Raymarine devices and nmea2k and nmea0183 newtork.

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

jweiss,

Thanks for confirming that you have not used all ports on the back side of the a78 MFD. As indicated within my initial response, your backbone will require at least two additional spur sockets, one to accommodate interfacing the a78 MFD to the backbone and the second to accommodate interfacing the previously referenced NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 data bridging device to the backbone. To keep things simple, you may want to consider using NMEA 2000 networking components from the same manufacturer used to create the currently installed NMEA 2000 backbone to add the additional spur sockets to your existing NMEA 2000 backbone. Should the currently installed NMEA 2000 backbone manufacturer offer T-Pieces featuring DeviceNet Micro-C (F) or DeviceNet DeviceNet Micro-C sockets (you will need to check with the manufacturer of your currently installed NMEA 2000 backbone, then one of the following cables may be used to mate the MFD's SeaTalkng spur socket to your NMEA 2000 backbone:
- A06075 39.4in (1.0m) SeaTalkng Spur to DeviceNet (F)
- A06076 39.4in (1.0m) SeaTalkng Spur to DeviceNet (M)
If not, then an appropriate length of SeaTalkng Spur Cable may be spliced to a spur cable sourced from the manufacturer of the currently installed NMEA 2000 backbone to create a spur cable adapter assembly. The total length of this spur cable adapter assembly must not exceed 6m. Please click here to view a FAQ addressing the color codes employed in a SeaTalkng Spur Cable.

The type and gender of the NMEA 2000 interface socket featured on make/model of NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 data bridging device which you will purchase will in turn determine how the NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 data bridging device will be mated to the above specified NMEA 2000 spur socket.

Finally, as the West Marine VHF 580 does not feature an internal GPS receiver, you may want to consider paralleling the NMEA 0183 output from your GX1700 VHF Radio to supply GPS data to the VHF 580 (i.e. connect the NMEA 0183 output of the GX1700 not only to the GPS multiplexing device specified within my initial response, but also to the NMEA 0183 input leads of the VHF 580).