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I have a 37 foot sailboat that was originally set up with Simnet for all instruments on board. This past summer one of the Simnet instruments a IS20WIND instrument panel started malfunctioning. I want to replace the IS20Wind with a Triton2 display. The problem is that the IS20Wind is on a Simnet while the B&G Triton 2 is NMEA2000 (N2K). I have found ways to Jerry rig the connections but it is sloppy and doesn't work well. What I need is 2 short cables. 1 male simnet to female N2K and 1 - Male N2K to Male Simnet. I cannot find these cables available commercially. I also cannot find the connectors that I can use to build the cables myself. Any suggestions for sourcing either the cables or the components would be appreciated.
Hi Jeffrey,
I think you have a couple of options to resolve your cabling quandry. Simrad has cables that go from Simnet to NMEA 2000 and I would think this would work for you ( https://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-nz/simrad/type/accessories/cables-connectors/cable-micro-c-male-to-simnet-0.5m/), but if not here are the other options I see:
I think you've got two basic choices to make your own:
- Field makeable connectors - Something like this: https://www.thegpsstore.com/Maretron-NMEA-2000-Field-Attachable-Female-Connector-P3262.aspx?gclid=CjwKCAjw_sn8BRBrEiwAnUGJDnGl6l_CzSGyXG_mFsK-ApOySuiw3bTfIrwK_rFVn6afuIh3x34ddRoCh7UQAvD_BwE. Let's you lop off one end of a Simnet cable and attach a connector like this (make sure you use the correct gender).
- Attaching field makeable connectors isn't too bad, but it's kind of fiddly work. You might find something like Actisense's quick network blocks easier to work with. https://www.actisense.com/products/qnb-1-quick-network-block/
Let us know what works out for you.
-Ben S.
Publisher, Panbo.com
@ben-stein. While I am a bit concerned a bout clipping of the old female Simnet connector, I agree that this is probably the best way to go. One outstanding question, how do I connect the shielding materials from the original Simnet cable to the new N2K cable?
thank you for your help.
Jeff
Do you have a diagram that shows how to connect the wires from NMEA 2000 to Simnet I have ordered all the parts recommended with a bunch of redundancy to ensure that I can find and option that works. One of the challenges will be to make sure that the connedtions made either splicing the wires or cutting the wires and putting on new N2K connectors will be getting the wiring right. Any direction would be appreciated.
Jeff