C120 seatalk

[Don1500]

I have a few questions about my new (to me) boat autopilot system.
It has:
C120 display at the fly bridge, with radar.
Autohelm 7000 control panel at the pilot house (main helm)
a hydraulic steering system
ALL this works according to the seller.

1: It has a seatalk interface but I believe it is not Seatalk(ng), are the connectors different? can I get a converter?
2: I would like to put an A7 series MFD in the main helm station so I will have wifi throughout the boat, is it possible to connect it to the C120 via seatalk, and if so can I enter route/waypoint info through the A7 MFD? (The C120 uses a different type of memory card and I will have to get more equipment to program them on my PC.) I would like the A7 to be the master controller for the system.

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Don,

General comment: Please note that the ST7000 is an autopilot control head which was compatible with a number of models of Raymarine autopilot course computers. The model of the latter would aid in identifying what types of communications interfaces were present within the system.

Q1: It has a seatalk interface but I believe it is not Seatalk(ng), are the connectors different? can I get a converter?
A1: Neither the C-Series Classic MFDs nor the ST7000 feature a SeaTalkng communications interface. However, the SeaTalk bus that his interfacing these devices to one another may be interfaced to a SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter to permit these devices to communicate with compatible devices which have been interfaced to a SeaTalkng backbone.

Q2: I would like to put an a7x series MFD in the main helm station so I will have wifi throughout the boat, is it possible to connect it to the C120 via seatalk, and if so can I enter route/waypoint info through the A7 MFD? (The C120 uses a different type of memory card and I will have to get more equipment to program them on my PC.) I would like the A7 to be the master controller for the system.
A2: Please click here to view a FAQ addressing this subject. While navigational data may be shared between these two types of MFDs, waypoints, routes, and tracks cannot be shared between these MFDs via the SeaTalk/SeaTalkng communications interface. Raymarine Voyage Planner PC software permits waypoint/route planning and supports both Archive.FSH waypoint/route/track file format (required by C-Series Classic MFDs) and GPX file format (required by the a/c/e/eS/gS-Series MFDs).

[Don1500]

Anyway besides the voyage planner software to convert GPX files to .FSH?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Don,

Please click here to view a FAQ addressing this subject.