[CA] E80 not reading other raymarine instruments

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum sailing_gal,

Please note that two communications interfaces come into play with the specified equipment. The MFD's SeaTalk/Alarm port would be used to communicate with the ST60 instruments and the MFD's NMEA 0183 communications interface (must be configure to 38400) must be used for communications with an AIS receiver / transceiver. It has been noted that the MFD is receiving GPS data from some devices within the system, but is not receiving instrument data. While it is technically possible for some AIS transceivers to be configured to transmit NMEA 0183 GNSS sentences along with NMEA 0183 AIS sentences to the MFD, it is typically not recommended that one utilize this feature because the AIS transceivers do not typically transmit the full series of NMEA 0183 GPS sentences as do NMEA 0183 GPS sensors ... note that your MFD is not listing GPS satellite data. Regarding the MFD's SeaTalk communications port, testing should begin by determining whether SeaTalk communications is being transmitted through the MFD's SeaTalk/Alarm Cable. To do so, voltage would be measured with an analog voltmeter across the SeaTalk Data (yellow) and SeaTalk Return (black) pins of the SeaTalk/Alarm Cable's plug. When communications is present, the meter's needle will bounce between +9 and +11VDC. The pin definition for the MFD's SeaTalk/Alarm socket follows:



Should the analog voltmeter's needle perform as specified above, then it would appear that the MFD has suffered a failure of its SeaTalk communications circuitry, necessitating that it be returned to Raymarine’s Product Repair Center to be bench checked / serviced. Should the analog voltmeter's needle perform as specified above, then it would indicate a problem with the SeaTalk communications cabling onboard.