[CA] [CA11] Verifying NMEA cable function - AIS not communicating

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Andy,

It is strongly advised that a 38400 BAUD NMEA 0183 signal not be paralleled. The 38400 BAUD NMEA 0183 connection with the VHF radio / AIS transceiver should only be connected to the NMEA 0183 cable of one of the MFDs.

Please note that Raymarine's Product Repair Centers can no longer service E-Series Classic MFDs. Should you have performed a wraparound test of one of the MFD's NMEA 0183 port and found that its NMEA 0183 port is not operational, then you may want to consider swapping the MFDs within the system to permit the one which is most critical (i.e. the MFD located at the helm) to have an operational NMEA 0183 port. This MFD would in turn be interfaced to the VHF radio / AIS transceiver, configured for 38400 BAUD NMEA 0183 communications, and will in turn share AIS data (as well as all other data and resources) with the navigation station's MFD via the Ethernet (SeaTalkhs) communications path which you have created.

As both MFDs have been interfaced to the SeaTalk bus, either MFD may be configured as the system's Data Master MFD, permitting it to access data from the SeaTalk bus. The latter situation may be useful when performing tasks at the navigation station and seeking to save power by not switching the helm MFD ON. Unfortunately, should the recommendation to swap MFDs as suggested herein be acted upon, then no AIS data will be available to the navigation station's MFD when the helm MFD has been switched OFF.