seatalk network ?

[Mike244]

At the moment I am using a Raymarine C70 display that has the GPS receiver connected via. Seatalk. I have on order (maybe shipping soon) the ST 2000plus tiller pilot along with the wireless remote. The installation book for the C70 is less than clear on how to connect multiple seatalk devices to the display. It shows each device connected to some sort of splitter that leads to the seatalk port on the C70. Are they showing a simple junction block or is it a special Raymarine part?
I need to connect the GPS receiver, the tiller pilot and the remote control all to the Seatalk port on the C70.


I'm trying to make sure I have all the parts I need when the tiller pilot is shipped.


Thanks
Mike

[sailingdog]

Mike-

If you have multiple SeaTalk devices, you can simply daisy chain them.

You can also use a SeaTalk expansion block, which has THREE SeaTalk ports on it, and you can plug the C70 into it and then the Autopilot and GPS into it... It looks like this:

[Mike244]

Very cool!

thanks..

[sailingdog]

Glad to help.

[jbrockpiano]

The tiller pilot comes with a course computer that connects the raystar gps antenna and the tiller pilot to the C70 display. No additional hardware is needed. I have the C70 display, tiller pilot, depth sounder, radar and did not need to buy anything else to get it all working. Tiller pilot and depth sounder do need a dedicated fused circuit with on off switch. I agree that the instructions from Raymarine are fuzzy but I sure like how my set up works.
JB

[brak]

You may not even need the expansion block - SeaTalk usually has pass-thru capability and if any of your devices has more than one SeaTalk connector, you can chain other devices through that. SeaTalk is pretty convenient that way.

[chucklesR]

If you later want to connect to a PC you can add a Raymarine E85001 (150 bucks) which is an interface box that allows seatalk to talk directly over the network. Once a PC (laptop) is connected you have the option of using Raytech navigation software with your GPS.

The C70 series is a seatalk 1/NMEA 0183 device, Raymarine E series are Seatalk 2, NMEA 2000 compliant which has a whole world of other fun stuff.

My boat came with Raymarine autopilot (SmartPilot) and control head, plus tridata instruments (ST60) but I went with the Lowrance 5200c for my chartplotter for full NMEA 2000 compatibility (and price - didn't see a need for a 10 inch display).
Using the full networking abilities NMEA 2000 brings you can do fun stuff such as playing video directly on MFD, having a webcam pointed at your engine/bow/blindspot/bow etc.. all kind of nifty stuff becomes possible.

[Mike244]

Hmm..

Well, I guess I'll have some junctions and cables to ship back to defender if it comes with everything. I really still can't tell from the pdf manual I downloaded. Defender shipped the tiller pilot and wireless remote today so I should have my answer soon enough.

thanks again for the help

Mike

[Mike244]

Good thing I ordered those cable after all. The ST2000 Plus comes with nothing but a deck plug. On the other hand, the wireless remote came with a junction block and two cables.. Go figure..

Mike

[artbyjody]

One doesn't really need a seatalk junction box and most reputable Raymarine reps will actually try and talk you out of purchasing one.

A network interface box such as:



Is what I use. Simple to use - place anywhere, and re-wiring is a snap. that particular model I use to combine seatalk as well as NMEA. Its called a "Pass Thru Box" (TM) and I highly recommend it....