In a failed effort to add depth information to my Lowrance 5300 chartplotter I purchased and installed a Maretron DST100. I have powered the NMEA2000 bus and set up the backbone etc. From the Lowrance display I can see the DST100 on the bus and the depth, temp etc show up on the bus setup screens. I can add the temperature as an overlay on the 5300 but t that is the only information available for selection from the DST100.
I have contacted maretron and lowrance and both claim that it should work fine but it doesn't. I suspect the issue may be with configuring the depth sensor but that option doesn't appear as available on the lowrance display. I was hoping to avoid adding the maretron display unit as it is well outside of my budget for the simple system I am trying to setup.
Am I correct in assuming that the issue is with the configuration of the DST100? If so would I be able to configure it with the Maretron USB100?
Has anyone else set up these two units together?
Sounds very odd, Andrew, and I don't think it's a calibration issue. The DST 100 and every other NMEA 2000 (and 0183) smart transducer I've tried puts out depth regardless of calibration (which is only keel offset).
If you are seeing a depth number in the Lowrance bus management dialog screen, you should be able to get it anywhere in the plotter. Have you tried a custom instrument screen? Have you really looked everywhere in the dialog boxes for setting up an overlay value?
By the way, setting keel offset on a DST100 (which is made by Airmar) is one of the few calibrations that works across several brands. I think I've seen it work on Garmin, Raymarine, and Simrad gear, and never tried Lowrance.
Ben, Thank you for your response. Your thinking seems much in line with what I have suspected. I thought it should be pretty simple. The depth instrument should send the standard PGN out on the bus and the display should pick it up. I suspect that there is an oversight in the software of the Lowrance display but dont know what to do.
I have tried every dialog I can find and every one that Lowrance support indicated. When I was trying this while at the boat last fall I was focusing on the overlay display but I am pretty sure I tried the custom display as well. At this point I am feeling pretty stuck as Maretron told me that I could send the unit back to them for testing. Unlikely the problem as the depth is shown in the configuration screen. Lowrance support told me that "it should work". It doesn't and they suspect the Maretron sensor. Typical response of tech support when working with a system with multiple manufacturers. Too bad the display doesnt have some function of displaying the raw nmea2000 data.
I was also considering the purchase of a Lowrance LMF-200 to confirm that the display works and also add the function of another display device but am hesitant to do so as it may also not display the depth that I am trying to add.
Any suggestions on what to do next?
I would hate to say it but NMEA0183 was a lot easier to troubleshoot. I could just throw a oscilloscope on the line and decode the binary if needed.
"By the way, setting keel offset on a DST100 (which is made by Airmar) is one of the few calibrations that works across several brands. I think I've seen it work on Garmin, Raymarine, and Simrad gear, and never tried Lowrance."
go googlebot go...
("By the way, setting keel offset on a DST100 (which is made by Airmar) is one of the few calibrations that works across several brands. I think I've seen it work on Garmin, Raymarine, and Simrad gear, and never tried Lowrance.")
Andrew, Today I'll double check that depth from a DST100 displays on a Lowrance LMF400 (I'm 99% sure it does), but I need to wait for the snow to melt some to try the same with a Lowrance LCX ;-)
That would be great. Thanks Ben.
Interesting: the Lowrance LMF400 gets the Depth PGN from the Maretron DST100 fine, but does not get or does not apply the keel offset.
Every other screen on the test system used the offset instantly, regardless of whether I set it from the Garmin GMI 10, Simrad IS20, or Maretron DSM. The Furuno FI50 can apply its own offset, if you want, but its only used by the FI50s.
Well, I'm glad to hear that the LMF400 shows the depth info. I checked back on the Lowrance downloads page and low and behold they have posted a new update since I last spoke with support in the fall. The update mentions changes to allowing depth data overlay so perhaps they fixed something. I'll have to try it when I get back to the boat in the spring. I'll let you know if it fixes the problem. Since I know the LMF400 shows the depth info I think I'll buy one of those, then I can use it when I don't have the chartplotter powered. Thanks for your help.
Andrew, The Lowrance LCX I had on a test boat survived winter conditions fine, and works fine with the Maretron DST 100. Unlike the LMF 400, it understands the keel offset value and applies it to the depth number it shows. It can not set the offset value on the DST 100, however.
Your problem may be in the list where you choose values to overlay on your screen. The LCX (and maybe also your Global Map 5300) list Depth, Sea Temp, and Water Speed under Sonar, but that's for when you have a Lowrance sonar/transducer attached. The same values are also listed further down, under "NMEA 2000" and "Maretron DST 100".
Well I got back to the boat after a long winter and installed the latest firmware for my GlobalMap5300 that I hoped would solve my problems. No change. I still can't get depth information from my DST100. I can get temp no problem when I look under NMEA2000 but not depth or speed. I checked all the overlay options and custom screen options and depth isn't shown anywhere. I can't see any other options. I'll try and contact Lowrance again but that didn't go too far last time.
I have been thinking of getting an LMF400 for fuel flow and depth. Called Lowrance tech support this afternoon to check if it could do depth. They checked and assured me it could not - I countered that the manual suys it can! They maintained that the manual must be wrong- I must buy an aditional LST-3800 depth gauge! Of course I did not believe him and so found this thread which shows lowrance support in Australia to be ignorant of the technology thay are supporting.
I recently bought a LMF400, a Lowrance temperature sensor, and an Airmar "Intelligent Depth-Temperature" sensor to use for NMEA 2000 hacking and as a backup system on the boat.
While I have not put the depth sensor in water yet, I can display depth on the LMF400 and it changes when I point the depth sensor at different walls.
Jon