Dual engine capability
Actisense, the marine electronics brand from Active Research Limited, based in Poole, UK, have upgraded their popular award-winning engine monitoring unit (EMU-1) with new firmware which now allows dual engines to be monitored.
The electronic device, which acts as a specialised analogue to NMEA 2000 interface, is designed to operate specifically with marine engines, and now offers greater flexibility for small commercial vessels by allowing monitoring of dual engines or multiple tanks – a feature requested by Actisense users.
Phil Whitehurst, Managing Director of Active Research Limited told Maritime Journal; “Often a vessel will have two engines with a small number of gauges. The EMU-1 can now monitor two engines where each engine has three or fewer gauges that require monitoring. Where dual engines have more than three gauges each to monitor, multiple EMU-1 units are required.”
Alternatively, the EMU-1 can be used to monitor fluid levels in up to six tanks at any one time. The addition of a configurable ‘instance’ for each tank allows the user to identify which tank the data is coming from, making the monitoring of fluid levels easier than ever.
The EMU-1 was designed to simplify the conversion of analogue engine parameters (of temperature, pressure, Tach / RPM etc.) into the corresponding NMEA 2000 engine parameter PGNs. The EMU-1 can handle 6 gauge / parameter inputs (these can be instead of the gauge or in parallel with the gauge), 4 alarm inputs, 2 tach inputs and 2 additional auxiliary inputs, which are flexible to suit each installation. Most notably, the device is backwards-compatible with older engines.
According to Mr Whitehurst; “The EMU-1 has already proved to meet the rigorous demands of the marine environment, and has become one of our most popular products. The new capabilities will make the EMU-1 the installers ‘product of choice’ for engine monitoring.”
By Jake Frith
