Hi all,
I am working on designing and building the N2K network for my sailboat. I recently ordered the FI-50 Digital and Wind Displays to take advantage of the Furuno 50/50 rebate. I read through the manual and it states that multiple displays must be hooked up through Furuno's junction box. My plan was (hopefully) to daisy chain the two FI-50s with one feeding into the backbone via a T. Or alternatively two T's off the backbone one to each display. As the run from the backbone to the displays is about 10 feet this seems like a more cost effective solution. Does anyone know if either of these setups will work? Any reason to choose one over the other or to use the Furuno Junction Box?
Thanks,
Matt
Sorry for the slow reply, Matt. I once asked Furuno why the manual said that and Furuno allowed that it was overly aggressive, or some such, and said it would be changed. The junction box is a useful option for many, but it is definitely not needed. I've set up the FI-50 instruments in many configurations, including the ones you describe, and they work just fine. In fact, I've never used the Furuno junction box with the Furuno instruments!
Thanks,
Ben.
No problem. Note that if you do daisy the chain the two instruments and the first one in the chain fails, the second one may drop off the network. All you have to do to get #2 back online is to pull instrument #1 and screw the two N2K cables together, but that's the chance you're taking with chaining instead of individual drop cables for each device. More on this subject here:
https://www.panbo.com/archives/2009/12/furuno_fi-50_multi_xl_a_nmea_embarrassment.html