Date: 5 February 2008
Actisense, the leading brand from Active Research, based in Poole, Dorset, has introduced an innovative new product to the expanding marine interface market.
The Actisense Quick Network Block allows backbone networking connections to be made easy and fault-free on National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) buses and networks.
Essentially, the Actisense QNB-1 is two products in one, being compatible with both NMEA 0183 buses and NMEA 2000 networks.
When used on an NMEA 0183 bus, the QNB-1 provides a junction box to connect multiple NMEA 0183 devices together. A talker device is connected to one of the network connection points, while each listener is connected to the remaining connection points.
The QNB-1 is also a multi-drop NMEA 2000 network backbone connection block, adhering to the barrier strip connection type detailed in the NMEA 2000 specification documents.
These advances make the QNB-1 a highly versatile product for both today’s market and in the future, as NMEA 2000 progressively becomes the standard serial data communications network to interconnect marine electronic equipment on vessels.
In addition, on an NMEA 2000 CAN (Controller Area Network), each network node is made up of a tee-junction and connectors which are sold at a high cost. The QNB-1 helps to overcome this by providing a low cost solution to connecting additional devices to an existing network, as it removes the need for additional network nodes, this makes the QNB-1 a space saving device as well.
The QNB-1 features eight 5-way connection points, which allows up to six NMEA 2000 network drops and two backbone connections. It is also compatible with all baud rates from 4,800 (NMEA 0183) to 250,000 (CAN /NMEA 2000).
Phil Whitehurst, Managing Director, Active Research said, “We have had requests from customers wanting to have a simple solution to provide the NMEA ‘Barrier-Strip’ method as outlined in the NMEA 2000 specification. The Actisense QNB-1 meets those needs, and adds some useful additional features.”
Further benefits include in-built LED indicators that show power status, detect power reversal, and show whether the fuses are still intact. In addition, detector circuitry is provided to indicate the presence of data on the connected bus or network.
No software is required with the Actisense QNB-1, making it simple and easy to use.
