Airmar In-Hull Depth Transducer - 9-pin? 7-Pin?

[mvweebles]

I want to add an in-hull transducer to my Simrad system (I have a forward scan, but want a simple down-scan). Looks like a basic Airmar P79 is fine, but they offer a ton of different cross references. When I go to Simrad, they're happy to sell one for a competitive price, but offer a 9-pin/7-pin adapter as an option without a clue whether I actually need one. I never even knew there was different flavors of N2K cables so I'm stumped. Anyone have any brilliant ideas?

https://www.simrad-yachting.com/sim...sducers/xsonic-airmar-p79/#prl_specifications

Thanks in advance

Peter

 

[kchace]

Yes I just went through this. The Seven pin connectors are used on the older Simrad/Lowrance equipment. Any of the newer models are all 9 pin.

I actually ended up going with the DT800 NMEA2000 transducer and run it inside the hull. Super easy to connect and of course share with any other device on the bus. It only gives depth and temp, no image. Depth is really what I normally care about, we’ll see if I end up changing it.

Ken

 

[rslifkin]

The transducers that connect directly to the MFDs aren't NMEA2000. As far as which connection you need, Simrad should have documentation that says what connector your MFDs have.

 

[AKDoug]

And adapters, I opted to keep my older transducer when I upgraded my Simrad MFD and got a seven to nine pin adapter.

 

[ranger58sb]

The transducers that connect directly to the MFDs aren't NMEA2000. As far as which connection you need, Simrad should have documentation that says what connector your MFDs have.

Yep. Typical DSTs can be NMEA2000 these days, whereas "real" depthfinder (fishfinders, etc.) tend to be direct connect... with whatever pin-out the MFD (or transducer display) wants.

Given a model number for a Simrad display system, I'd have thought Simrad could answer the question easily enough. Or maybe they think they have answered the question by offering the converter if you want to use an Airmar P79.

Maybe another question could have been "what transducers are compatible with my display model #xxx, with or without pin converters?" or something like that.

-Chris

 

[mvweebles]

I originally purchased the MFD from BOE Marine. I've reached out to them to tell me what I need.

I guess I was naive. I really thought this stuff was standardized given N2K standard. Silly me.....

Peter

 

[Iggy]

Let me add, I have 3 Simrad MFD. Now this all, and Garmin too, on which model you have that can do this.

I have all 3 MFDs network using ethernet. So all there can display the fish-finder screen and display radar. NMEA2k has a smaller bandwidth than ethernet so it can not handle all that data.