Which NGW-1 should you choose?
All NGW-1 variants have a standard NMEA 2000 drop cable and connector (DeviceNet M12, A polarised, male Micro C) for direct connection to an NMEA 2000 backbone T-piece or adapter cable for manufacturer proprietary networks.
NGW-1-ISO
The NGW-1-ISO comes with a 1.5m stripped and tinned cable designed to accommodate nearly all NMEA 0183 talkers / listeners and gives you the ability to connect a serial to USB converter cable for connection to a PC USB Port. This device operates at 4800 baud by default.
An example of where the NGW-1-ISO can be used, is connecting it to your NMEA 0183 Wind Instrument, to get this data across to your NMEA 2000 network for display on an MFD.
NGW-1-ISO-AIS
The NGW-1-ISO-AIS is physically identical to the NGW-1-ISO, where the only difference lies in the firmware on the device. The AIS version is configured to have more conversions including AIS enabled and operates at 38400 baud by default.
An example of where the NGW-1-ISO-AIS can be used, is connecting it to your NMEA 0183 AIS Device, to get this data across to your NMEA 2000 network for display on your MFD that supports AIS Target Overlay.
NGW-1-STNG
The NGW-1-STNG comes with the same 1.5m stripped and tinned cable designed to accommodate nearly all NMEA 0183 talkers / listeners as the NGW-1-ISO. The only difference is the additional STNG (SeaTalk NG) to NMEA 2000 adapter cable provided with the device. The kit is made up of a standard NGW-1-ISO and an STNG-A06045 adapter cable. This cable allows for seamless connectivity between an STNG network and an NMEA 2000 Device Net Connector found on devices such as the NGW-1.
NGW-1-USB
The NGW-1-USB comes with a 1.5m standard USB Cable with a USB A Plug on the end, for easy connection to a USB Port on a PC, or a USB Hub. This device operates at 4800 baud by default.
An example of where the NGW-1-USB can be used, is with a PC Application that understands NMEA 0183. Programs such as Actisense NMEA Reader and OpenCPN are commonly used with the NGW-1-USB.
The STNG cable (STNG-A06045) is not sold separately but can be purchased with any of the NGW-1 variants to allow for direct connection to an STNG network.
The full conversion list for the NGW-1 v2.660 firmware can be found here.
It is worth noting that any ‘standard’ variant can be configured to 38400 baud AIS Firmware, and any AIS device can be configured to operate on standard firmware. This is done via our Actisense Toolkit program, either directly connected to the NGW-1, or with an Actisense NGT-1 NMEA 2000 to PC Gateway on the same network as the NGW-1. Toolkit can be downloaded from here.
To upgrade your NGW-1 to the newest firmware (2.660) from an older version, Actisense NGW-1 Actipatch is needed, which requires the device to be connected directly to a PC via a USB or USB to Serial Adapter.
For more information on NMEA 0183 and how it works, please download our free guide to NMEA 0183 networking.
For more information on NMEA 2000 and how it works, please download our free guide to NMEA 2000 networking.