[CA] [CA11] nmea to seatalkng

[Bejasus]

I currently have the following set up which has been partially upgraded over the years.

1. a97 - replaced my E80 at the helm when the screen backlight failed
2. ST70 mfd - this is at the nav station
3. i70s - this replaced another ST70 at the helm
4. p70 - auto pilot control head at the helm
5. EV-1, ACU 400 and rudder reference. these replaced an old Simrad AC 20
6. Raymarine wind indicator and converter pod
7. Airmar depth transducer and converter pod
8. Airmar speed/temp transducer and converter pod
9. Raymarine GPS
10. Raymarine digital radar
11. Raymarine AIS A
12. Raymarine Ray240 VHF

My plan is to replace the Ray240 and AIS with an Icom M506 with integrated AIS

I need to know the best way to network this into my Seatalkng back bone.

Can I simply plug the NMEA converter cable into the ST70 at the nav station and enable the system to receive the ais information on the a97

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Bejasus,

The specified VHF radio / AIS receiver appears to have a NMEA 2000 communications interface featuring a DeviceNet (M) plug. Raymarine offers the A06075 / 39.4in (1.0m) DeviceNet (F) to SeaTalkng Spur Cable to facilitated interfacing such devices to a SeaTalkng spur socket.

Unlike SeaTalkng networking protocol which had permitted up to three devices to be daisy chained within a single spur (maximum total spur length = 6m), the NMEA 2000 networking protocol permits only one device per spur. As Raymarine is seeking NMEA 2000 Certification for its products, most current and all future Raymarine product designs having a SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 communications interface will feature one spur socket instead of two spur sockets. This will thereby prevent such daisy chains. As third party devices having a NMEA 2000 communications interface have not been designed with the daisy chaining which had been supported by the SeaTalkng networking protocol, it is recommended that third party devices be interfaced to the backbone via a dedicated spur. Accordingly, should the current backbone feature 5-Way Connector, T-Piece, SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter, or iTC-5 having an unused SeaTalkng Spur socket, then it would be recommended that the third party device be interfaced to that spur socket. Should the spur socket not be located within 1m of the third party product, then the backbone will need to be extended to within 1m of the third party product. Please click here to view a FAQ addressing how a backbone may be extended to add spur sockets.