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Milltech Marine News

May 2012
Check out our AISWatchMate specials!
From now until the end of June, we will have Vesper Marine's AISWatchMate and AISWatchMate RX on special. Now you can have a dedicated AIS display with sophisticated alarms and low power consumption at a super price.

March 2012
Want AIS on your iPad?
Check out our blog article on using AIS with an iPad and also see our new product from Comar - the NMEA-2-WIFI multiplexer. This allows you to send AIS and other NMEA data to an iPad or other computer wirelessly via WiFi.

February 2012
Did you miss our presentations at the Seattle Boat Show?
This year we did three presentations at the Seattle Boat Show - one on DSC (Jan 27 - 5pm) and two on AIS (Feb 1&3 - 5pm). If you'd like to see the slides from the presentations, click here for the DSC slides and here for the AIS slides.

January 2011
Comar CSA-300 Class A AIS -- $2499!
Just approved by the USCG and FCC, the Comar CSA-300 is now shipping. For vessels needing Class A AIS, this new product combines the latest features, small size and a great price.

August 2010
AMEC CAMINO-101 Class B AIS -- $495!
Just approved by the USCG and FCC, the AMEC CAMINO-101 Class B AIS Transponder sets a new standard for quality, performance and price. (Includes GPS antenna!)

August 2010
Comar AIS-2-2000 NMEA 2000 AIS Receiver
The Comar AIS-2-2000 is a high-value, high-performance, dual-channel AIS receiver that is stunningly quick and easy to install in NMEA 2000 networks.

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Home > Accessories

USB Breakout Cable

Item Id: USB-CABLE

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$34.00

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Interface Option
	RS232 Version RS422 NMEA Version [+$15.00]

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Description

Have you ever wanted to directly wire your marine electronics into your computer? Now you can with our new USB Breakout Cable featuring the rock-solid FTDI USB chipset.

This cable is available in two versions - one for interfacing with RS232 devices and one for working with true NMEA RS422 devices.

The product consists of a standard USB connector that plugs into your computer's USB port and a 6 foot cable with bare leads on the end. These bare leads can be connected directly to the input / output leads on your marine electronics device, including chartplotters, AIS receivers and transponders, radios and any other device that has bare lead connections for interfacing with the device.

The RS232 version of the USB Breakout Cable uses a common ground signaling system with leads for signal input and output. This cable is most appropriate for use with marine electronics devices that also have a common ground system for interfacing with other devices. This would include the RS232 interface wires on the Comar CSB 200, common ground chartplotters such as the Standard Horizon plotters, Garmin 3000, 400 and 500 series plotters, the SR161 AIS receiver and other true common ground RS232 devices.

Other marine electronics use a true NMEA RS422 system for interfacing with other devices. Typically these devices have a pair of isolated signal wires for input and another isolated pair for output. None of these signal wires are tied to ground and carry different voltages and are also known as differential signal interfaces. Devices that use a true NMEA RS422 signaling system include Raymarine chartplotters and Garmin 4000/5000 series chartplotters. For these types of devices, the NMEA RS422 version of the USB Breakout Cable is the correct cable to use to interface with your computer.

Note that some of the products we sell include interface wiring for both RS232 and NMEA RS422. This includes all of our Class B transponders, the Comar SLR 200 and the AMEC CYPHO-101 and 101G.

To see an example of how this cable can help simplify an installation, let's look at how you would connect your Standard Horizon Matrix AIS radio to your Windows-based computer and use the AIS data from the Matrix in your Coastal Explorer navigation program. Since the Matrix uses a common ground system for interfacing with other electronics you would start with the RS232 version of the USB Breakout Cable. Then you would simply connect the GREEN common ground wire on the Matrix accessory cable to the BLACK ground wire on the USB Breakout Cable and then connect the BROWN AIS out wire on the Matrix to the YELLOW RXD data in wire on the USB Breakout Cable. Load the USB drivers in Windows, set up the new virtual com port in Coastal Explorer using 38,400 baud and you now have an AIS data feed for your PC-based navigation system from your Matrix AIS radio.

This is just one example. There are dozens of other scenarios where these cables can simplify the installation process.

Virtual COM Port Drivers Support

Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, Server 2003 and Server 2008
Windows XP
Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows XP Embedded
Windows CE 4.2, 5.0 and 6.0
Mac OS 8/9, OS-X
Linux 2.4 and greater

Features

USB Breakout Cable RS232 Version	USB Breakout Cable RS422 Version
USB-RS232 converter cable provides a USB to RS232 serial interface with customized end connectors.	USB-RS422 converter cable provides a USB to RS422 serial interface with customised end connectors.
Entire USB protocol handled by the electronics in the cable USB.
EIA/TIA-232 and V.28/V.24 communication interface with low power requirements.	EIA/TIA-422 communication interface with low power requirements.
UART interface support for 7 or 8 data bits, 1 or 2 stop bits and odd / even / mark / space / no parity.
FTDIs royalty-free VCP allow for communication as a standard emulated COM port and D2XX direct drivers provide DLL application programming interface.
Visual indication of Tx and Rx traffic via LEDs in the transparent USB connector.
Fully assisted hardware (RTS#/CTS#) or X-On / X-Off software handshaking.	X-On / X-Off software handshaking.
Data transfer rates from 300 baud to 1 Mbaud.	Data transfer rates from 300 baud to 3 Mbaud.
Support for FT232R FTDIChip-ID feature for improved security.
Low USB bandwidth consumption.
UHCI / OHCI / EHCI host controller compatible.
USB 2.0 Full Speed compatible.
-40C to +85C operating temperature range.
Cable length is 1.80m (6 feet).
ESD Protection for RS-232 I/O's 15kV Human Body Model (HBM) 15kV EN61000-4-2 Air Gap Discharge 8kV EN61000-4-2 Contact Discharge
FCC, CE and RoHS compliant.	FCC, CE and RoHS compliant.

Wiring colors and signal descriptions for RS232 version

Color

Name

Type

Description

Connected to marine device

Black

GND

GND

Device ground supply pin.

Common ground wire

Brown

CTS#

Input

Clear to Send Control input / Handshake signal.

Red

POWER

Output

Power output not used.

Orange

TXD

Output

Transmit Asynchronous Data output.

Data Input signal wire

Yellow

RXD

Input

Receive Asynchronous Data input.

Data Output signal wire

Green

RTS#

Output

Request To Send Control Output / Handshake signal.

Wiring colors and signal descriptions for RS422 version

Color

Name

Type

Description

Connected to marine device

Black

GND

GND

Device ground supply pin.

Brown

CTS+

Input

Clear to Send Control + (B), Input

Red

TXD-

Output

Data (A) Output

RX (A) Input signal wire

Orange

TXD+

Output

Data + (B) Output

RX (B) Input signal wire

Yellow

RXD+

Input

Data + (B) Input

TX (B) Output signal wire

Green

RTS+

Output

Request To Send Control + (B), Output

Blue

RTS-

Output

Request To Send Control (A), Output

White

RXD-

Input

Data (A) Input

TX (A) Output signal wire

Grey

CTS-

Input

Clear to Send Control input (A), Input

Drivers for both products can be downloaded here.

Technical information on the RS232 cable can be found here.

Technical information on the RS422 cable can be found here.

For assistance selecting the correct cable, feel free to contact our sales department.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating

	Owner
	Works exactly as advertised.
	Reviewed by: Paul Zimmer from Corralitos, CA. on 2/15/2012