Mercury Verado 200 to Raymarine Display

Electrical and electronic topics for small boats
ebmccarthy3
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Mercury Verado 200 to Raymarine Display

Postby ebmccarthy3 » Wed Aug 26, 2020 9:03 pm

What is needed to hook up the Mercury VERADO 200 to a Raymarine e-Series display so engine data can be displayed on the screen of the e-Series?

I just purchased a 2015 Boston Whaler 210 Dauntless with that engine and display.

jimh
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Re: RMercury Verado 200 to Raymarine Display

Postby jimh » Wed Aug 26, 2020 11:32 pm

The Mercury VERADO engine, like all Mercury engines, does not use NMEA-2000 networking. Mercury engines use their own proprietary system called Smartcraft.

The Raymarine e-Series is most likely a NMEA-2000 device.

You cannot directly interconnect NMEA-2000 devices to each other, and you certainly cannot connect a NMEA-2000 device directly to a Smartcraft device.

What must be done is to build two different networks. You built a Smartcraft network for the Mercury engine to connect to.

You build a NMEA-2000 network for the Raymarine device to connect to.

Then you buy a Mercury interface device or protocol convertor device or gateway device. This device will connect to both networks. It will convert the engine data on the proprietary Smartcraft network into NMEA-2000 data, and carry it over the NMEA-2000 network, where it will send the engine data on the NMEA-2000 network. Then you configure the Raymarine e-Series to look for this data and display it.

I don't know of any really good source of public information about the details of building a Smartcraft network, so I cannot help you with that. I know it entails buying certain cables and certain hubs, but which ones and how to connect them is unknown to me.

The interface device will come from Mercury. There may be different forms of the interface device and it may be sold in tiers with more features available in higher and more expensive tiers. For a single engine and just for engine data, the lowest tier level is probably appropriate.

You will have to buy all the Mercury network wiring components and the interface device from a Mercury dealer. I don't know of any other sources for them.

You best approach is to find a Mercury dealer who knows all about Smartcraft as the first step, and then also knows all about the interface devices for NMEA-2000 conversion as the second and import step.

Building a NMEA-2000 network is straightforward, and the details are all well known to the boating public. See my article

NMEA-2000 and Modern Outboard Engines
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... A2000.html

for advice on the NMEA-2000 network construction. You can build a simple NMEA-2000 network for less than $100 and get the components from many sources.

Once you get the engine data being sent to the NMEA-2000 you will consult the Raymarine e-Series manual for advice on how to set up custom engine display data from the network. Exactly what data you will be able to see will be a combination of two factors:

--whatever data the engine has available that the gateway or convertor device knows how to convert to NMEA-2000 protocol, and

--whatever NMEA-2000 engine data the e-Series display knows how to show.

Typically the engine data is sent in just two datagrams, or as NMEA calls them, parameter groups. Parameter groups are identified by numbers. The engine data parameter group number or PGN has been documented by myself and others--you can't see the official NMEA-2000 documents because you have to buy them for about $3,000 and agree to never disclose them. But I have disclosed what I have learned about them from sources other than NMEA. See my article on engine PGN's at

NMEA-2000 Parameter Groups
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/PGN.html

In addition to the standard PGN datagrams published by NMEA, it is also possible for individual manufacturers to have their own proprietary PGN datagrams. Lately there has been a trend for outboard engine manufacturers to license use of their proprietary engine datagrams--which typically are warning messages or diagnostic messages--to manufacturers of display devices. This allows generic displays to be able to shown proprietary engine data from those particular manufacturers.

I don't keep up with Raymarine displays very much, so you will have to investigate on your own what sort of licensing arrangements have been made by Raymarine to show proprietary engine data.

Really, if I had a VERADO, I would just look at buying a Mercury engine monitor display, and use a dedicated display for the engine. It is probably more cost effective. Unless you have a really big display, like a 16-inch screen, cluttering up a small display screen with engine data is not particularly useful. You usually have to make a dedicated engine display screen using a screen editor, and when you switch to that display, then the SONAR or electronic chart data disappears. Timesharing one small display to three primary functions, SONAR, chart, and engine data, is not a great solution.

ebmccarthy3
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Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2020 8:52 am

Re: Mercury Verado 200 to Raymarine Display

Postby ebmccarthy3 » Thu Aug 27, 2020 7:00 am

Wow! Now that’s results. Perfect answer. Thank you so much. Great options to think through.

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Phil T
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Re: Mercury Verado 200 to Raymarine Display

Postby Phil T » Thu Aug 27, 2020 10:21 am

1992 Outrage 17
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Member since 2003

Jefecinco
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Re: Mercury Verado 200 to Raymarine Display

Postby Jefecinco » Thu Aug 27, 2020 11:13 am

{Here is an article] discussing the parts I needed to adapt a SmartCraft network to a NEMA 2000 network.

http://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5735
[edit to insert link]
Butch