[CA] [CA11] ST70/Smart Pilot x30

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum dapagani,

The reported message is indicating that the autopilot control head is not communicating with the autopilot course computer. A SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter would not typically be used for this purpose. However, there is also no reason why it may not be used. No SeaTalkng power Cable should be required for this installation, as this small backbone may simply be powered by the autopilot course computer's SeaTalkng port (you need simply move the course computer's SeaTalkng power switch to the ON position. Accordingly, it should be removed. A SeaTalkng termination plug should be inserted into each of the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter's two backbone sockets. The spur cables from the ST70 autopilot control head and autopilot course computer would then simply be connected to the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter's white spur sockets. The maximum total cable length used in a spur must not exceed 6m. It is recommended that this configuration be verified before adding any other devices to the backbone.

With regard to interfacing the autopilot to your Garmin chartplotter, should the Garmin chartplotting product feature a NMEA 0183 communications interface, then you may want to consider adding an Actisense NGW-1-ISO-STNG NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 data bridge to the SeaTalkng backbone. This product has been demonstrated in the past to address apparent NMEA 0183 interface incompatibilities which are sometimes encountered when interfacing Garmin chartplotting products to Raymarine SPX autopilot course computers. This option would require that an extra spur socket be added to your backbone which presently consists of the ST-STng Converter alone. When so interfaced, the autopilot's Track mode feature may be used.