[CA] [CA11] ST60+, seatalk1, seatalk NG, ray55e, A70D and ST2000+

[dave.squared@hotmail.com]

Hi Chuck,
Thanks again for taking the time to clarify every detail for me. It really is greatly appreciated and I think the systems is going to be very capable considering it is made up out of discontinued bits and pieces.

With regard to the rearrangement of the autopilot communications to accommodate the third party compass it has occurred to me (eventually) that replacing the Autopilot’s seatalk connection with NMEA IN from the A70D MFD will mean that I no longer get Autopilot status and warnings on my ST60+ instrument displays.
Q1. Could you please conform that is correct?

As per an earlier post, I have considered adding an ST6002 pilot controller to the system and I guess this would provide a more useful display/control/alarm option for the ST2000 tiller pilot.
It has been most useful to have the pilot data displayed on the ST60 instruments because the ST2000 display is really not useful due to its size and location.

So, I have two plans in mind:

Plan A: Without changing anything else, connect the ST6002 via seatalk to the ST2000 Seatalk pins.

Q2. Would I have control/display/alarms to/from the ST6002 to without affecting the functionality of the rest of the system.
Q3. Would the Autpilot transmit Wind/Nav data (that it receives via NMEA from the A70D) to the ST6002 so that all Autpilot functions (i.e. track and Wind Steering) would be controllable from the ST6002?

Plan B: Connect pilot and controller via Seatalk as per plan A and additionally, connect the ST6002 to the Seatalk bus for the rest of the ST60+ instruments.

This would give me the added function of displaying other instrument data on the ST6002 and possibly provide pilot status/alarms to the ST60+ instruments.
But I suspect this would cause heading data from the ST2000
to be transmitted to the ST1 bus and thence to the STNG network and therefore give me a problem with two sources of heading data in the system.
Q4. Could this arrangement work or do you have any other ideas to maximise the functionality?

I think Plan A is good enough if it works but your opinion on Plan B or other options would be greatly appreciated.

I’ll work up a layout drawing as soon as I get a chance if clarification is required.

Cheers
Dave