries will charge. EXT - The unit will use the 24V external power supply to run. A dedicated circuit is built in to monitor the slow trickle charge rate which maximises the battery life and also allows it to be left on charge until needed. The battery charge level is displayed on the MENU screen. The NMR183 will automatically turn off when the batteries gets to a pre-set low level, by preventing the batteries from going completely flat this will ensure the battery life is maximised. It is recommended to keep the batteries 75% charged whenever possible. Ideally the reader should be turned OFF while charging. This allows the battery to reach the threshold voltage unhindered and reflects the correct saturation current responsible to terminate the charge. Charge at room temperature. Do not charge below freezing. Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged. Discontinue using charger if the reader/battery gets excessively warm. The NMR183 is fully isolated and will not load or affect the circuit being tested. The only user serviceable part in the NMR183 Reader is the signal input fuse. If the batteries require replacement the complete unit must be returned to AMI for service. Page 10 of 22

Operating Instructions Please charge the NMR183 reader prior to initial use. The NMR183 comes supplied with an 8Gb SD Card, a 24V power pack and a test lead kit. Lock Tab Ensure the SD card has the Lock tab disabled as shown above. This is to ensure that the logging of the NMEA data to the SD card can be performed. NOTE! The SD card should only be removed or replaced while the NMR183 is turned off. When logging data to the SD card and you want to stop, press the button and then turn off the NMR183. Please allow a few seconds for the logging to stop or the data may become corrupt and unusable, not stopping in the correct method may also corrupt the whole SD card. Page 11 of 22

MENU Screen The or buttons are used highlight each menu option. When the required function is highlighted the button should be pressed to choose the operation. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU Screen. Information Displayed. The time and date shown is at the bottom of this screen, taken from the unit s internal clock. When connected to a GPS receiver and the GPS Data function is used the internal clock will automatically be synchronised to UTC time. The data being logged to the SD card use the internal time and date for time stamping data files. This screen also displays the battery level status. The above screen shows an almost fully charged battery set. As the battery charge decreases the length of the bar also decreases. Page 12 of 22

NMEA Scroll The NMEA Scroll function is very similar to the way NMEA data is viewed on a PC, as the data is received the NMEA sentences will scroll up the screen. Pressing or will change the BAUD rate. Having this function to change the BAUD rate and display the incoming data will help with diagnosing of wrong BAUD rates and incorrect polarity. Pressing will hold the current screen if the sentences are scrolling too quickly. Pressing will log all the sentences being received. Data will continue to be logged until the SD card is full or Note when logging to the SD Card the text will turn light blue. is pressed. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU screen. Available BAUD rates are:- 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 14400, 19200, 28800, 38400, 57600. Page 13 of 22

NMEA Sentence The NMEA Sentence function, first listens to all the incoming NMEA sentences for 2 seconds then displays the first 9 received NMEA sentence starting characters which are displayed at the top of the screen. By default the baud rate is 4800. To change the baud rate press the button and an empty top window will appear and the default/current baud rate will be shown in the bottom left corner. Select either or to select required baud rate. Press and hold until the NMEA data is displayed. The selected NMEA header will be displayed in the centre of the screen and updated every time the incoming data changes. The current BAUD rate and NMEA header are shown at the bottom of the screen. Pressing or will select a different sentence, moving the cursor from left to right. The currently selected sentence will be shown at the bottom of the screen. It will take a second for that NMEA sentence to be updated if data rate is once per second. If data is being logged then this will be stopped at this point when pressing or. Pressing will open a new text file on the SD Card and begin to log the NMEA data of the sentence currently highlighted until either the SD card is full or the logging is stopped. To stop the data logging press one of the following keys:,,,,. Note when SD Card logging function is selected the text will turn light blue. Pressing will re-scan the incoming NMEA sentences. If data is being logged then this will be stopped at this point. To change the BAUD rate press, and at the next screen press or will change the BAUD rate, will need to be pressed to re-scan for incoming NMEA sentences. If data is being logged then this will be stopped at this point. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU screen. Page 14 of 22

NMEA Output The NMEA Output function allows you to select one of ten default text files. Press the or buttons to highlight the desired text file. These default text files are stored in the firmware library of the reader as shown below. We recommend that new text files are created to suit your requirements on a PC using a text editor such as Notepad. (see next page) As shown on the above screen the highlighted NMEA alarm sentence will be outputted as $ BNALR**000*V*A*C1=AUT; C2=03 ; C3=0*hh for transmission. Pressing or will select a different sentence from the 20 shown. The current sentence selected will be outputted every second. Pressing or will change the BAUD rate, the default BAUD rate is 4800, if this is changed the new BAUD rate will be shown at the bottom left of the screen. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU screen. Page 15 of 22

NMEA Output Creating a new NMEA#.TXT File The NMEA#.TXT files must be created / edited using Microsoft Windows Notepad and saved as plain text files. Using Notepad, create a new text file and name it NMEA1.TXT. Add a list of sentences either by copying from a log file or by creating a new one. A maximum of 20 sentences may be used. 19 or less will be automatically filled in from the default library. Taking the following NMEA sentence from a gyro [$HEHDT,009.0,T*26] this will be transferred to the text file by removing the check sum figure at the end of the sentence i.e. 26 and replacing them with hh and then adding speech marks to the beginning and at the end of the sentence to end up with this sentence [ $HEHDT,009.0,T*hh ] Our example below shows the heading incrementing in 1 degree steps. "$HEHDT,199.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,198.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,197.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,196.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,195.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,194.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,193.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,192.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,191.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,190.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,191.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,192.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,193.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,194.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,195.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,196.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,197.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,198.8,T*hh" "$HEHDT,199.8,T*hh" Page 16 of 22

GPS Data The GPS Data function allows you to easily understand the GPS data being received. The data displayed on this screen is selected from the different NMEA sentences. If one of the values above is changing rapidly between 2 different states, this could possibly indicate that 2 different NMEA sentences contain different data. GPS data is 4800 BAUD. The internal clock will automatically update when a valid GPS signal is received while viewing this information The colour of the test can be changed by pressing the and buttons. Choice of colours is white, yellow, violet, red (for night use), cyan, green and blue. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU screen. Page 17 of 22

Pulse Input The Pulse Input function allows you to monitor the incoming pulse s width and frequency from conventional speed log equipment. Using the incoming pulses the speed displayed shows you what the calculated speed would be for both the 200 and 400ppm. Speed logs normally give a potential free dry contact output therefore an external dc voltage is required for the NMR183 to read the pulses. As shown below the dc voltage is pulsed through the relay on the speed log and the voltage pulse is detected by the NMR183. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU screen. Page 18 of 22

Pulse Output The Pulse Output function allows you to test equipment which accepts either 200 or 400 PPM. Please note that the output is at a TTL level of 2.7V and should only be used with equipment expecting a voltage pulse or through a dry contact adaptor unit. Note! The output pulse has a reverse polarity. Pressing or will change the pulse width, the displayed variables are taken from the feedback circuit, if no load is attached, there will be no feedback. The P in the top right corner is displayed when a pulse is outputted. Normally speed log displays RADAR or similar equipment provide a dc voltage which is pulsed and returned by the relay contacts from the speed log output board. As shown below the dc voltage is pulsed through the relay on the NMR183 and the voltage pulses are detected by the display. Pressing at any time will bring you back to the MENU screen. Page 19 of 22

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Warranty Form AMI Marine (UK) Warranty; (abbreviated, full version on request) The Warranty Period is 12 months return to base, parts and labour from date of purchase unless an alternative period has been otherwise agreed in writing. This warranty shall only apply where the REGISTRATION CARD supplied with the goods has been properly completed and returned to AMI within the period of 21 days from receipt. The registration form can also be downloaded from the AMI Marine website www.amimarine.net Returns Procedure; Send an email RE: REQUEST FOR RETURN AUTHORISATION to technical@amimarine.net Please do NOT send items back to AMI Marine until after you have received a Return Authorisation Response Email instructing you to do so. Documents to be included; A print out of your RETURN MATERIAL AUTHORISATION INFORMATION EMAIL, and enclose in the return package. Be sure to pack the returning product securely and according to carrier instructions. Damage incurred during return shipping due to inadequate protection will render the item ineligible for return, repair, or exchange under the Warranty Terms. Items not received by AMI Marine, will not be credited. MOST authorised returns should be returned to the address below - however there are some exceptions, so DO NOT ship to this address without first reviewing your RETURN AUTHORISATION INFORMATION EMAIL for applicable return instructions: AMI Marine (UK) Ltd Unit 9, Crosshouse Centre Crosshouse Road Southampton SO14 5GZ United Kingdom A full explanation of AMI Marine (UK) Ltd warranty conditions can be found on our web site or requested via email. * Terms of Service and Policies are subject to change without notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please complete and return to AMI Marine either by post to the above address or by email to technical@amimarine.net Model Number Serial Number Date of Purchase Vessel Name IMO Number Warranty Registration Form Page 21 of 22

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