DIGITAL YACHT Aqua Wear WLN20 Quick guide

AQUA WEAR WLN20
WIRELESS NMEA SERVER

1. Introduction
Congratulations on the purchase of your Aqua Wear WLN20 Wireless NMEA
Server. It is recommended that your productis installed bya professionalinstaller,
particularly when it comes to interfacing with otherequipment.
Before installing and operating this unit you should consult the user
manual of the navigation equipment that you are connecting this unit
to.
2. Before you start
You will need the following items and tools to complete the installation:
The WLN20 Receiver (supplied)
A 12V or 24V DC powerconnectionwhere the unit will be installed
M3 or M4 screws or other fixings appropriate to the mounting location (not
supplied).
To receive/display wireless data from the WLN20 you will need:
Suitable navigation software running on a PC, iPhone/iPad, Android
Phone/Tablet, Mac or other wireless device.
A device with an NMEA 0183 data output/input at either 4800 baud or
38,400 baud
3. Installation
Before starting installation, select a suitable location for the WLN20 device. The
unit is water resistant to IP65 and can be mounted on deck or below deck in a dry
location. Avoid mounting the unit in a location where the unit could become
completely immersedin water.
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When locating the unit you shouldconsider:
Routing of powercables to the unit.
Provision of sufficient space around the unit for cable connections
Routing of NMEA data connections to/from the NMEA 0183 device.
Maintaining the compass safe distance of 0.5m.
Best location for Wifi reception i.e. not inside a metal enclosure or fixed to a
metal bulkhead
Installation Step 1 - Cabling
Run 12v or 24v power connections to the WLN20
Run the NMEA 0183 interfacing cables to the WLN20
Do not make any connections yet
Installation Step 2 –Mounting the WLN20
Use suitable fixings (not supplied) to fix the WLN20 to a flatsurface using
the dimensions and details shown in the drawing below. Note that the unit
may be installed in anyorientation.

Installation Step 3 –Powering the WLN20
Provide power connections to the unit. Poweris connected to the ten core
PWR/DATA cable on the Red and Black wires. Red wire is the positive (+)
connection, Black wire is the negative (-) connection.
Connect the stripped wires to the nearest source of primary 12V or 24V DC
power. Ensure that the supply is connected via a 1A fuse (not supplied) or
suitable circuit breaker. The fuse should be fitted in the positive power
connection to the unit if necessary.
Installation Step 4 –Interfacing (NMEA)
The WLN20 device allows full bi-directional, wireless NMEA0183 data
communication to occur between two suitable devices. In most insta llations,
it is likely that the communication will be in one direction i.e. NMEA 0183
data from an instrument system being wirelessly transmitted toan
iPhone/iPad application.
The WLN20 has two NMEA0183 inputs;Port 1 is a high speed 38400 baud
port for connection to anAIS or otherhighspeed device, whilstPort 2 is a
conventional lowspeed 4800 baud port for connection to legacy GPS and
Instrument Systems.
Below is a diagram of a typical WLN20 installation;

Installation Step 5 –Applying Power
Apply power to the WLN20 and
you should see the four LEDs
start to illuminate or flash. The
following table shows what each
LED indicates;
Condition
Red LED
“STATUS”
Yellow LED
“DATA 1”
Yellow LED
“DATA 1”
Green LED
“LINK”
ON (Solid)
TCP/IP Connection
Fast Blink
No wireless
connection
Data
Data
Slow Blink
Data
Data
UDP Connection
OFF
Wireless device
connected
No Data
No Data
No Power
Installation Step 6 –Wireless Interfacing
The WLN20 receiver has anintegrated 802.11b+g wireless adaptorwhich
creates a wireless hotspot on-board your boat. The SSID (name) of the
wireless hotspot that WLN20 creates will be “AQUAWEAR-xxxx” where xxxx
is a four digit code unique to your WLN20.
To connect to WLN20, simply scan for wireless hotspots onyour wireless
device. The exact procedure will varyfrom device to device so consult the
user manual for your device to understandhow to connect to a wireless
hotspot.
The WLN20 can transmit wireless NMEA data using two different network
modes; eitherTCP (single device connection) or UDP (multiple device
connection). The program orapplication on the wireless device must
support data reception via TCP or UDP in orderto work correctly.

If you wish to connect multiple devices to the WLN20, then all devices
must use UDP mode. If the first device to connect is set to TCP mode
then no other devices will be able to connect
Once you have wirelessly connectedyourmobile device to the WLN20, you
will need to run the application on your mobile device that accepts NMEA
data overa TCP orUDP connection.
The IP address and port that the WLN20 transmits data on are;
IP Address - 169.254.1.1
Port - 2000
Note that some UDPconnections do not ask you to enter the IP address just
the port number.
You should nowbe able to receive data wirelessly from the WLN20.
Normal Operation
The WLN20 consumes around 0.1 Amp andcan be left on whenever the boat is
sailing. Every time NMEA data is received bythe WLN20, the two yellow data LEDs
will flash. In some systems withlots of NMEA data, it is not unusualfor the yellow
LEDs to be constantly flickering.
Should you have a problem connecting wirelesslyto WLN20, press and hold the
Reset buttonfor 1-2 seconds and tryconnecting again. In busymarinas where
there is significant wireless activity, it may not be possible for a reliable TCP/IP
connectionto be made to WLN20, but once underway (at sea) a strong and
reliable connectionwill be achieved.
If you are using the WLN20HS for connection to an AIS and you have an iPhone of
iPad, visit the app store and download our complimentary copy of the iAI S app.
This simple but powerful app will give you an AIS radar type display of all the AIS
targets around you. It includes a built-in user guide describing how to setup and
use it withthe WLN20.
By default the WLN20 creates its own wireless network. If you have a wireless
network on the boat and would prefer the WLN20 to join that network –please
see Tech Support Note 00046-2012 on ourwebsite.
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