Golden Channels Inc.

You may have seen our installation video for the Yamaha 6Y8 Speedo and Tach, and if you have, you know that this gauge set does not need to be installed with Command Link, we can provide cables sets to just use NMEA 2000 instead.

If you are considering these gauges for your boat, regardless of if you are using Command Link, or NMEA 2000 for communicating with them, you should be aware of some of the unique aspects of how the speedometer is connected, and the signals it uses.

6Y8 Speedometer requires 3 separate signals

While the Yamaha 6Y8 tachometer gets all it's necessary data from one connection and signals, the Yamaha 6Y8 speedometer requires not only a Command Link or NMEA 2000 connection (your choice). It also has a second connector which is used with a speed input signal that requires NMEA 0183 connections, as well as two black and pink wires for analog fuel tank levels from up to two fuel tank sending units.

Many fish finders / MFDs /Charts have NMEA 0183 connections. Some include them in the power cable. You might have noticed these if you did your own fish finder installation as smaller wires that were next to the large black and red wires to power the fish finder. Other fish finders have separate connectors for NMEA 0183 outputs requiring an additional cable.

However, there are fish finders without any NMEA 0183 signal outputs. Two that come to mind are the Lowrance Elite series (in most cases) and many of the Raymarine fish finders. There are other examples as well.

We often help customers to determine which wires to connect to their Yamaha 6Y8 fish finders. But there were a number whose fish finders would not provide the speed signal for their Yamaha 6Y8 Speedos. For these customers we are pleased to now offer a very simple to install product called the Capn NMEA Yamaha 6Y8 Speed Adapter, which can solve this problem in minutes. Installation is very straightforward, and it has advanced diagnostic features found in the Capn NMEA Keep It Simple Scanner. So everyone can use it or get our help very quickly if needed.

We have a new website! We've added a bunch of information on NMEA. We've added a new feature we call our NMEA Custom Bundle configurators, that take you through a few questions about your boat, outboard, and fish finder, and design the perfect NMEA cable bundle for the job. Lots more pictures and technical information, and much improved navigation. So, please come pay us a visit.

There's only two problems with Yamaha's Command Link:

1. Your hub is usually full. There are no device connections left. This is especially true with helm located Command Link hubs.

2. No one knows how to hook up an MFD, Chart, or Fish Finder to read engine data via NMEA 2000 to a Command Link system.

One of our customers posed this problem to us about a year ago, and we now have a fully tested and proven solution that provides not only an NMEA 2000 connection from a Command Link Hub, you also get an expandable NMEA 2000 backbone connection that allows future expansion.

We can also assist you with any other specific questions you may have about connecting your particular fish finder, or VHF radio.

https://goldenchannels.com/product/better-connected-commandlink-helm-hub-to-nmea-converter-first-fishfinder-complete-kit/

One of the things we do here at Golden Channels is custom cabling kits with varied lengths and configurations to help customers keep things neat and tidy in their boat, as well as help with the technical aspects of understanding what they are connecting on their boat, and assist them with network component selection.

A customer of ours was kind enough to share his Whipray Classic installation how-to with all of us on the microskiff website:

https://www.microskiff.com/threads/nmea-setup-and-review.96268/