[CA] [CA11] Integrating VHF and AIS to Classic E MFDs

[folkmeister]

Thanks Chuck,

The AIS referenced in my post is a Vesper XB-8000. Unlike the AIS 650 on my old boat it doesn't have a NMEA 4800 output port. It has a NMEA 2000 port, but I have no other NMEA 2000 on the boat.

So I'm looking for a solution to get the GPS position over NMEA 4800 to the VHF. Can you give guidance on these 2 options, or suggest something altogether different?

Option 1 - I've seen a third party multiplexer that accepts SeaTalk 1 as an input. So I'm considering tapping into the SeaTalk network to feed a multiplexer and get NMEA at 4800 out of that.

Option 2 - Can the NMEA port on the second MFD (the one NOT connected at 38400 to the AIS) be set to 4800, or must the NMEA port settings be the same on both. Note: the MFDs are set up as a Data Master / Slave relationship.

Thanks.