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[CA] [CA11] ST60+, seatalk1, seatalk NG, ray55e, A70D and ST2000+
04-17-19, 09:44 AM
Post: #26
RE: [CA11] ST60+, seatalk1, seatalk NG, ray55e, A70D and ST2000+
Dave,

General comments:
- Raymarine products are not designed and tested for use with any specific third party manufacturer's products. Raymarine products are designed and tested for integration other Raymarine products. With regard to interfacing Raymarine equipment to third party products, Raymarine designs many of its products to include marine industry standard NMEA 0183 and/or NMEA 2000 communications interfaces. Should a third party product not conform to this standard and thereby cause it to be incompatible with the Raymarine product and should the root cause of such incompatibility be rooted within the design of the third party product, then corrective action would be responsibility of the third party manufacturer and/or of the owner who is seeking to interface the third party product to the Raymarine product.

Q1. To clarify, when you mention "Stabilized" heading sensors, does this mean they need a gyro? Or is this just a characteristic of the instrument itself or its data output?
A1. Stabilization of heading data is commonly achieved through use of a gyro which is embedded within the heading sensor's design. Such stabilization is not required for any Raymarine product features except for radar target tracking, but will yield greater accuracy in the heading data supplied to the system. Accordingly, should those seeking to maximize the performance of features requiring heading data, then it would be recommended that a 10Hz stabilized heading source be selected.

Q2A. I have attached the manual for the Autonnic Compass - it appears to be very similar to the HSC100, possibly the same basic item with a different branding.
Could you please let me know if the Autonnic NMEA 0183 compass 5023/5024 is suitable?
A2A. The communications interfaces of the Autonnic Compass and HSC100 appear to differ. Like the A-Series Classic MFDs, the HSC100 appears to have a differential RS422 4800 BAUD NMEA 0183 communications interface. In contrast, the Autonnic Compass appears to feature single ended RS422 4800 BAUD NMEA 0183 communications interface. While this is typically not an issue, it would necessitate interfacing the Autonnic Compass to the Raymarine system in an manner similar to that which one would employ to interface most Garmin products featuring a NMEA 0183 communications interface to the system (i.e. should the Garmin product lack a NMEA 0183 OUT negative lead, then the MFD's NMEA 0183 input lead would be interfaced to the Garmin product's data/power ground lead, which in turn would be interfaced to battery ground). I would recommend that you consult with Autonnic's Support Team on this matter.

Q2B. If the Autonnic Compass also had a Rate of Turn NMEA output would this cause any problems with getting heading data out of it? It might be a useful option to have if I ever add an AIS Transceiver.
A2B. This would have no effect upon the Raymarine system.

Q3A. I will have the Ray55E VHF providing distress position data to the A70D on one NMEA IN port (White and Green). Could the compass be interfaced to the A70D's other NMEA IN port (Orange/White and Orange/Green)?
A3A. Yes. However, I generally recommend interfacing the heading sensor directly to the system's SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone to permit access to this data irrespective of the power state of the MFD. An Actisense NGW-1-ISO-STNG NMEA 0183 to SeaTalkng/NMEA 2000 data bridging device would typically be used for such purposes. This will permit the devices interfaced to the SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone to have access to 1Hz data and instruments on the SeaTalk bus to have access to 1Hz heading data.

Q3B. Will the A70D output heading data to the STNG network and thence to the ST1 bus?
A3B. Yes.

Q4A. Alternatively, could I connect the compass to one of the ST 60+ Graphic Display's NMEA IN ports? (The manual says HDG is not supported on NMEA IN, just double checking).
A4A. N/A ... see the response to Q1. Interfacing the heading source to the ST60 graphic would reduce the heading rate to 1Hz for all devices within the system.

Q4B If HDG can be received, will the ST60+ Graphic Display output heading data to the ST1 bus and thence to the STNG Network?
A4B. Yes. However, see the downside of this approach specified above.

Q5. Is there any advantage in terms of performance and/or accuracy to either of the above options 3 and 4?
A4. 3 is better than 4. However, the previously stated recommendation regarding the use of a NMEA 0183 to SeaTalkng data bridging device will offer the greatest performance to the system.

Q6. I am thinking of fitting a three way switch to swap the heading data source between the Compass and the Autopilot. By way of context, I do not normally use the autopilot to steer the boat but I have to set it up on deck to provide heading data for navigation, set/drift and TWD calculation.
It would be more convenient to have a stand alone source of heading data so that I do not need to set up the tiller pilot to provide heading data when I'm not using it to steer the boat.

My intention would be to wire the switch to operate in two positions:
Position 1: Connect compass's +ve NMEA OUT wire and disconnect the Autopilot Yellow ST1 wire (when the Compass is in use as the heading data source).
Position 2: connect the Autopilot Yellow ST1 wire and disconnect the Compass's positive NMEA OUT wire whenever the Autopilot is plugged in and in use (to enable track and wind modes).

The switch will be set up so that only one heading data source can be connected at any time.
Q6A. Do you see any problems with this arrangement (apart form possible differences in the actual heading output)?
A6A. Negative.

Q6B. With the tiller pilot disconnected from the network (Position 1), I assume I could still use the tiller pilot to steer the boat but it would not get Navigation or Wind data, so could only operate in Compass steering mode (and might have a different heading to the other compass). True?
A6B. True. However, you may want to consider interfacing the autopilot's NMEA 0183 input port to the NMEA 0183 output port of the MFD (NMEA 0183 output may be paralleled). The MFD will not transmit heading data to the autopilot. However, you should verify that the heading of the autopilot and third party heading sensor are reasonably close (+/- 5 degrees) to one another in their respective heading values produced.

Q7. Are there any specific Serial settings (Baud rate, data bits, stop bit, parity)that the ST60+ and A70D will or will not work with?
A7. Again, the Raymarine MFD supports differential 4800 BAUD NMEA 0183 communications. I would recommend consulting with Autonnic's Support Team should you elect to move forward with this third party product.
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RE: [CA11] ST60+, seatalk1, seatalk NG, ray55e, A70D and ST2000+ - Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator - 04-17-19 09:44 AM

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