Connect Old Raymarine Stuff to New NMEA 2000 Backbone?

[Pat Anderson]

OK, I have Googled a bit, and my head is spinning. I would appreciate some advice from those of you who know what you are talking about, if not please be "read only" here!

Daydream is a 2005 CD25 Cruiser with 2005 Raymarine electronics, including GPS antenna, C80 MFD, depth sounder module, and autopilot, I think it is an S1000 but the boat is at the marina and I am home, but anyway it is an older Raymarine autopilot. The 2005 vintage VHF is also connected I believe. It all still works pretty well, and I am disinclined to replace any of it (except the VHF).I understand these are NMEA 0183 devices.

The rub is that I have just re-powered with a Suzuki 200 outboard connected to a Suzuki digital display, which is a NMEA 2000 device. It does not have GPS input, so a few of its basic functions are not displayed on the digital display.

What I would like to do is install as basic a NMEA 2000 backbone as possible and connect the Suzuki digital display to it and use some kind of NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 converter to feed GPS data to the Suzuki digital display, continuing to use all the NMEA 0183 devices from 2005. I would also, at some point, like to upgrade my VHF to one with AIS, which I assume would have to be NMEA 2000.

I THINK this should be possible without spending an arm and a leg, certainly much less than replacing all the stuff installed in 2005. I am hoping for some fairly specific suggestions as to what I should buy in order to accomplish this, brand names and other information. Or if I am completely off-base, just tell me.

TIA for your usual helpfulness!

[Peter & Judy]

I think I likely have the same electronics set up as you in my 2005 22' cruiser. It was all installed at EQ Marine when the boat was new. I am looking to upgrade the chartplotter, radar etc in the near future. I did upgrade the VHF and I added a second antenna for the original Raymarine VHF. In the process of splicing the wiring, I lost the GPS on the radio. I installed a Standard Horizon GX2200 which has built in GPS and AIS. There is no need to connect this radio to your system to get GPS. It is an excellent radio and is my primary radio. I wanted to keep to original VHF, but it was programmed to the DSC name of the original owner. To change this to a Canadian DSC number, I would have to ship it to the US, send them a bunch of money and they might be able to program the DSC or might not be able to as this radio is considered obsolete and they would not repair it anymore. I kept the old VHF as a backup and a second channel radio. I plan to keep my boat for the next 10 years or so and I expect to replace the electronics and radar for something more up to date, sooner rather than later. My though was to map out the entire system and send it to a Raymarine rep to find out what is still comparable and what is obsolete. Then make the decision on what I have to replace and if I will stay with Raymarine or change to another brand.

[TyBoo]

Unless I completely misunderstand your goal, it looks like you can get there for around three hundred bucks. You should already have the backbone with the digital display so all you might need to give it GPS is this gizmo.

[jkidd]

Your old and obsolete electronics are pretty much junk. The new electronics are faster and more accurate and easier to use. Leave your old installed and add a new mfd. You could just do a nmea 2000 gps puck and that would give you speed and fuel usage. If down the road your looking at ais then the new display would be able to display it. That is unless you want to look at the ais targets on the two inch screen of the radio. Then there is the safety side of things how much is your life worth. At some point that old stuff is going to give it up and you’ll be left with nothing to come home on. You can buy a display for 500-600 dollars that will do everything you want. It just depends on how big.

[ssobol]

[hardee]

Pat, I have a Raymarine C-120 same vintage as yours. I have a mix of electronics and cable systems but they all talk to each other via a Multiplexor, (Shipmodul 1121 Miniplex-2usb Programmable Multiplexer) This was all set up and done by Rodgers Marine, in Portland

The Multiplexor has capability of talking all of these in and sharing back to each what ever it needs in it’s own “language”.

Seatalk-1
Seatalk-NG Spur Cable (NMEA-2000)
Seatalk-NG Backbone Cable (NMEA-2000)
NMEA-0183

I would consult with Martin Kirk at Rodgers Marine Electronics, 503-287-1101.

Harvey
SleepyC

[drbridge]

Our Boat has 2004 Raymarine C80 with radar and autopilot and was also originally set up by EQ Marine. Our gps was originally supplied through a Raynav 300 GPS Plotter. The loss of the satellites over time that the raynav300 was usine made it obsolete. I replaced it with a Raymarine E32042 Raystar 125 GPS Sensor

https://www.amazon.com/Raymarine-E32042-Raystar-125-Sensor/dp/B0007NITPS
and used this backbone to connect it.
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/raymarine--seatalk1-to-seatalkng-converter-kit--11013927?lsft=mrkgcl:481,mrkgadid:3312353946,cm_mmc:PS-_-Google-_-GSC%3ENonB%3EProduct%2520Type%2520(LIA)-_-11013927,product_id:11013927,adpos:,creative:504966948635,device:c,matchtype:,network:g&gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5PGFBhC2ARIsAIFIMNfz7HyirqRc-crsgKx253jAL8JOv96Kj7_MTmGzvn31JO9j1zm2LloaArAWEALw_wcB

This leaves 3 extra ports for seatalkng that is ray marines version of nmea 2000 and I believe you can connect other Nmea 2000 devices through this backbone, but not absolutely sure of that. You may have to get another converter for that, but I am pretty sure it can be done.

We have the standard horizon gx2200 and the AIS output is
NMEA 183 and I connected it to the C80 screen through the NMEA port. It was a challenge to find the connecting cable for this port, but I eventually found one on ebay.

NOTE 1: the 125 gps puck can be mounted inside the cabin, out of the weather and works excellent.

Note 2: After installing the gx2200 I found by trial and error that the gps in the gx 2200 (even when the outout was turned off) would interfere with the raystar 125 gps signal and make the autopilot do really weird things. As long as I boot up the raystar 125 gps before the gx2200 this does not happen and it works great.

[thataway]

Yacht Devices and Actisense both make converters of NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000, if you want to go that way. Maretron has made a number of other very sophisticated instruments to use and combine NMEA protocols. You can cross reference ideas with Panbo's forum.

[Peter & Judy]

[thataway]

Most auto pilots and especially ones which use wireless technology, are adversely affected by RF. Shielding, Ferrite Beads, proper twisted wiring, copper foil ground etc are all necessary. You have to go piece by piece to see what works and alleviates the RF interference.

[gstraub]

We don't have an autopilot on our C-Dory, but we do on our sailboat and it would also do occasional major course changes. Finally figured out my wife was putting her purse (with cell phone and other metallic stuff) on the shelf right above the course sensor! Whenever she would move her purse, we would change course!!!!

[colbysmith]

The compass system on the autopilots is very sensitive. Mine is located just under the dash over the V-Berth. Anything with any kind of metal in it placed on the dash over it will knock the compass off by 30 degrees or more!

[journey on]

It sounds as if Pat wants to use part of the original equipment to display the Suzuki motor output, which is in NMEA 2000 on a (original) Seatalk unit because he doesn't want the change out the MFD and radar. He is willing to get a new VHF and GPS, both using NMEA 2000. Is that right?

First, lets talk about what VHF Pat can get. I instaled a Standard Horizon GX2400 VHF which has GPS, AIS and NMEA 2000, and I assume that other mfgs have similar. So that would solve both the AIS, VHF and NMEA 2000 desires. That radio is $400 which I thought was reasonable for giving me all 3 functions.

Next, let's see what changing the NMEA 183, NMEA 2000 and Seatalk buses means. 1. the Suzuki puts out NMEA 2000 only. 2. Pats Raytheon MFD only works with Seatalk. 3. Pat is adding NMEA devices that use NMEA 2000. 4. Changing the MFD means changing the radar.

So first off there are converters that will change NMEA 2000 to NMEA 183 and vice versa ($200). And converters that will change NMEA 183 to Seatalk ($100). And that solves the electrical connectivity. A NMEA bus is going to cost $150; at least that's what it cost me.

Finally,the question is does the Raymarine MFD have the processing capability to handle all this data and display it? Remember AIS was just coming on the scene in 2005. One would have to read the op manual to see if the unit could process AIS data. Next, would the unit be able to process the Suzuki data and develop a meaningful display? One could only find out by trying.

Now, Pat has spent $15000 on a new motor and he want's his original equipment to read and process a bunch of new data. He could certainly connect everything, but then hes spent another $400-$500 and he's not sure if it would work. My feeling is that's a good discount on a new MFD (and don't forget the radar) that's designed to do all Pat wants to do. From my experience with Raytheon radars and MFD's there's been a lot of progress since 2005, when I outfitted Journey On. I now have a solid state radar, which does all the processing at the radar and a MFD that's designed for AIS, radar overlay, NMEA 2000 and reading the new charts. I still use the old Honda 150, cause it runs well (and weighs less).

So in summary, Pat can try it, no guarantees that it works, or he can match the new Suzuki with new electronics.

Boris

[drbridge]

Finally,the question is does the Raymarine MFD have the processing capability to handle all this data and display it? Remember AIS was just coming on the scene in 2005. One would have to read the op manual to see if the unit could process AIS data. Next, would the unit be able to process the Suzuki data and develop a meaningful display? One could only find out by trying.

I can say for sure that the Raymarine C80 can process the AIS, as it has worked quite well on our 2004 model. As for the Suzuki info, I can't say for sure.

Pat, I would recommend you join the Raymarine Forum and then ask the moderator your specific question. They are very good about answering questions regarding old equipment. It may take them a couple days to get back to you, but they will. I have done this in the past and they were very good at helping me figure things out. Here is one of their post that pertains to your situation. It shows all the part numbers that you might need to hook up your motor info. You might find more about it just by searching their forum.

https://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.php?tid=2332

[TyBoo]