Bill Kearney wrote:
What options exist to use a laptop in a boat that's got a Raymarine
E-80 setup?

I'd like to be able to do two things. One being pull a live GPS
signal for laptop nav software (Coastal Explorer). The other being
upload/download waypoints and routes to the E-80. I'd prefer to do
this with a minimum of cabling into the laptop. As in, one serial
port not several. The laptop doesn't have serial anyway so I'd be
using a keyspan adapter.

What bridges/interfaces should I consider using?

-Bill Kearney

You will need to pick up data-out, data-in and ground from the Raymarine
E-80 and connect respectively to pin 2, pin 3 and pin 5 on the 9-pin serial
plug. Raymarine used to use there own protocol, called Seatalk, not NMEA,
and a converter was necessary, but I don't know if that still applies. I
suspect that Coastal Explorer requires NMEA sentences.

Dennis.