AOS NMEA 2000 NMEA 0183 Simulator User Guide
- June 5, 2024
- AOS
Table of Contents
NMEA 2000 /NMEA 0183 Simulator
Users’ Guide
Connecting the Hardware
Connect the USB cable to the hardware. The simulator is USB powered and its
NMEA2000 and NMEA0183 are galvanically isolated from your computer. Connect
the other end of the USB cable to a computer running Windows™ OS. Windows™ 7
or higher is recommended. Windows™ 10 will find and install automatically the
drivers to emulate the serial ports on your computer.
Go to Device Manager and note the
new ComPort number that was just installed. If you have multiple ComPorts
listed in the device manager, unplug and plug back the simulator and note the
number of the serial port that just disappeared and appeared again.
Connect the NMEA2000 M12 Connector to properly set up and power the NMEA2000
Network. For information about how to setup a simple NMEA2000 network look at
this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4jAxINtF5w
| Pin # | Pin Designator | Pin Type | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SHIELD | Power | NMEA 2000 Shield Connection |
| 2 | NET-S | Power | NMEA 2000 Power Supply Positive |
| 3 | NET-C | Power | NMEA 2000 Ground |
| 4 | NET-H | Comms | NMEA 2000 CAN High Signal |
| 5 | NET-L | Comms | NMEA 2000 CAN Low Signal |
Table 1: NMEA 2000 M12 Connector
If you need to simulate NMEA0183, then connect the NMEA0183 port to your
device as follows: Rx+ and Rx- of the simulator respectively to Tx+ and Tx- of
your device, Tx+, and Tx- of the simulator respectively to Rx+ and Rx- of your
device.
If you would like to simulate only NMEA2000 or only NMEA0183, you can connect
just the connector of the appropriate network type.
Configuring the Software
Download the software here. Unzip and launch the simulator software. Select
Tools -> Options, then under the NMEA2000 or NMEA0183 tab, select the ComPort
number that was noted to appear in the device manager. Select the appropriate
baud rate. The same ComPort can be simultaneously selected for NMEA2000 or
NMEA0183 simulation in the respective tabs, or you can choose to simulate just
NMEA2000 or just NMEA
0183 data.
Use right-click to enable or disable different simulated devices or add and
configure custom devices.
NMEA Simulator can also simulate your own
NMEA2000 devices. You can define a new custom device for NMEA Simulator in the
dialog box shown above to match your real device. To enable address claiming,
check “Address claiming” under device definition. If you do not enable
“Address claiming” be careful to define the device source address to be
different than the address on any other device on your bus. Otherwise, there
could be a conflicting address, leading to the failure of your NMEA2000
network to communicate.
Follow a track
NMEA Simulator can follow a track you have recorded with your navigation
software. Currently, there is only support for OpenCPN .gpx track or route,
Nobeltec VNS, and Admiral track formats. Send us a sample of your track
format, if you would like it added to the future versions of the simulator
software.
You can run multiple NMEA Simulator instances with different options by
starting the simulator software with the command line option:
NMEA_Simulator-options ‹path_to_options_file/optionsfile.ini›
Command-line options
-options ‹path_to_options_file/optionsfile.ini›
Start the simulator by saving all settings to the “some_name .ini” file. If
the file does not exist, it will be created and current default options will
be copied to it.
You can use definition %PROGDIR% to point NMEA_Simulator.exe location. e.g.
-options %PROGDIR%\some_name.ini
Starts the simulator by applying the configuration in “some_name.ini”
-RunStartDelay ‹run_delay_in_ms›
Set NMEA Simulator to “run mode” after a given delay. The minimum delay is 100
ms.
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Read User Manual Online (PDF format) >>