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Instruments & Gear

Bristol Maps can read your boat's instruments -- GPS, depth sounder, water temperature, wind, engine, and AIS -- and show them on the map. This section covers how to get that data into the app and what you can do with it once it's there.

Two ways to connect

The app talks to your instruments over Wi-Fi. How you get the data onto Wi-Fi is the choice you have to make.

Option Use it when
NMEA connection You already have a gateway on the boat -- a Yacht Devices unit, a chart plotter, or anything else that serves NMEA data over TCP on the boat's network. You give the app an IP address and a TCP port.
Bristol N2K Bridge You don't have a gateway, or you want a setup you don't have to configure by hand. The bridge plugs into the NMEA 2000 backbone and you set it up by scanning the QR sticker on the unit.

Deciding

Use a plain NMEA connection if:

  • Your existing gateway already puts data on the boat Wi-Fi and you know its IP address and port.
  • You have a boat router and everything -- plotter, tablet, phone -- already lives on it.
  • You are happy typing in a host and port, or using the Discover devices on network scan in the connection screen.

Use the N2K Bridge if:

  • You have an NMEA 2000 backbone but nothing putting it on Wi-Fi.
  • You'd rather scan a sticker than type an IP address.
  • You want the app to be able to reboot the device, switch its Wi-Fi mode, and check bus traffic without a laptop.

You can run both at once. The app keeps a list of NMEA connections and each one has its own connect, auto-reconnect, and debug controls.

Where the connections live

Both live in the same place: Settings > NMEA & Instruments. The buttons are + Add NMEA Connection and + Add Bristol N2K Bridge.

What you get once you're connected

  • Position -- turn on Enable NMEA Location Updates to use the boat's GPS instead of your phone's.
  • Depth -- shown on the map with Show Depth Overlay, and recordable into your own bathymetry layers.
  • Water temperature and wind -- Show Temperature Overlay and Show Wind Overlay.
  • Engine data -- Show Engine Overlay on the map, plus gauge and history pages.
  • AIS -- targets from an onboard receiver, optionally shared with your fleet.

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