i70 System Pack

[tomsp]

Looking for suggestions on wind, speed, depth - just boat a sailboat with
1999 Autohelm boat speed, wind, depth
New e7 chartplotter
New evo200 autopilot
New p70 control head

E7, evo200 and p70 all connected with seatalkng- nice
I also extended the network by adding ray70 for AIS and autopilot remote

Looking to replace all 3 Autohelm wind, speed, depth

The i70 system pack has wind transducer with cable, i70 display, and depth/speed combo transducer, and tc5 converter box to translate the analogue transducers into the seatalkng system

1. How reliable is a duel purpose transducer -boat speed/depth?
2. Will the i70 communicate with my e7
3. Do I need another display or will the i70 plus the e7 suffice?

Thanks - trying to reduce number of displays if possible

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum tomsp

Q1. How reliable is a duel purpose transducer -boat speed/depth?
A1. The performance and reliability of the analog DST800 is essentially equal to that of separate transducers for depth and speed/temperature. Please be aware that a problem report has recently been logged concerning a calibration issue with the DST800 transducers having a SeaTalkng communications interface which may prevent calibration of the transducers by an i70/i70S MFID or ST70 MFID. The box labels and transducer tags of affected transducers affected have "v3.020 firmware" printed on them. Accordingly, it is recommended that a DST800's package label and/or transducer tag be inspected prior to installing the transducer to determine whether one of the affected transducers has been received. Raymarine has taken action to quarantine DST800 inventories having such labeling and will reprogram the affected DST800s to correct the problem before returning them to inventory. Should a customer receive an affected transducer then it may be returned to the Raymarine dealer or may be sent to Raymarine’s Product Repair Center to be replaced or have its software updated respectively.

Q2. Will the i70 communicate with my e7?
A2. The i70, iTC-5, and e-Series MFDs each feature support for SeaTalkng/NMEA 2000 communications via a powered and properly terminated SeaTalkng backbone. When so interfaced, these products will share depth, speed, water temperature, GPS data, and more.

Q3. Do I need another display or will the i70 plus the e7 suffice?
A3. No additional displays are required.

[tomsp]

Thank you for the detailed reply.

If I purchase two separate transducers for depth and boat speed, will they both connect to the same itc-5 converter? (I.e., one itc5 to connect three transducers wind, speed, depth).

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Tomsp,

Q. If I purchase two separate transducers for depth and boat speed, will they both connect to the same itc-5 converter? (I.e., one itc5 to connect three transducers wind, speed, depth).
A. Yes, when separate analog depth and speed/temp transducers are purchased, they will be interfaced to the iTC-5 along with the wind transducer. In contrast, the DST800 is a smart transducer and is designed to be interfaced as a spur to the powered and properly terminated SeaTalkng backbone which will be used to interface the i70, MFD, Evolution autopilot components, and iTC-5 to one another.

[tomsp]

Chuck-

While my boat is on the hard, I installed the DST800 combo transducer and ran the cable to the iTC-5 converter. I connected speed and depth. I ran a backbone cable to it and connected a terminator plug also. I ran a spur cable to the i70s (it is just hanging down and not installed in the boat yet).

I powered on Sea Talk ng - at the i70s I entered "locate transducers" in menu. The ITC-5 was identified and speed and temp could be accessed (highlightable). Depth was greyed out and selecting depth brought in the double beep meaning not present.

The transducer box nor the transducer was labeled with the above mentioned v number - from your previous post.

Tomorrow I'll review my connection in the ITC-5.

Continued from Dst800 and itc-5 problem--

Upon powering up the itc-5 with cover off --
1. Speed temp led continuous on (good) then going to slow continuous blinking
(A) i70s displays speed and temp and speed and temp are functioning
(B) i70s software is v3.07

2. Depth Led in itc-5 looks like slow continuous pulse (green) - but out of phase with speed temp blinking.

3. The other it's-5 areas are not connected yet (i.e. Wind, rudder) but they are slow continuous pulse in phase with the depth (all are out of phase with the speed temp)

Any suggestions?

Thank you

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Tom,

Unlike fishfinding products, the iTC-5 will not detect a Depth transducer source unless the transducer is able to receive bottom echoes. Such detection would require the boat be located in the water and that there be at least 3' of water beneath the transducer. Instrument depth transducers and most fishfinding depth transducers will not sense bottom echoes should the vessel be located out of the water.

[tomsp]

Great to hear and thank you

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

You're welcome.