a98, i70, RayControl installation issues

[Doug McEwen]

The Raymarine a98 is the primary source of GPS fix for the system, using the patch antenna built into the a98 housing (not a GA150). I configured a backup GPS source through NMEA 0183 during the design phase because I thought that I might occasionally block the patch antenna's view of the sky while moving around the boat.

As it turns out, since I have been using the a98, it seems that the GPS reception is extremely robust. I have tried to make it fail by deliberately blocking reception, but it always seems to still get enough signal to hold a fix. Given this, I am willing to give up thinking I need a backup GPS source. But I do wonder what would happen with future installations that might put additional duplicate data sources onto the STNG bus. Potentially I am better to keep the SPX5 off the STNG bus to allow the data source selection feature on the a98 to continue to function as it was designed.