Connecting Si-Tex Sp-70 Autopilot to E97

[efontana]

Hi, my new (used) Tiara came with an E97 MFD and a Si-Tex Sp-70 autopilot, I understand these can be connected together via NMEA.

My questions are:

1. Where do I get this cable?
2. What will it do for me? Will the Waypoints I enter be sent to the Autopilot so it follows them?

Thanks.

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum efontana,

The e97 MFD's Power/NMEA 0183/Video Input Cable features two sets of NMEA 0183 input leads and one pair of NMEA 0183 output leads (yellow (NMEA 0183 OUT1+) & brown (NMEA 0183 OUT1-)). Should the autopilot support 4800 BAUD NMEA 0183 v2.1 or higher communications protocol, then latter set of leads may be interfaced to the corresponding NMEA 0183 input terminals of autopilot (see page 39 of the Si-Tex Sp-70 autopilot's installation guide). Should the MFD's NMEA 0183 leads need to be extended, then it is recommended that commonly available marine grade twisted pair signal cable be used for this purpose. Should the MFD Chart application be commanded to Go To Cursor / Waypoint or to Follow Route, then this action will trigger the MFD to transmit NMEA 0183 navigational sentences via its aforementioned NMEA 0183 output leads. Should the autopilot support tracking based upon receiving such data, then the autopilot may be commanded to into Track mode to cause the autopilot to stee to the waypoint or position indicated by the Chart application's cursor position.

[efontana]

Part 2: My current output leads feed into the Standard Horizon GX2150 to supply
GPS to the Radio, do I have to choose to use the 1 output for the Radio or for the Autopilot? Is there some sort of splitter?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

efontana,

NMEA 0183 communications requires two leads, a signal lead (NMEA OUT+) and a reference lead (NMEA OUT-). The NMEA 0183 output of Raymarine products may be paralleled to supply data to up to three NMEA 0183 listeners. Should the product's NMEA 0183 output need to be supplied to more than three NMEA 0183 listeners, then a NMEA 0183 Expander would need to be installed. Such paralleling is typically accomplished by connecting the MFD's NMEA 0183 OUT+ and OUT- leads to a terminal strip. The corresponding NMEA 0183 IN+ and IN- leads of the NMEA 0183 listeners would then also be connected to the terminal strip. When properly installed, a closed circuit would be formed between the MFD's NMEA 0183 OUT+ lead of the MFD and the NMEA 0183 IN+ leads of the NMEA 0183 listeners. Additionally, and when properly installed, a closed circuit would be formed between the MFD's NMEA 0183 OUT- lead of the MFD and the NMEA 0183 IN- leads of the NMEA 0183 listeners. Each NMEA 0183 listener and the MFD must be configured to support the same communications BAUD rate (i.e. 4800 or 38400).