System Upgrade

[DFMott]

I am planning to install a Radome RD418HD, Ray70 (for AIS) and a RS150 GPS antenna in my hardtop, and a CP370 to upgrade my sonar as part of my plans to finally get my marine electronics where I want them to be.

Currently, I have a ES97 MFD and Autopilot (EV200) which I installed last year. I am proud of my installation of the autopilot as it works perfectly and the max deviation is 3 degrees. It’s not easy. I am a technical guy but find marine electronics to be a challenge at times. The support from this forum has been great. I find I spend more time planning than installing and my plans always evolve the more I think about how to accomplish my end goal. I don’t want to be in the position of saying “I should have” during the install.

My boat’s hardtop is wired for electronics. It has a separate switched power feed of 10 gauge wire dedicated for this purpose. There is one route between the hardtop and the MFD through the support pipe of the hardtop. Currently it has 6 wires running through it. My concern is being able to snake additional wiring through the pipe (with connectors) so I want to keep the size and number to a minimum for this install.

Here are my questions:

Can I use the power in the hardtop to feed both the Ray70 and RD418HD? I don’t see why not but figure I would ask anyway rather than regret that I didn’t.

The Radar cable has a RayNet cable and power lines. My plan is to cut the sheathing and split out the RayNet wire. Run the power line to the power feed in the hardtop and the RayNet cable down to the MFD. Is it OK to do this?

If for some reason I cannot get the cable through with the connector on it would it be feasible to cut the connector and splice a RJ45 connector on it and use an adapter to connect into the ES97?

The RS150 and Ray70 need a SeaTalk or NEMA 0183 connection. I have NEMA wires running between the hardtop and the MFD. I have thought of 2 options -

Option 1 -The easiest way is to connect the RAY70 to the MFD through the NEMA 0183 wires and connect the SeaTalk connection on the Ray70 to the RS150. However, I am not sure this will work. (Note on the RS150 - The manual says it comes with a 6M SeaTalk spur cable. The SeaTalk manual says ”the length of an individual spur must not exceed 5M”. My connection to the Ray70 via the NEMA 0183 will be between 5M and 6M, and then another 1M - 2M to the RS150 which will be mounted on a Seaview pole above the RD428HD)

Option 2 - Run a SeaTalk backbone up to the hardtop and connect both the RAY70 and the RS150 to the backbone up there. I can probably do this as the backbone cable connection is not that large.

Would the first option work and is there a benefit to doing it one way over the other, i.e. data speed, etc.? Which option do you prefer?

The ES97 has 2 RayNet connections on the back. I plan to use one for the RD418HD and one for the CP370. A lot of diagrams show a switch with only 2 connections so can you confirm that this will work?

I appreciate the support!