ContinuousWave
Whaler
Moderated Discussion Areas
ContinuousWave: Small Boat Electrical
Connecting SeaTalkng to NMEA-2000 backbone
search | FAQ |
profile | register | author help
|
|
ContinuousWave Whaler Moderated Discussion Areas
ContinuousWave: Small Boat Electrical
Connecting SeaTalkng to NMEA-2000 backbone
|
| Author | Topic: Connecting SeaTalkng to NMEA-2000 backbone |
| jimh |
posted 08-12-2009 10:28 PM ET (US)  
I am interested in hearing from anyone who has connected a Raymarine device which has a Raymarine SeaTalkng interface to a NMEA-2000 DeviceNet backbone. Raymarine has apparently re-branded NMEA-2000 with their own trade name, SeaTalkng (which apparently means next generation). I believe that the only difference between NMEA-2000 and SeaTalkng may be the configuration of the connector and assignment of circuit functions to different pins. The Raymarine SeaTalkng cabling uses T-connectors in which the backbone connectors are all the same gender. This means the T-connectors cannot be cascaded together and must be connected with short backbone cables or with an adaptor of the opposite gender. In NMEA-2000 standard wiring the T-Connnector are given a male gender and female gender backbone connector, so the T-Connectors can be cascaded together. |
| jimh |
posted 08-14-2009 12:21 AM ET (US)
I may install a NMEA-2000 network backbone in my small boat. The backbone will most likely use NMEA-2000 wiring and T-devices from Lowrance or Evinrude. As far as I can tell, I believe Evinrude uses Lowrance devices for their NMEA-2000 components. I also believe that LowranceNET is now on-board with the official NMEA wiring standard DeviceNet, or at least close enough to it that it can be interconnected with no problem. I also think that LowranceNET devices with the RED plastic are the newer more compatible style. (And just to make things interesting, the most recent packaging of LowranceNET devices had them all in BLACK plastic!) If this is all reasonably true, then: Should I want to connect a Raymarine SeaTalkng device to my small boat NMEA-2000 network, some sort of adaptor is needed. I am not clear on where the adaptor is employed. There seems to be two possibilities: ADAPTOR IN BACKBONE --OR-- ADAPTOR IN DROP CABLE
Part Number A06045 --and-- Part Number A06046 From close study of the illustration, it looks to me like the adaptor parts have the SeaTalkng connector which is used in the backbone. If that is correct, I would appreciate confirmation, or if not, correction. If my assessment is correct, it appears that to interconnect SeaTalkng to my DeviceNet backbone, one needs: 1--SeaTalkng T-Piece P/N A06028 I looked for some prices on these parts without finding a listing. I am afraid that buying them as parts is probably going to be expensive. I'd appreciate a pointer to where the prices (in US-dollars) might be listed. Also, it seems like a lot of extra nonsense to interconnect two products that are supposed to be compatible. I don't understand why Raymarine has gone their own way with their SeaTalkng devices instead of using the DeviceNet devices. |
| jimh |
posted 08-14-2009 01:19 AM ET (US)
I found some prices on the Raymarine cable parts on DEFENDER.COM: SeaTalkng To NEMA2000 Adaptor Cable Item #: 255562 SeaTalkng Spur Cables Item #: 256610 SeaTalkng T-Piece Connector Item #: 252366 I couldn't find the other NMEA-2000 to SeaTalkng adapter. It is probably about the same price. Let's add it up: $28.49 Wow--That is an expensive connection. I am tempted to just get the Spur cable, cut off its connector for the T-Piece, and splice it to another DeviceNet drop cable. |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-14-2009 04:05 AM ET (US)
Jim You are correct the new Lowrance backbones are in black (the equivalant of red) as I just bought one for my ETEC to Lowrance HDS-5 Whats not clear is if the SeaTalkng To NEMA2000 Adaptor Cable with the male conversion is a red/Lowrance black or a blue If red you can plug in to any spare T on your NMEA-2000 backbone If blue you may need an blue to red adaptor, I think Lowrance sell them The SeaTalkng T-Piece Connector with blue and grey socket for the SeaTalkng To NEMA2000 Adaptor Cable seems to confuse things more and may not be required Are you just using the SeaTalkng Spur Cables as an extention cable to your Raymarine device
|
| jimh |
posted 08-14-2009 08:21 AM ET (US)
The reference I am using for SeaTalkng is available on-line at: SeaTalkng Reference Manual |
| jimh |
posted 08-14-2009 10:26 PM ET (US)
Got some advice from Ben Ellison over at PANBO.COM that the best approach is to use a Raymarine A06045 adaptor cable as the drop cable from a DeviceNet T-device to a Raymarine SeaTalkng device. I will be giving that a try soon. UPDATE: This advice was wrong. See below--jimh |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-15-2009 01:40 PM ET (US)
Jim I had hoped that the Raymarine A06045 is all you need, but with a female end it will only plug in to the top of the back bone T , where an end terminator normally goes or the next T. Not sure if that will work and we are still not sure if it's red or blue, the manual (your ref) were all in blue. But at worst you should only need a 2 parts out of your original 4 ie the cable and maybe the converter female to male. Regards |
| jimh |
posted 08-16-2009 08:47 AM ET (US)
Steve--Thanks for the information on the adaptor not being quite right. Perhaps the other gender is better. That would be cable A06046, DeviceNet male adaptor cable. I will see if I can get my hands on both versions and try it out. Another approach to connecting a SeaTalkng to DeviceNet is to make yourself the necessary spur cable adaptor. Take a Raymarine spur cable and DeviceNet extension cable. Cut each of them in two. Strip the insulation back and and connect the wires to make an adaptor with a DeviceNet connector on the network end and a SeaTalkng connector on the instrument end. Raymarine sells a spur cable with a connector on one end and wire leads on the other: A06043 Lowrance sells a backbone extension cable that has the same connector on one end as the drop cable. By cutting off the other connector you could use this for the DeviceNet end of the home-made adaptor. N2KEXT-2RD |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-16-2009 02:11 PM ET (US)
Jim Had a quick look at http://www.jmsonline.net Seems Raymarine do both male and female cables and a pre striped one for SeaTalkng to NMEA-2000, sorry they don't post correct part numbers just do a search on SeaTalkng :) The site also lists Lowrance blue to red converter: & Here's the link to the new lowrance black/red network starter kit we spoke of earlier I'm sure with the correct male or female dropper and the lowrance converter (if required) no cutting/stripping will be required Regards |
| jimh |
posted 08-19-2009 09:35 AM ET (US)
With RAYMARINE using their own cable standard for their SeaTalkng wiring, there is a natural question: why go a different path than the NMEA-2000 wiring with DeviceNet connectors? One possible interpretation is that the SeaTalkng backbone cable uses smaller connectors. A SeaTalkng backbone cable will pass through a hole of 7/16-inch diameter. A DeviceNet backbone cable needs a hole that is at least 9/16-inch diameter. Wiring a vessel where the backbone cable has to pass through bulkheads and using SeaTalkng will result in smaller holes being used. On a relatively open and small boat, there is not too much difference, and the larger DeviceNet connector is probably not a problem. ASIDE: the proper spelling for Raymarine's product is actually SeaTalkng, but implementing the superscript is quite awkward when using plain text, so sometimes is is written SeaTalkNG. I also see it turned into an acronym STng. |
| jimh |
posted 08-20-2009 09:11 PM ET (US)
I could not easily obtain either of the Raymarine SeaTalkng to NMEA-2000 adaptor cables, so I made my own. I used a Raymarine SeaTalkng spur cable that terminated in bare wires and a DeviceNet drop cable. I cut off the connector at the device end of the drop cable and mated it to the SeaTalkng spur cable. I will report on how it works this weekend when I get a chance to try it out connecting a Raymarine A57D to my vessel's NMEA-2000 network wired with DeviceNet wiring accessories. I used a Raymarine spur cable PN A06043, SPUR TO STRIPPED END CABLE, 1M and connected it to a Lowrance DeviceNet cable. The connection was made on a color-to-color basis, as both cables used the standard wire insulation colors for NMEA-2000. |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-20-2009 09:26 PM ET (US)
Jim Me too, just got my NMEA-2000 network and Lowrance HDS-5 installed. Will be nice to see the ETEC data as I don't have any I-Command gauges installed currently with my 2006 200HO ETEC I take this solution was a bit cheaper than your original estimate I also hope, as I have just got my Yammaha 9.9hp finally connected up to a BRP dual control so I may have a spare 3 pin plug to make the engine data connector to my laptop using your wiring plan Regards |
| jimh |
posted 08-23-2009 01:16 PM ET (US)
We now have a consensus (of three opinions) that the proper adapator cable to connect a SeaTalkng device to a NMEA-2000 backbone using DeviceNet is the Raymarine accessory:
|
| jimh |
posted 08-23-2009 04:19 PM ET (US)
I finally got a chance to try out my home brew adaptor cable: it worked. I was able to connect a Raymarine SeaTalkng interface to my vessel NMEA-2000 backbone wired with DeviceNet connectors. The Raymarine SeaTalkng interface was on an A57D GPS, chart plotter, and SONAR combination instrument. I verified that the A57D can read engine data from an E-TEC engine. Here is a screen shot of the engine data:
I created this particular screen display using the features of the A57D which allow the user to customize page displays. It is a good thing I am not trying to earn a living doing this, because an unbelievable number of hours went into getting that little graphic going! |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-23-2009 04:34 PM ET (US)
Congrats I went to upload the 300mb update and try out my new Lowrance HDS-5 but was still in the workshop I hope my engine data display is easier to get than that :) although I wont get trim currently. I also linked a thread from ETECowners page to here as someone else was trying to get his E series Raymarine to talk to the NMEA2000 network. Your findings should assist him Regards |
| jimh |
posted 08-23-2009 06:13 PM ET (US)
Steve--The TRIM reading was something of a surprise. I have read about some special wiring needed to be done to implement the TRIM function on the digital network. I did not do any of that. I do, however, have a conventional trim gauge rigged up to the E-TEC and working. This probably supplied the required voltage input that is being sensed in the E-TEC's EMM and sent on the network as TRIM data. I believe there is a procedure for calibration of the TRIM in the E-TEC diagnostic software, but I have not looked further into that process. |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-24-2009 05:39 AM ET (US)
Jim My understanding was you need the newer wiring harness connected to the newer style engine control for the trim function to work. I presume you used you old rigging with the new engine I also have a conventional trim gauge rigged, old harness and no I-command guages (yet) Will be intresting if like you the old gauge makes it works on the network. Yes the trim needs calibrating via the laptop using the E-TEC diagnostic software, not sure if only the dealers registered version of the software enables this function Regards |
| jimh |
posted 08-25-2009 08:54 PM ET (US)
Steve--Your I-Command gauge should show the TRIM position. The conventional analogue gauge supplies the voltage needed. If there were no analogue gauge, you would need the special wiring harness. It has a 47-ohm resistor pulling the trim sensor line to 12-volts. Your analogue TRIM gauge has that same resistor. |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-26-2009 11:12 AM ET (US)
Jim, Thanks, I managed to finally switch on the unit today. Lot's to play with I did not get any engine data, I'm not sure if the network is run correct/a terminator missing on a tee or because I have no I-command guages I have not got the network power hooked up I thought you should be able to run the Lowrance HDS-5 with it's seperate power and no additional power in the network, maybe the HDS-5 or the ETEC needs it. Going down tonight when it's cooler to check it out Regards |
| SJUAE |
posted 08-28-2009 03:14 PM ET (US)
Success found the ETEC now I have connected the power module on the network. Just got to sus the engine info page now and a zillion other settings Jim you were correct the trim shows/works when you have the analogue gauge fitted Regards |
| jimh |
posted 04-06-2010 05:42 PM ET (US)
Following up on this topic from last season: I would like to hear from anyone who used a DeviceNet male adaptor cable to connect a SeaTalkng device to a NMEA-2000 network. |
| doobee |
posted 10-12-2010 08:21 PM ET (US)
Just happened across this thread when I was googling parts to build a Seatalk NG network. I made an attempt to network an Airmar DST800 smart transducer to a Seatalk NG network using the asapter cable. The installation was on a non Whaler with an ST70 multifunction display. The result was a total failure. After hours of troubleshooting the only solution that worked was to replace the DST 800 with the Seatalk NG equivalent. I'm glad to see that you got yours to work. |
| |
Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Freeware Version 2000
Purchase our Licensed Version- which adds many more features!
© Infopop Corporation (formerly Madrona Park, Inc.), 1998 - 2000.
