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I own a 2014 Basscat with the custom Beede NexSysLink Basscat gauges. The boat has a detwiler hydraulic jack-plate with their(detailer) height gauge. The gauge has never worked for me. With limited troubleshooting the gauge itself appears to work, when the ignition is turned on the needle moves full scale. Ive pulled the sending unit loose, it varies resistance as the plate is moved up and down. Have not looked any further. Anyway, the detailer gauge is cheap and fogs in the the damp and looks bad next to the super nice Beede gauges. Looking to get a gauge that matches my Basscat gauges that would read jackplate height. I believe the gauges are custom made for Basscat. If there is not a way to get a specific “jackplate height” gauge that matches, could just a trim gauge be made to work with the jackplate? I assume I could purchase another separate trim gauge that matched. I dont understand all I read about the gauges but it shows they can accept a generic analog signal. Hopefully this is clear enough about what Im looking to do. Surely Im not the first person to want their gauges to match? Thanks, Dave
The Detwiler is a SeaStar part and they will be glad to assist your dealership on a fix. We do not stock parts for SeaStar Detwiler, or Atlas plates and they warranty those parts for the dealership service staff.
I have the detailer gauge, currently doesnt work. The sending unit is ok, has resistance and changes properly up & down. It measures 131 ohms full up and 11 ohms full down. Something is wrong with the gauge or wiring. However, what I would like to do is get a matching Beede NexSysLink Basscat gauge to use in its place. I have this beautiful dash of custom gauges and the off looking fogged-up Detwiler gauge sticks out like a sore thumb. I have been in contact with Beede about using another Basscat trim gauge for the plate gauge. Apparently the sending unit range is close to a Mercury trim unit and that it is possible to use an analog input and drive a trim gauge with it. If I can get this to work the only down side would be I have two trim gauges, one for trim and one for the jack-plate. I could definitely live with that. Can anyone tell me if the analog inputs on the factory install are being used in a default install? Next question is, can I purchase from Basscat a single trim gauge? Thanks for listening to my ramblings, Dave
The NexSysLink gauges are driven by digital signals. The Mercury are SmartCraft driven protocol and the Yamaha/BRP are NMEA 2000 driven. There will be a way to analog to digitally convert that system, though high costs on the conversion are a factor.This one is out of the box and we will put it on the questions list. Though a backyard approach might be your option.
Thanks much for the response. Im sorry, Ive never been one to leave a bone well un-chewed. According to the NexSysLink manual and a very helpful man at Beede the system is digital but has two (spare?) analog inputs available, IF they are not already being used by Basscat on the factory install. Hence my first question, are they still available to use? Then, the next question is, can I purchase from Basscat a single trim gauge? Im surprised someone else hasnt objected to an odd gauge in their nice NexSysLink gauge dash setup. Again, thanks for the response, love Basscat!
The inputs are only a portion. The gauge itself operates via digital and we would have to see if the drivers would support incoming analog signals and convert them to the digital signal in the SmartCraft protocol outputs. The pins, Deutsche connections and locations would all have to be established to power that particular gauge.We wont be able to work on this soon though it is now on the list.
Thank you very much!!
Just to follow up with anyone that might be interested in this. I now have a working NexSysLink gauge reading my Detwiler jack-plate height. I have learned quite a bit about these Beede gauges. They are very impressive in their abilities. Not only do they read the SmartCraft signals form the Mercury, but also have three analog inputs. One is dedicated from the factory to read the NMEA0183 information from the GPS. The other two are free and available to use. With the help of a very nice, helpful gentleman at Beede, I was able to install a BasCat custom NexSysLink trim gauge that reads the jack-plate height. It does require the trim gauge to be re-programmed by Beede to display the jack-plate parameter, this help I received from Beede. The Beede company and this particular gentleman are first class. I would think that BassCat could order these trim gauges pre-programmed to read the jackplate parameter, at least on a Detwiler that has an analog sending unit. May or may not be that much interest, but my dash sure looks better now. Thanks for listening, Dave Last edited by dabro on June 17th, 2015, 3:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Been following this with interest. Have Detwiller Hyd Jackplate on my rig also with dash gauge. Worked OK when new. Gauge quit and was replaced. Now position transmitter has quit and needs replaced. Anyone ever tried sourcing a JP position transmitter than will connect NMEA 2K?
How about contacting Sea Star.
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