[CA] [CA11] I60 performance anomalies

[Keel Joy]

I recently replaced my ST 60 wind instrument with a I60 because of irregular behavior of the ST 60 including failure to report any wind speed. The wind transducer is now only 10 months old and I had checked the voltages and the connections including the mast head and found no anomalies.
My setup includes:
E7 Chart plotter
ST60+ Tridata
ST6002 Smart Pilot Controller
SR150 Receiver
Ray 55 VHF
Smart Pilot X30
HS 5 Sea Talk Network Switch
Sea TalkSTng converter
E92142 18" HD Digital Radome

When I installed the I60 I connected it to port 4 (white), previously unused, on the Sea Talk STng converter. I took the Sea Talk cable that was connected to the ST 60 wind inst. and connected it to the ST6002.

The first issue I am having is that in 10 days of operation on 4 occasions the I60 has reported no true wind data instead showing 3 dash lines. Apparent wind was reported. The issue is resolved by disconnecting the Sea Talkng Spur connection from the I60 to the Sea Talk STng converter and reconnecting it. Would putting diaelectric grease on the plug improve the connection? Having to get behind my helm station every few days is getting old fast and is a pain.

Second issue, and this happened once, the indicated true wind started increasing from the 15 to 20 kts we were experiencing over the course of about a minute to 99.9 kts and stayed there for about 4 minutes before slowly decreasing to "normal" This happened twice in the course of about 2hours two days after I installed the instrument but has not reoccurred. Needless to say this behavior of the instrument was distressing.

Any suggestions or thoughts are appreicated,
John

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum John,

The reported issue is not likely being caused by a physical connection issue as has been suggested, but most likely a failure of the system to identify a speed data source for the i60 Wind Instrument. Such issues may be the result of configuration settings failure, non-current software within the system's components, ground loop, incorrect system network installation, or system component failure.

Given the specified components, the MFD, i60 Wind, and SPX30 Autopilot Course Computer should each be interfaced as spurs to the system's powered and properly terminated SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone which additionally features a SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter.

- With respect to binnacle network cabling, an Ethernet (RayNet) Cable and STng Backbone cable should be chased from below decks to the pod housing the MFD. The Ethernet Cable will be connected to the MFD's Ethernt (RayNet) socket. A STng T-Piece will be installed within the pod housing the MFD. The T-Piece's spur socket will be connected to the MFD's SeaTalkng Socket via an appropriate length of SeaTalkng Spur Cable. An appropriate length of SeaTalkng Backbone Cable will then be run from the remaining backbone socket of the SeaTalkng T-Piece to the instrument pod, where it will be connected to the backbone socket of the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter. A SeaTalkng Termination Plug will be inserted into the remaining backbone socket of the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter. The i60 Wind Instrument will be connected to a spur within the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter. The ST60 Tridata will be connected to the SeaTalk (yellow) socket of the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter via the SeaTalkng Converter Cable packaged with the SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter. A powered SeaTalk Cable should be run from SPX 30 Autopilot Course Computer's SeaTalk port to the instrument pod (assumed location of the ST6002 Autopilot Control Head), where it will be connected to the ST6002 alone. As a best practice, it is recommended that the SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone be powered from a dedicated switched 12VDC power circuit rather than the autopilot course computer. This circuit would be connected to a SeaTalkng Power Cable, which in turn would be connected to a spur socket within the backbone.

- Verify that the backbone is powered from one (and only one source) via one spur socket.

- Verify that the backbone features two (and only two) SeaTalkng Termination plugs.

- Verify that the MFD, SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Converter, i60 Wind Instrument, and SPX30 have each been updated with latest available Raymarine product software update (v19.03, v2.03, v1.06, and v3.05 respectively) at the time of this response), and if not, update the software within any of these products having older software.

- Use the i60 Wind Instrument's Data Sources feature to identify the source of Speed Data within your system. Please be certain that all equipment within the system has been switched ON and permitted to complete initialization prior to using the Data Sources feature.

Should the above listed items have been addressed and should the i60 Wind Instrument continue to be intermittent in supporting True Wind data, then it would be recommended that the i60 Wind Instrument be disconnected from the ST-STng Converter's Spur Socket and that it instead be daisy chained to the ST60 Tridata instrument via an A06047 15.7in (0.4m) SeaTalk Adapter Cable or A06073 / 39.4in (1.0m) SeaTalk Adapter Cable.

[Keel Joy]

My boat is a catamaran so all the instrumentation is behind the helm station in the cabin.

Here are the connections for sea talk on my system:
from the SPX-30 to the ST6002 to the ST60 Tridata
previously the ST60+ wind inst was in this daisy chain. This was the boat manufacture's installation.

There is no connection to the SPX-30 STng port.

Also, from the SPX-30 Sea Talk terminal to the Sea Talk spur connection (yellow) of the SeaTalk-Sea TalkNG converter. Connected to the converter are blue terminations at each end. One Sea TalkNG spur (white) is connected to the I60 the other spur is connected to the MFD. This too was the manufacture's installation with the exception of my adding the I60 to the open STng spur port.

The HS5 Network switch is separately powered and has RayNet connections to the MFD (Port 5), Radar (port 1), SR150 (Port 2).


The I60 has v1.06 The ST6002 has version 5.00 the SPX30 version 300. I checked for updates online for the e7 and it was reported "up to date"


Could this issue be related to power on sequence and timing of data availability?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

John,

Q. Could this issue be related to power on sequence and timing of data availability?
A. Indeed, it may be. For this reason I had recommended that if the problem persisted, that the i60 Wind Instrument be disconnected from the ST-STng Converter's Spur Socket and that it instead be daisy chained to the ST60 Tridata instrument via an A06047 15.7in (0.4m) SeaTalk Adapter Cable or A06073 / 39.4in (1.0m) SeaTalk Adapter Cable.

It should also be noted that the autopilot's software is not current and may only be updated by interfacing the SPX-30 to the system as a SeaTalkng Spur so that it's software may be updated via the MFD. In doing so, the SPX30 would be disconnected from the SeaTalk bus which includes the instruments and would only be interfaced to the ST6002 via SeaTalk. The unpowered SeaTalk bus featuring the ST60 and i60 instruments would then be interfaced to the SeaTalk socket of the ST-STng Converter.

[Keel Joy]

Update on my I60.

Now I turn on the instrument and it is reading both apparent and true wind speed. After a short while the wind speed for both true and apparent start ticking down until both read 00.0. The wind pointer continues to operate but no wind speed is displayed.

[Keel Joy]

More

When I attempt to do a "factory reset" the following occurs:

Press and hold DISPLAY AND TRU/APP for 14 seconds
Unit displays dlr

Press simultaneously VMG and TACK upon release the display shows 00.0 not a UC 1

Consequently I can get no further with factory reset.

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Keel Joy,

Have you acted on the advice provided within my last response?

[Keel Joy]

No. As I am traveling I have not been able to obtain a SeaTalk Adapter Cable. Nor do I have a SeaTalkng cable to connect the SPX 30 to the mfd, which I am sure your aware requires hard wiring to the SPX 30 for the SeaTalking connection [censored] it is not a plug in cable connection.

Now, due in part to the I60s failure I have traveled over 150 miles from the Bahamas back to the states to resolve this issue. I do not wish to buy this cable or that cable if they are not possibly related to the fact the instrument will not enter factory reset mode. If either the lack of a SeaTalk Adapter cable or software update to the SPX 30 will prevent the I60 from entering factory reset please say so. If not it would appear that I need to send the instrument in for repair, no?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Q1. If either the lack of a SeaTalk Adapter cable or software update to the SPX 30 will prevent the I60 from entering factory reset please say so. If not it would appear that I need to send the instrument in for repair, no?
A1. The method of installation or software level would have no bearing upon the ability to execute a Factory Reset operation. If sending the i60 Wind in for service, it would be recommended that you ask that a SeaTalk to SeaTalkng Spur Adapter Cable be included with the i60 when it will be shipped back to you. This will then permit the i60 Wind instrument to be daisy chained to the SeaTalk bus in the manner which I had previously specified.