Expedition Navigation Software / N2K to Getac tablet

**Posted by Nyctosaur** 6/23/2024 1:15 pm

I have expedition on a getac tablet. Currently I have it connected via a GND10, and am able to add custom channel (polar boatspeed %) to a GNX120 display.

I would like get AIS info on the tablet. However, I don't believe that the GND10 supports AIS. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It seems like most people recommend Actisense NGT-1. However, I think it would be nice to have a wireless connection. The Actisense W2K-1 says it supports transmitting. Has anyone successfully transmitted custom channels from Expedition to a GNX120 with the W2K-1? Are there any latency issues w/ the W2K-1 vs the NGT-1?

Is there another system someone would recommend to get AIS (and all other N2K data) and send custom channels to a GNX120?

TIA

**Posted by Nick** 6/23/2024 1:57 pm

The W2K-1 has the same functionality in Exp as the NGX and older NGT.

It will be slightly less reliable than a fixed connection of course.

**Posted by Astolfo** 7/22/2024 11:58 am

If you want to improve the reliability of the W2k-1, make sure you only Rx/Tx the specific PGNs you absolutely need.

To be frank, I have tried all kinds of wireless-2-N2K and none work reliably enough to give me enough peace of mind.

The common problem with these wireless gateways, is that they do not have enough compute resources to process the data on buses that are at around 25% load.
At ~25%-30% both Digital Yacht and Yacht Devices introduce fast packet errors, the W2K-1 freezes.

Frustrating as hell, these devices have literally around $10 worth of hardware for quantities of less than 500 units. I know because I have open each device and priced the components. With $2-$3 more you could add enough processing that no matter the load they would not choke up.

I ended up using the NGT (which does not have the limitations of the newer NGX) to send the data to the GNX/Nemesis and use another light laptop to use as slave.

Last edited by Astolfo (7/22/2024 11:58 am)

**Posted by Nyctosaur** 7/23/2024 3:43 pm

Thanks Nick and Astolfo. I did purchase the W2k-1 and was able to both get AIS in expedition and pass custom data (polar boatspeed %) to the GNX120.

Astolfo, thanks for the tip, I'll turn off PGNs that I'm not using, as well as probably toggle AIS when I don't need it.