

The last step, of course, is to set the magnetic variation or chart datum back to where it was in the first place, but by then the sensor is programmed without the need for any YD display or some sort of N2K gateway and external software.īut now let's discuss some issues.
#HOW TO BUILD A NMEA 2000 NETWORK MANUAL#
The manual ( download here) extract above shows how you first put the Yacht Device in programming mode. In other words, YD sensors understand changes made to N2K PGN 129044 or PGN 127258 and can be programmed in all sorts of ways using those changes. (The reason for alternate controls is that some plotters don't distribute changes in one or the other of those values to the N2K network). Yacht Devices came up with a surprising solution - to program their sensors you use either the chart datum or manual magnetic variation controls available on almost any chart plotter.


The NMEA 2000 standard purportedly includes a basic command function for this purpose, but I don't know of any manufacturer that uses it (with the possible exception of Maretron's ability to configure certain Airmar sensors).
#HOW TO BUILD A NMEA 2000 NETWORK HOW TO#
But there remains the problem of how to configure a third party N2K device that doesn't have any other interface.
