Raystar 130 retro kit to C80

[drbridge]

So I just purchased a T70133 kit to replace my failed RN300 system. I have a C80, radar, Auto pilot and st6001 controller and the Failed RN300 that I plan to do away with completely on a 22' C-Dory.
It looks simple enough to hook this up except for the fact that my system has neither a D244 junction block or a R55006 that is shown in the instructions diagram. Instead it has a generic marine terminal bus that the wires from all said components are screwed in to. There is not a dedicated power wire going in to the terminal so I must assume that power is being supplied from either the Auto pilot, C80 or RN300.
I am not sure of how to disconnect the current power input so that I can supply power through the SeaTalkng converter to the system. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Doug

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Doug,

Should the system not include any additional devices having a SeaTalkng communications interface, then it would be recommended that the installation be simplified by not installing the SeaTalkng Power Cable. Instead, the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter and Raystar 130 GPS Sensor will be backfed power from the SeaTalk bus through the SeaTalk (yellow) socket of the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter. Should
- the SeaTalk bus not feature a D244 SeaTalk Junction Block or unused SeaTalk socket into with the ST-STng Converter's SeaTalk Cable may be plugged into, and
- should the terminal strip be located within the length of the ST-STng Converter's SeaTalk Cable,
then the ST-STng Converter's SeaTalk Cable's black press-fit three-pin plug may be cut off, its sheathing stripped back to reveal its inner leads, and then the cable leads may be joined to the terminal strip by simply matching leads of the same color.

SeaTalk wire codes:
- red: +12VDC
- yellow: data
- bare/black: -12VDC

Should the system grow to include additional devices having a SeaTalkng communications interface, then the solution specified above would no longer apply.

[drbridge]

Thanks for this information Chuck. Since I can foresee no need for any other additions to this system, your solution should work very well and will be very easy to execute.

[drbridge]

I installed the new RS130 using the power backfed from the existing terminal strip and omitting the power supply cable to SeaTalkng as described.
The new gps works great. I installed it in the cabin just below the fiberglass roof and it seems to pick up satellites very well in sea trials.
One curiosity I came across on my system is while checking for power feeds in to my terminal strip I found that with the c80 powered up there was
10.45 volts being supplied from the c80 to the terminal strip. With the auto pilot powered up there was 12.1 volts being supplied to the same terminal strip. The RS130 seems to perform well with either or both of these power sources turned on.
My question is, should there be 2 separate power sources coming in to this terminal strip? And also, why would there only be 10.4V coming from the c80 and is the lower voltage good for the gps to operate on?
As I said, the system seems to work fine like this. I just want to make sure I keep the system healthy.

Thanks

Doug

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Doug,

Q1. One curiosity I came across on my system is while checking for power feeds in to my terminal strip I found that with the c80 powered up there was
10.45 volts being supplied from the c80 to the terminal strip. With the auto pilot powered up there was 12.1 volts being supplied to the same terminal strip. The RS130 seems to perform well with either or both of these power sources turned on.
My question is, should there be 2 separate power sources coming in to this terminal strip? And also, why would there only be 10.4V coming from the c80 and is the lower voltage good for the gps to operate on?
A1. The C & E-Series Classic MFDs were designed with a powered SeaTalk port to create a simple installation solution for small vessel applications to where the MFD and GPS sensor were the only devices having a SeaTalk communications interface. However, the power level produced by the MFD's SeaTalk port was insufficient to power any device other than a SeaTalk GPS sensor. In practice, this did cause some confusion for customers and installers having larger systems who either forgot to power the SeaTalk bus or neglected to switch on the device or circuit responsible for powering the SeaTalk bus. Later, Raymarine introduced a best practice for installation of these MFDs in which the SeaTalk power (red) lead of the SeaTalk cable connecting the MFD to the SeaTalk bus was not to be used. While it wouldn't typically cause a problem within the system, this best practice is still recommended.

[drbridge]

I think I will go with the best practice and disconnect the C80 power from the bus strip. I will label the power switch for the auto pilot as GPS/Autopilot. I like the idea of a constant 12v supply to the RS130. I will leave the power wire from C80 taped up, but available for reconnecting just in case.
Thanks for the info Chuck!

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

You're welcome.