How to add a Vulcan chartplotter to any boat

Add a Vulcan chartplotter to any instrument system

No matter what instruments you have, treat your boat to an upgrade this winter and add a Vulcan chartplotter for award-winning sailing features, bright, clear displays and excellent value for money.

B&G’s award-winning Vulcan series provides a versatile, easy-to-use chartplotter with multi-touch and pinch-to-zoom, with a 7″, 9″ or 12″ display. Packed with innovations for sailors, Vulcan integrates with your on board instruments to unlock award-winning sailing features including SailSteer and SailingTime.

Easy to Fit

Fitting a Vulcan chartplotter to your boat couldn’t be easier. There’s a range of mounting options: the included gimbal bracket allows you to mount your chartplotter on any vertical, horizontal or even an overhead surface using just four screws. You can also flush mount it for a low-profile, stylish installation that will suit any boat.

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Carefully place the mounting template where you plan to mount the unit
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Using a suitable hole-cutter, drill out a radius for the corners
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Use a saw to join the corners and complete the cutout
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Fix the Vulcan using the four screws provided, add power and start to enjoy your chartplotter

Just add power

Just add power to your new Vulcan and you’ve got an easy-to-use chartplotter with 10Hz internal GPS receiver, bright, sunlight-viewable touchscreen and intuitive menus. Vulcan supports cartography from providers including C-Map and Navionics. It’s easy to input waypoints and routes and you can view GPS data, SOG, COG waypoint range, bearing and ETA. For added functionality, you can add sensors, Broadband Radar, AIS and even ForwardScan – but your Vulcan will work perfectly well out of the box with just a power supply.

 

Easy Integration

Adding Vulcan to your instrument network means you’ll get B&G’s award-winning sailing features. Vulcan is designed for seamless networking via NMEA2000, but you can link it to most existing instrument networks from any brand. Here’s how to do it.

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Add Vulcan to a NMEA2000 Network

Simply add a T-piece and drop cable to your NMEA2000 network and plug in your Vulcan, add 12V power and you’re good to go. A network consists of a backbone, from which individual drop cables connect each instrument or device. 12V power is supplied via a power cable, and each end must be terminated using a terminator blank plug. Connections are made using simple Micro-C connectors, which makes building a network as easy as plug and play.
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Add Vulcan to NMEA 0183 Instruments

By adding a few simple components that convert NMEA0183 to NMEA2000, you can then add a B&G Vulcan chartplotter to your boat’s instruments. Vulcan chartplotters don’t have a NMEA0183 port, so you’ll need a gateway device such as the Navico AT10 to translate the data coming from your existing sensors to NMEA2000, which can then be read by your new Vulcan chartplotter, as well as any other compatible devices on the NMEA 2000 network. See compatible cables at the bottom of this page.
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Add Vulcan to SeaTalk instruments

By adding a few simple components that convert SeaTalk to NMEA2000, you can then add a B&G Vulcan chartplotter to your boat. You’ll need a Seatalk to SeatalkNG converter and a Seatalk to Micro-C connector, which will translate the data coming from your existing ST60 instruments to NMEA2000, which can then be read by your new Vulcan chartplotter. If your instruments are connected via SeatalkNG, all you need is a converter cable to allow your Vulcan to communicate with the network backbone. SeaTalk and Seatalkng are trademarks of Raymarine.
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Add Vulcan to B&G Network instruments

You can add Vulcan to legacy B&G Network instruments. By adding a few simple components that convert NMEA0183 to NMEA2000, you can then add a B&G Vulcan chartplotter to your boat and start benefiting from SailSteer™, Sailing Time and other B&G Sailing Features. You’ll need a converter such as the Navico AT10 to convert the B&G Network instruments’ NMEA0183 to NMEA2000. See compatible cables and converters at the bottom of this page.

What Do I Need For Sailing Features?

In order to get the most out of the sailing features on B&G Chartplotters, you need the following:

 

START WITH: Wind sensor – Gives Apparent Wind Speed & Angle on your Vulcan display.

ADD: Boat Speed sensor– Adds Boat speed for True Wind Speed and Angle calculations.

ADD: Compass sensor – Adds Heading for True Wind Direction calculation.

 

Vulcan will compare Boatspeed and Heading with Speed Over Ground and Course Over Ground to calculate Tide Rate & Direction.

Dedicated Sailing Features for cruising and racing

Let Vulcan take care of the complex calculations – leaving you free to relax and enjoy the sailing.

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SailSteer

See all the data you need at a glance on one easy-to-read display with SailSteer. See crucial wind, speed, tide, heading, course over ground, layline and waypoint information, overlaid on one screen to ensure you have the information you need at your fingertips.
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Laylines

Let Vulcan do the hard work: See your course and minimise your time spent beating with Laylines overlaid on your chart. See which way is best and ensure you tack in the right place to help you get to windward as efficiently as possible. Laylines even take into account tidal effects and wind shifts to plot the quickest course to the next waypoint.
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SailingTime

Plan effectively with SailingTime and know how long it will take to get to a waypoint, even if it’s dead upwind. SailingTime calculates the time you’ll spend on each tack, taking into account wind and tidal effects, to give you an accurate ETA at your destination.
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RacePanel

Be on the line when the gun goes with RacePanel. Enjoy easy-to-use features previously only enjoyed by Pro navigators to ensure you get the best start in the fleet, with time, distance and positioning information on a single clear display.

Products in the Vulcan series

Vulcan 7

7-inch touchscreen sailing chartplotter. ForwardScan™, Broadband Radar™ and autopilot ready
$769
Find a Dealer
Vulcan 9

9-inch touchscreen sailing chartplotter. ForwardScan™, Broadband Radar™ and autopilot ready.
$1,099
Find a Dealer

Useful cables and connectors for your Vulcan chartplotter

See all cables and connectors

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