Seatalk failure

Mkfcdl · #1 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005

I''m having some problems with my Raymarine electronics and would like to see if anyone else has had a similar problem.

I have all Raymarine stuff, ST60, ST6000 autopilot, dual chartplotter/radar, smart heading sensor. The smart heading sensor was a recent add-in and worked well when first installed this past spring. I was away for most of the summer and came back to signal errors. The first thing that happened was the system kept dropping the GPS fix after just a few seconds. Then, despite having tracking off, tracks would appear on the screen. Next, the heading (when the GPS could get a fix for a few seconds) would be 180 degrees opposite the boat''s actual heading (I did calibrate the compass after installing the smart heading sensor). Next, the autopilot wouldn''t engage and displayed "Seatalk failure" and the ST60 knotmeter spontaneously changed from knots to km/hr and after resetting to knots it again spontaneously switched back to km/hr after about 30 minutes.

I didn''t have an opportunity to check everything out yesterday and it will be a couple of days before I can do so. But someone suggested to me that maybe I don''t have enough power getting to all the Seatalk units and should add another 12v power cable. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

kimberlite · #2 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005

Hi,
i believe you are supposed to have no more than 5 instruments hooked into the seatalk bus, beyond that you are supposed to add a second 12Volt hookup. Have yopu tried taking one instrument out after another to see if you have an eratic instrument that is bringing the seatalk bus down?
all you need is one longer seatalk cable.
do you have a 300 type autopilot?
fair winds,
eric

Mkfcdl · #3 (**permalink**) 09-20-2005

Eric:

Thanks for the suggestions. I''m planning to go over this evening and double check the voltage supply as a first step. I''m just hoping it''s as simple as adding more power.

Mark