DIGITAL YACHT iSeaSense Instrument System Instruction Manual
- October 30, 2023
- DIGITAL YACHT
Table of Contents
iSeaSense NMEA 2000
Instrument System
IMPORTANT NOTE
Your iSeaSense has a WiFi network name “iSeaSense-xxxx” where xxxx is your
unique 4 digit code. The default Password = “PASS-xxxx”, where xxxx is the
same unique four-digit code at the end of the WiFi network name. To access the
web interface, http://192.168.1.1 or http://iSeaSense.local
Introduction
Congratulations on the purchase of your iSeaSense Wireless NMEA 2000
Instrument System. In addition to this quick start guide, we recommend
watching our iSeaSense video, simply scan the QR code to be taken to our
YouTube video….
This product is designed for use by Dealers and End Users with
knowledge/experience of NMEA 2000, Digital Yacht cannot provide technical
support or training on NMEA 2000 networking.
Before you start
To use your iSeaSense you will need:
- A wireless device with web browser i.e. Smart Phone, Tablet or Laptop
- A suitable number of spare “T-Piece” connections on a working/powered NMEA 2000 network.
If you have purchased an iSeaSense pack, then you should also read the manuals or information sheets included with the sensors/transducers.
Installation
The iSeaSense is IP54 rated (water resistant) and care should be taken when installing it, to ensure it is never submerged in water.
3.1 – Connecting to the NMEA 2000 Network
- Connect the iSeaSense cable, to a spare NMEA2000 network connector.
- If you are also installing a DST810 Speed, Depth and Temperature transducer, you will need to connect this to a second spare NMEA2000 network connector.
- Both iSeaSense (LEN=2) and the DST810 (LEN=3) take their power from the NMEA2000 network, so no additional connections are necessary.
- If you are connecting iSeaSense to a non-standard NMEA2000 network, then a suitable adaptor cable will need to be sourced from the manufacturer;
SeaTalkNG (Raymarine P/No A06045)
Simnet (Simrad P/No 24006199)
3.2 – Mounting and Location
- Install iSeaSense to a flat bulkhead using suitable fixings.
- iSeaSense can be installed in any orientation.
- A location should be chosen for best WiFi performance, i.e. central location on the boat with minimum metallic obstructions
3.3 – Powering iSeaSense
- Apply power to the NMEA 2000 network. iSeaSense’s LEDs will flash once and after a few seconds the Status and Data LEDs will illuminate, as per Table 1…
Condition| STATUS
LED
(Green)| DATA IN
LED
(Yellow)| ERROR
LED
(Red)| DATA OUT
LED
(Yellow)| LINK
LED
(Green)
---|---|---|---|---|---
ON (Solid)| Wi-Fi
STA Mode
Connected| | System
Error| | Web
Connection
Flashing| Wi-Fi
AP-Mode
Active| Data
Received| Data
Error| Data
Transmitted|
OFF| Wi-Fi
STA Mode
Disconnected*| No Data
From N2K| All OK| No Data
To N2K| No Web
Connection
Table 1
- Note – Short flash every 2 seconds indicates iSeaSense cannot connect in STA Mode, check wireless network is visible and password is correct.
3.4 – Setting up the Wireless Network
- By default, iSeaSense creates a wireless network (Access Point), with Name (SSID) = “iSeaSense-xxxx” and Password = “PASS-xxxx”, where xxxx is a fourdigit code, unique to your device.
- To connect to iSeaSense you need to scan for wireless networks, find it, select it and then enter the default password when prompted.
- iSeaSense currently only supports WPA2 wireless security, not the latest WPA3, so some devices including Apple iOS devices will report that the iSeaSense has “Weak Secuity” but this is normal and not a cause for concern.
- iSeaSense is not a router or internet gateway, so when you are wirelessly connected to it, you will not be connected to the internet and your operating system; Windows, iOS, Android, etc. may display a “No Internet” warning. Again this is perfectly normal and not a cause for concern.
- IMPORTANT NOTE – Multiple devices can connect to iSeaSense and display the web pages in their browser, but after a settings change, you must refresh the other browser sessions for the new settings to be applied.
3.5 – Accessing the Web Interface
- The iSeaSense has a built-in web interface, consisting of a series of pages that allow you to monitor and display any Instrument and Navigation data available on the NMEA 2000 network.
- A wireless device, connected to iSeaSense, can access its web interface in a browser at http://192.168.1.1 or http://iSeaSense.local which should bring up the iSeaSense home page as shown in Figure 1.
- When there is an active web browser session in progress, the Green LINK LED on the iSeaSense unit will be ON.
Operation
By default, iSeaSense has a series of pre-defined pages that display digital
“Databoxes” and analogue “instruments” of the instrument and navigation data
available on the NMEA 2000 network. If the data for a particular Databox or
Instrument is not present they will be displayed with a series of bars —- or
N/A.
The pages are fully editable, allowing you to change, hide or add databoxes
and instruments, to match the available data on your NMEA 2000 network and
your preferred page layouts and combinations of data.
A list of the NMEA 2000 PGNs that iSeaSense supports are listed in Appendix A.
4.1 – Speed+Depth Page
On the Home page, click the SPEED + DEPTH button and the page in Fig 2 will be
displayed
Each databox can be edited to show different data, be hidden from view (if no data available) or in some cases be calibrated/reset. To edit a databox, click the “Padlock” icon. The icon will now change to an open padlock and a series of “Spanner” icons will appear in the centre of each databox – see Figure 3.
Click on the Spanner Icon of the databox you wish to edit and a Databox Configuration pop-up window will appear (see Fig 4).
If you wish to change the gauge to display different data, click on the drop
down “Data Source” and select the data you want. Once selected, you can close
the popup, click on the Padlock icon and see the change.
To add additional databoxes to the page, click the Padlock icon and then
scroll down the page and you will see four additional Spanner icons. Each one
can be clicked on and a new databox setup by selecting the data you wish it to
display.
As you can see in Fig 5 above, a Heading Magnetic and Trim databox have been
added to the page.
To calibrate the Boat Speed, change the Depth or reset the Trip Log, you
should click on the Padlock icon, then for any databox that can be calibrated
of reset, there will be a Cog Wheel icon shown next to the Spanner Icon. Click
the Cog Wheel icon and follow any on screen instructions.
4.2 – Attitude Page
The Depth/Speed/Temp transducer that is supplied with the iSeaSense Power
and Sail packs, includes a Pitch and Roll sensor that can display the heel
angle of the boat when tacking or turning and the pitch of the boat as you go
up and down the waves.
Maximum values are displayed below the instrument displays, which you cannot
change, but you can calibrate the Attitude sensor to remove any offsets if the
transducer was not installed 100% vertically. Click the Padlock icon, then
click the Cog Wheel icon in the center of the screen and then follow the on
screen instructions.
It takes about 5 seconds to calibrate the Pitch and Roll Sensor, during which
time a short animation will occur and then the “zeroed” values will be
displayed. Once complete, click the Padlock icon and you will be taken back to
the Attitude page.
4.3 Multi Page
The Multi page is a general purpose page where you can configure eight
databoxes with any of the available data on. The Speed + Depth page limited
the choice of data to instrument data, but on the Multi page you can combine
that data with GPS and Navigation data to make whatever page content you want.
Fig 7 shows the four default Multi databoxes but these can be edited and added
to as detailed in Section 4.1
4.4 Wind Page
The Wind page (see Fig 8), by default, displays two analogue instruments; a
360º Apparent Wind instrument and a Close Haul “magnified wind angle”
instrument. Below them are two digital databoxes; Boatspeed and VMG (into
wind). As with the other pages, the data shown in the databox can be changed
and you can also change the analogue instruments to show True Wind.
Click the Padlock icon to edit the page and if you change the Apparent Wind
instrument to True Wind, the Close Haul instrument will also change to show
magnified True Wind angle. If True Wind data is not available on the NMEA 2000
network, iSeaSense will calculate it from the Apparent Wind and Boatspeed
data.
4.5 Navigation Page
The Navigation page takes Next Waypoint data from a GPS or MFD on the NMEA
2000 network and displays databoxes and a cross track error bar as shown in
Fig 9.
The cross track error (XTE) bar shows the next waypoints name in the green
“flagpole” icon in the middle of the bar and a red “boat” icon that moves as
you drift off course, relative to the track you need to follow, A green or red
arrow at the end of the bar will indicate the direction you need to steer to
get back on track.
As with the other pages, the databoxes can be edited and added to as detailed
in Section 4.1
4.6 Settings Page
Click the “Settings” button on the Home Page. Available settings include….
- Network settings – whether iSeaSense creates its own wireless network (default) or joins another wireless network on the boat
- Ports Setting – the Port number (default = 2000) that iSeaSense uses for UDP and TCP connections (Fig 13)
- Units Settings (Fig 14)
- NMEA 2000 Device List (Fig 15)
- Firmware Update and About Information (Fig 16)
By default, iSeaSense operates in Access Point (AP) mode and creates its own wireless network with a default name and password. You can change the network name and wireless password as shown in Fig 11.
Any wireless network changes must be saved by clicking the “Update
Settings” button. A confirmation pop-up will appear saying that the settings
have been applied and that iSeaSense will reboot within 20 seconds.
If you want iSeaSense to join an existing wireless network, click the Station
(STA) button, select the wireless network from the drop down list and enter
the wireless password. Click the “Update Settings” button and after iSeaSense
reboots, it should join the selected network – Status LED will be ON.
If
the Status LED is OFF with a short flash every two seconds, then iSeaSense has
failed to connect to the selected network. Wait 30-45secs for iSeaSense to
revert to AP mode or press and hold the reset button for >10secs for a factory
reset.
Also in this section is the “Dark Mode” switch which switches to a red on
black design for better night vision.
As well as displaying Instrument data, iSeaSense outputs GPS, Depth and AIS
wireless NMEA data as supported by popular mobile Apps like Navionics Boating.
By default, iSeaSense will allow apps to connect using UDP or TCP protocol, on
Port 2000. Up to 3xTCP connections and 7xUDP connections are supported at the
same time, with no need to select which protocol to use.
As a TCP connection is made, the IP address of the connected device is
displayed.
The only reason to change the Port settings from the default 2000, is if that
port is being used by another device. In this case change the value as shown
in Fig 13.
By default iSeaSense is configured to display European Metric Units, all of
which can be easily changed in the Other Settings section as shown in Fig 14.
As a unit is changed, it will be immediately applied and you do not need to
save the changes.
Also in this section is the Boat Type setting; Sail, Inboard or Outboard and
this setting just changes the boat shape image in the Attitude instruments.
Once you have the iSeaSense settings and pages setup to your requirements, it
is recommended that you take a Backup of the configuration, so that you can
easily restore everything after a firmware update or factory reset.
Clicking the “Backup” button in the Gauge Configuration panel (see Fig 15),
prompts you to name and set the file location of the backup file. Should you
ever need to restore the iSeaSense to this backed up configuration, simply
click the “Restore” button and browse to and select the backup file.
Also included on the Settings page, is a “Device List” button that is useful
for seeing what other devices are on the NMEA 2000, what CAN Address they
have, etc. Clicking this button takes you to the page shown in Fig 16.
At
the bottom of the Settings page (see Fig 17), are details of iSeaSense’s
Firmware version. We try to avoid firmware updates but sometimes it is
necessary to fix a bug or add an important new feature. You can refer to the
version number here to see what firmware your unit is running and then check
on Digital Yacht’s support website to see if there are any updates.
The iSeaSense firmware can be updated very easily from the web interface.
Simply download the latest update (BIN file), click the Choose File button and
browse to your download location. Select the update file and click the Update
Firmware button. The update takes about 10-20 seconds and at the end you
should see an Update Successful pop-up window appear.
This Quick Start Manual just covers the very basic operation of iSeaSense. A
more detailed description is provided in our training videos. Simply scan the
QR code and be taken straight to our YouTube video.
Appendix A- iSeaSense NMEA 2000 PGN Support
In addition to the mandatory NMEA 2000 network management PGNs, iSeaSense
can receive and transmit the following PGNs.
Received PGNs
127250| Vessel Heading
127257| Atitude
128259| Speed, Water Referenced
128267| Water Depth
128275| Distance Log
129025| Position, Rapid Update
129026| COG & SOG, Rapid Update
129029| GNSS Position Data
129038| AIS Class A Position Report
129039| AIS Class B Position Report
129040| AIS Class B Extended Position Report
129041| AIS Aids to Navigation (AtoN) Report
129283| Cross Track Error
129284| Navigation Data
129793| AIS UTC and Date Report
129794| AIS Class A Static and Voyage Related Data
129798| AIS SAR Aircraft Position Report
129802| AIS Safety Related Broadcast Message
129809| AIS Class B “CS” Static Data Report, Part A
129810| AIS Class B “CS” Static Data Report, Part B
130306| Wind Data
130312| Temperature – DEPRECATED
130316| Temperature, Extended Range
Transmitted PGNs
126993| Heartbeat
126996| Product Information
126998| Configuration Information
For more information about NMEA 2000 scan this QR Code to be taken to our NMEA 2000 Networking Guide
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG9IGt9h0kE>