Interfacing AIS650 with SPX10 and C70

[murphy95]

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and fairly new to owning a boat (which is in Greece). It is fitted out with Raymarine equipment, with which I have had one or two issues , but I am finding may way around it slowly. I would also like to add a n AIS 650 transceiver but am unsure how best to connect.

The system basically comprises of a SPX10 Smartpilot, ST6002 controller and C70 chartplotter, plus depth, wind, radio etc. I have attached a system schematic which came with the boat which I think is still current. The SPX 10 being the only change since date of installation.

Assuming I can add an AIS650, how is best to connect into the system? I understand it will need an independent GPS and VHF antenna, and needs the NMEA connections to be used. Will I need to re-configure the existing system to accommodate the AIS?

Also, the Raystar 125 feeds NMEA to the SPX10 and the VHF radio. As the NMEA output from the SPX10 only gives heading information, am I correct in assuming the C70 gets it’s position information via sea talk?

Thanks in anticipation.