Dual glass cockpit question

[dsthomas]

Mine doesn’t have a panel but there is a small opening about 1.5 feet by 6 inches…. It would be very difficult to access anything through it. But it’s there. I think you should PM Soonerfan see if he has any info for ya in regards to that. I took a pic… if you lay on the floor on your back you’ll see it.

[BRDad]

Mine doesn’t have a panel but there is a small opening about 1.5 feet by 6 inches…. It would be very difficult to access anything through it. But it’s there. I think you should PM Soonerfan see if he has any info for ya in regards to that. I took a pic… if you lay on the floor on your back you’ll see it.

Thanks!

I sent him a message yesterday so waiting to get his thoughts. Thanks again for everything!

[tbully]

I was able to hook up my Rockford to the NMEA bus and the Garmins picked it up without anything special. I just had to buy a cable and run it from the head unit to the Garmins.

I think that, because yours says Fusion on the media screen, that it may actually already be hooked up. Have a look at the back of your Fusion and see if there's an NMEA cable hooked to it.

[tbully]

^^Ignore. I just saw your other thread. Good luck!

[Soonerfan]

BRDad, check your inbox as I replied. I will also reply here.

I have the platinum sound. The boat came with the Fusion 670 3 zone controller. From the factory I could control the zones via the garmin which is very nice. If you look online at what comes in the box with the 670 it does not state it comes with a NMEA cable. It is possible that Cobalt does not add the cable on the standard sound since it does not come with it.

I had a stereo shop swap out the 670 for the 770 so I could have 4 zones in my boat as I was adding a pair of Wetsounds Rev 10's. I wanted the ability to control the box, cockpit, transom, and tower speakers seperately. The interesting thing is that the 770 does come with a 7ft NMEA cable in the box. I didn't think about it until I picked up my boat and the installer gave me all the manuals, old stereo, etc. and there was a left over NMEA cable as it appears they just used the one that Cobalt had put in the boat. It works great, everything swapped from showing 3 zones to 4 zones and it looks pretty much the same on the garmin as the 670 did.

I do know that the R8 has less access under the dash than my R7 did. They have closed off access with just a couple of little holes as pointed out in this thread. I am not 100% but when going over my install with him I think he stated the best access to the back of head units and garmins was to pull the AMP panel off and get to them that way.

I am not expert on electronics but it would seem to me that all you might need is a NMEA cable to the main garmin, maybe adjust a setting in the radio, and you would have access. I would even be willing to give you the extra NMEA cable that is left over that came with my 770. If you would like it just PM an address to send it and I will get it in the mail.

[BRDad]

I was able to hook up my Rockford to the NMEA bus and the Garmins picked it up without anything special. I just had to buy a cable and run it from the head unit to the Garmins.

I think that, because yours says Fusion on the media screen, that it may actually already be hooked up. Have a look at the back of your Fusion and see if there's an NMEA cable hooked to it.

Thanks for the note! So that image was actually from another poster. Mine is the screen saying that it's not finding anything. A few questions if you don't mind...

1) Which R do you have?
2) Where did you find the NEMA bus on your boat and was there an open port for the stereo or did you have add another NEMA T?
3) How were you able to gain access behind the dash on your boat to access everything? Seems like on the new R's it's not that easy.

Thanks so much!

[tbully]

1) I have the R7. The panels are similar in practice. However, yours has a few more capabilities and is slightly larger - including "OneHelm"
2) I went back in my notes and confirmed that I did have to put in a "T" connector. (see links below)
3) I can't speak to the new R's. The R7 had enough room for me to look up and locate the NMEA cable (pretty distinct-looking and connects directly to the Garmin)

Of course, one side of the T goes to the radio and the other goes back to the Garmin. So I also purchased a short NMEA cable for that hop.

As others have stated: 1) This really is something your dealer should do pro bono - it's a quick fix. 2) As it is a quick fix, it's very likely something anyone could handle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017 ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XQ ... UTF8&psc=1

[BRDad]

1) I have the R7. The panels are similar in practice. However, yours has a few more capabilities and is slightly larger - including "OneHelm"
2) I went back in my notes and confirmed that I did have to put in a "T" connector. (see links below)
3) I can't speak to the new R's. The R7 had enough room for me to look up and locate the NMEA cable (pretty distinct-looking and connects directly to the Garmin)

Of course, one side of the T goes to the radio and the other goes back to the Garmin. So I also purchased a short NMEA cable for that hop.

As others have stated: 1) This really is something your dealer should do pro bono - it's a quick fix. 2) As it is a quick fix, it's very likely something anyone could handle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017 ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XQ ... UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for this and I totally agree. I'm going to talk to the dealer when I get down there in the next week or so.

I know doing the wiring will be easy just wondering how easy it will be to gain access.

Thanks!

[stifflkd]

1) I have the R7. The panels are similar in practice. However, yours has a few more capabilities and is slightly larger - including "OneHelm"
2) I went back in my notes and confirmed that I did have to put in a "T" connector. (see links below)
3) I can't speak to the new R's. The R7 had enough room for me to look up and locate the NMEA cable (pretty distinct-looking and connects directly to the Garmin)

Of course, one side of the T goes to the radio and the other goes back to the Garmin. So I also purchased a short NMEA cable for that hop.

As others have stated: 1) This really is something your dealer should do pro bono - it's a quick fix. 2) As it is a quick fix, it's very likely something anyone could handle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017 ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XQ ... UTF8&psc=1

Interesting that you only required a NMEA2K cable to connect the RF to the network. I am of the understanding that you also need an accessory (PMX-CAN) that takes the CAN interface and bridges it to NMEA2K. I have a R5 and the black box is under the floor between passenger seat and the head. Pretty sure the CAN connector was just hanging there. May need to take a better look.

[tbully]

Interesting that you only required a NMEA2K cable to connect the RF to the network. I am of the understanding that you also need an accessory (PMX-CAN) that takes the CAN interface and bridges it to NMEA2K. I have a R5 and the black box is under the floor between passenger seat and the head. Pretty sure the CAN connector was just hanging there. May need to take a better look.

Hmmmm.... This could be my aging memory. Your mention of PMX-CAN did jar loose a few past thoughts. Apologies if I mislead anyone. You're right.

I had to grab this as well (and it wasn't cheap):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IW ... UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for calling that out!

From what I can tell, the Fusions discussed here do not have that issue. FWIW, I really dislike the RF's. Between the Garmins that annoy me and the RF, I need to consider getting custom dash panels to upgrade - or just upgrade the boat! First world problems.....

[tbully]

BTW....totally worth the upgrade for you RF users. Pushing and holding the volume knob to get through different zones is a pain in the butt. This brings the zones up on the Garmin and makes it quick/easy to adjust for your guests.

[stifflkd]

Thanks for clarifying. I just may need to make that purchase. Right now I am in the process of adding Zone 2,3,& 4 to the boat. I can't recall the hassles of changing Zones but if its a PIA I will have one more item on my ToDo list.