TenMile
Well-Known Member
Did a couple little projects on the boat over the past while that I thought I'd share. My main goal for this project was to get fuel gauges to the upper helm on the boat. I drive it from up top and when I'm on long trips had no way to see how much fuel was left in the tanks. To add a second set of gauges is very expensive (4 new dual-station gauges) and tons of wiring.
Anyhow, found a way to keep my existing gauges and get their signals onto a NMEA2000 network so they can be read by my chartplotter. The device I found is called an Alba Combi made by Albatross. The device has 35 different sensor ports of different types and includes the ability to send alarms out. Basically, it can take either a direct feed from an analog sensor or (and this is cool) it can tap off the back of an existing gauge while allowing you to keep the gauge in place.
So, not only have I got my fuel tanks setup, I can now see the engine RPMs, Oil Pressure, Engine temp, Voltage etc.. directly on my plotter. I can set high/low alarms (e.g. when fuel reaches 20%, or temp hits 190F) and it makes it easier to ensure the RPMs for both engines are in sync (my existing tachs are old and not accurate). Currently I don't have gauges for EGT or Boost so to add them, I simply purchase the sensor and hook it to the device. The Alba has a web interface used for both setup and if you want, to monitor your gauges via a browser. Either directly hook an Ethernet cable to it or, put it on a boat Ethernet network and access it directly to set up the sensors.
For my Chartplotter I have the Simrad NSS-9. They just came out with a new software update that includes a utility called "TripIntel". It has the ability to take the fuel level readings from the tanks and correlate it with your GPS to calculate your fuel economy, and overall fuel usage. You can do that for each trip, but it also takes a total for all time as well. Basically by combining the two, it's like having a fuel flow sensor without the complication.
Anyhow, if anyone is interested, here is a video of the Alba-Combi. There are similar devices from Actisense and Noland. I liked the Alba because of it's web interface and the fact that one device has so many different inputs (one Alba should be enough inputs for a twin engine boat).
Another guy did this and discussed it on THT: http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...g-analog-gauges-nmea2000-albacombi-hands.html
Here are the details on TripIntel: https://www.simrad-yachting.com/Root/Simrad-Documents/TripIntel_Application-Note.pdf
Anyhow, found a way to keep my existing gauges and get their signals onto a NMEA2000 network so they can be read by my chartplotter. The device I found is called an Alba Combi made by Albatross. The device has 35 different sensor ports of different types and includes the ability to send alarms out. Basically, it can take either a direct feed from an analog sensor or (and this is cool) it can tap off the back of an existing gauge while allowing you to keep the gauge in place.
So, not only have I got my fuel tanks setup, I can now see the engine RPMs, Oil Pressure, Engine temp, Voltage etc.. directly on my plotter. I can set high/low alarms (e.g. when fuel reaches 20%, or temp hits 190F) and it makes it easier to ensure the RPMs for both engines are in sync (my existing tachs are old and not accurate). Currently I don't have gauges for EGT or Boost so to add them, I simply purchase the sensor and hook it to the device. The Alba has a web interface used for both setup and if you want, to monitor your gauges via a browser. Either directly hook an Ethernet cable to it or, put it on a boat Ethernet network and access it directly to set up the sensors.
For my Chartplotter I have the Simrad NSS-9. They just came out with a new software update that includes a utility called "TripIntel". It has the ability to take the fuel level readings from the tanks and correlate it with your GPS to calculate your fuel economy, and overall fuel usage. You can do that for each trip, but it also takes a total for all time as well. Basically by combining the two, it's like having a fuel flow sensor without the complication.
Anyhow, if anyone is interested, here is a video of the Alba-Combi. There are similar devices from Actisense and Noland. I liked the Alba because of it's web interface and the fact that one device has so many different inputs (one Alba should be enough inputs for a twin engine boat).
Another guy did this and discussed it on THT: http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...g-analog-gauges-nmea2000-albacombi-hands.html
Here are the details on TripIntel: https://www.simrad-yachting.com/Root/Simrad-Documents/TripIntel_Application-Note.pdf
