QK-R041 Manual
V 1.0
8 of 16
2022
3.6. RS232 serial interface (NMEA 0183)
The R041 features an industrial RS232 serial interface. It supports up to 230.4kbps baud rate.
Since the most marine NMEA 0183 devices support the RS232 or RS485 communication protocols, the
R041 can communicate with these devices through its RS232 interface.
To connect the router to a NMEA 0183 device, the wires or terminals need to be connected as shown
below.
R041 interface
Connection needed on
RS232 device
Connection needed on
RS422 device
Transmit
TX/B
NMEA RX
*
[1]
NMEA input-
GND
GND
NMEA input+
Receive
RX/A
NMEA TX
*
[1]
NMEA output-
GND
GND
NMEA
*
[1]
Swap the differential NMEA data wires if there is no communication between your R041 router
and the NMEA0183 device.
3.7. WiFi connections
The R041 can be used out-of-the-box, no initial setup is required.
The default SSID is similar to ‘QK-
R041-
xxx’ and the default password is ‘QE88888888’, however we strongly suggest changing these to
your preferred network name (SSID) and wireless password via the configuration interface. This
ensures that only the users who know the login details will be able to connect to your router.
3.8. 4G antennas
The R041 comes with two SMA 5 dBi external indoor 4G/3G antennas. Both antennas have a magnetic
base so they can be attached to various ferrous surfaces. The two 4G antennas should be placed at a
minimum distance of 20 inches (50cm) from each other to maximise the positive effect of the MIMO
technology. There is no need to place the two antennas further apart, since the field tests show that the
signal quality cannot be significantly improved by increasing the distance.
The 4G antennas should not be mounted near metal objects or close to other high-power transmitting
antennas like VHF, HF and SSB antennas. It is recommended to place the 4G antennas at a minimum
distance of 40 inches (1.0 meter) away from these high-power transmitting antennas on the boat.
For low power antennas or not near frequency band antennas (e.g. WiFi, GPS, TV), it is recommend to
keep a minimum distance of 20 inches (50cm) between antennas.
To have better 4G network reception external 4G fiberglass antennas can be used. The following image
shows a wiring example. If longer cables are used to connect the antenna to the router, it must be a
high-quality, low loss cable. The cable and any connectors used should have 50 Ohms impedance.