Skip to content

Remove outdated getting started docs #130

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Merged
merged 1 commit into from
Sep 26, 2025
Merged

Remove outdated getting started docs #130

Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
106 changes: 5 additions & 101 deletions src/pages/installation.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -7,63 +7,6 @@ description: 'Follow these instructions to get started with Signal K. Please don
help if you run in to trouble.'
---

## [Getting Started with Signal K](#) <a class="anchor" id="started"></a>

In this section we will look at different ways you can install and use Signal K on your boat. There are already a
number of hardware platforms and devices being used, and more are bound to follow, but we will concentrate on three
recommended starter packs that we will refer to as; Basic, Advanced and Expert.

## ["Basic" Starter Pack](#) <a class="anchor" id="basic"></a>

For boat owners that want to use Signal K with the minimum of effort, then the Basic Starter Pack gives you a simple
way to install Signal K on your boat and start using the free apps and services that are available. The pack consists
of a “Smart” Gateway that converts your existing NMEA data in to Signal K and installation just consists of wiring the
gateway to your NMEA0183 and/or NMEA2000 networks and plugging the gateway in to a wireless router.

<figure>
<img src="../assets/images/diagrams/SK_Smart_Gateway.png" width="400">
<figcaption>Basic Starter Pack</figcaption>
</figure>

The most popular “smart gateway” is Digital Yacht’s
<a href="http://ikommunicate.com" target="_blank">iKommunicate Gateway</a> which has three NMEA 0183 and one NMEA 2000
interfaces. It comes with some built-in Signal K web apps to get you started or you can copy other apps on to its 8GB
SD card.

As your experience and confidence in Signal K grows, you can simply add a Signal K server to iKommunicate to make one
of the advanced or expert packs (see below).

## ["Advanced" Starter Pack](#) <a class="anchor" id="advanced"></a>

For more technical minded boat owners that want to use the logging and cloud features of Signal K or who want to get
involved in the “cutting edge” Signal K developments, then one of the two Advanced packs below would be the best
starting point. For a larger, more powerful Signal K system, but where stability and reliability are key, then adding a
Signal K server to an iKommunicate is the way to go.

<figure>
<img src="../assets/images/diagrams/SK_Server+Gateway.png" width="400">
<figcaption>Advanced Starter Pack 1</figcaption>
</figure>

If you enjoy getting your hands dirty and want to experiment with the “cutting edge” features then a Signal K server
with raw NMEA data coming from USB adaptors and gateways would be the best solution, as shown in the diagram below.

<figure>
<img src="../assets/images/diagrams/Signal_K_Server_Diagram.png" width="400">
<figcaption>Advanced Starter Pack 2</figcaption>
</figure>

## ["Expert" Starter Pack](#) <a class="anchor" id="expert"></a>

For developers and seriously technical installations, then a larger network with multiple Signal K servers, Signal K
sensors, etc. is possible and will become more common in the future as more people discover Signal K and the new
functionality and benefits it can bring.

<figure>
<img src="../assets/images/diagrams/SK_Multiple_Servers+Gateway.png" width="400">
<figcaption>Expert Starter Pack</figcaption>
</figure>

## [Installing your Signal K server](#) <a class="anchor" id="server"></a>

A Signal K server, is basically a webserver with the ability to read marine data and create web pages and web apps that
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -125,50 +68,9 @@ You should see NMEA 0183 sentences scrolling off the screen. To exit picocom pre

### NMEA 2000 Instruments

For NMEA 2000, there are less options. A quick search on Google will return a number of NMEA2000 to USB gateways, but
the interface device is just one half of the solution. The other equally important part is the software that can read
the data from the gateway and then convert it in to a format that the Signal K server understands. This software called
<a href="https://github.com/canboat/canboatjs" target="_blank">CANboat</a> is a suite of tools that can read and write
NMEA 2000 data and convert it in to Signal K.

Currently, CANboat supports the following NMEA 2000 to USB Gateways:

- <a href="https://digitalyacht.co.uk/product/ikonvert-nmea-2000-to-usb/" target="_blank">
iKonvert USB from Digital Yacht (NMEA Certified)
</a>
- <a href="http://www.actisense.com/product/nmea-2000-to-pc-interface-ngt-1/" target="_blank">
NGT-1-USB from Actisense (NMEA Certified)
</a>
- <a href="https://www.yachtd.com/purchase/" target="_blank">
YDNU-02 by Yacht Devices
</a>

and any CAN Interface that supports "SocketCAN" such as the
<a href="http://canable.io/" target="_blank">CANable board</a>.

Alternatively if you want to have a wireless NMEA 2000 gateway, CANboat supports these products:

- <a href="https://digitalyacht.co.uk/product/navlink2/" target="_blank">
NavLink 2 from Digital Yacht (NMEA Certified)
</a>
- <a href="https://digitalmarinegauges.com/seasmart-network-gateways/" target="_blank">
SeaSmart by Chetco (NMEA Certified)
</a>
- <a href="https://www.simrad-yachting.com/simrad/type/accessories/cables-connectors/gofree-wifi1-wireless-module/" target="_blank">
GoFree Wifi-1 by Simrad
</a>
- <a href="https://www.yachtd.com/purchase/" target="_blank">
YDGW-02 by Yacht Devices
</a>

Or wired Ethernet version:

- <a href="https://www.yachtd.com/purchase/" target="_blank">
YDEN-02 by Yacht Devices
</a>

CANBoat has recently been ported to JavaScript and is now part of the Signal K Node Server build, so no additional
installation of CANBoat is required.
See [How Do I Integrate with NMEA2000](https://github.com/SignalK/signalk-server/wiki/FAQ:-Frequently-Asked-Questions#how-do-i-integrate-with-nmea2000-can-bus) in the Signal K server FAQ.



### Proprietary Interfaces

Expand All @@ -185,3 +87,5 @@ Even though Raymarine no longer make a SeaTalk 1 interface, there are a number o
convert to NMEA 0183, which both of the Signal K servers can read, or convert to a raw $STALK format that allows more
control and access to the SeaTalk data. One such interface that handles both types of SeaTalk conversions is the
<a href="http://digitalyacht.co.uk/product/st-nmea-usb/" target="_blank">ST-NMEA interface</a> from Digital Yacht.

Signal K server also includes [Seatalk 1 support (a bit of DIY hardware required)](https://demo.signalk.org/documentation/Configuration/Seatalk_Connections.html).
3 changes: 1 addition & 2 deletions src/pages/overview.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -129,8 +129,7 @@ NMEA networks onboard as well as databases, other Signal K data streams, and pot
resources. The server can also hold static items like charts, routes and notes. It can also hold and act as a
web-server for browser-based Apps.

The Signal K server is available as a ready-to-fit commercial product (such as the
[Digital Yacht iKommunicate](http://ikommunicate.com)), or you can download the software for free and run it yourself.
The Signal K server software is available as a free download.
The software runs on a range of single board computers; Raspberry Pi, Beagle Board, etc. as well as any normal PC running Linux, Windows and MacOS, see the
[Install page](./installation) for details.

Expand Down
Loading