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

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.

On 2006-02-25 04:48:35 +1100, "Dennis Pogson"
said:

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.

Good to see your still alive and kicking Dennis. The current crop of
raymarine C and E series displays support both NMEA and Seatalk. The E
series also supports Seatalk HS the CAN bus variant. That is the only
difference between the DSM250 and DSM300 fishfinder is the Seatalk HS
i/f.

--
Regards,
John D Proctor

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.

Right, Coastal Explorer uses NMEA. The question is what're the options on
getting NMEA in/out of a Raymarine setup and what's better about each? I
can, of course, just go with an NMEA serial right out the back. Actually, I
can't in this boat's setup as that port's already taken. So I have to get
it from somewhere else. Either throught a Seatalk, hs, hs2 or high-speed
port. And then out of there as either serial or usb.

So whose bridge works best (and whose should I avoid)?

what's a bridge? I'm interested in all this stuff, but have no
experience in it. I just bought a Ray marine, wind/speed/depth combo,
but I think I made a mistake. It doesn't do NMEA without another
Raymarine gadget, costs $160. I'd like to be able to use my Gps,
(Garmin) depth, and a DSC VHF. What a mess this all appears to be! I
also imagine that NMEA sentences don't just "do" something on a laptop
without some software. Can anyone tell me if this is correct?
Bill Kearney wrote:
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.

Right, Coastal Explorer uses NMEA. The question is what're the options on
getting NMEA in/out of a Raymarine setup and what's better about each? I
can, of course, just go with an NMEA serial right out the back. Actually, I
can't in this boat's setup as that port's already taken. So I have to get
it from somewhere else. Either throught a Seatalk, hs, hs2 or high-speed
port. And then out of there as either serial or usb.

So whose bridge works best (and whose should I avoid)?

"luc" wrote in message
ups.com...
what's a bridge? I'm interested in all this stuff, but have no
experience in it.

The bridge in this case is a protocol converter that converts the Seatalk
protocol from Raymarine into NMEA and vice-versa. Navigation software uses
NMEA because it is "the" universal standard.

I just bought a Ray marine, wind/speed/depth combo,
but I think I made a mistake. It doesn't do NMEA without another
Raymarine gadget, costs $160. I'd like to be able to use my Gps,
(Garmin) depth, and a DSC VHF. What a mess this all appears to be! I
also imagine that NMEA sentences don't just "do" something on a laptop
without some software. Can anyone tell me if this is correct?

You need indeed a "bridge" to convert Seatalk into NMEA. And NMEA sentences
don't "do" something on your laptop, it is just sentences that contain data
from your instruments. You need software to make this info into something
meaningful, like displaying your position on a chart and displaying the info
of the other instruments.

Meindert
www.shipmodul.com

You need indeed a "bridge" to convert Seatalk into NMEA.

So whose bridges are worth considering? Raymarine makes their own, of
course, but there are others. Anyone have experience with them?

-Bill Kearney

"Bill Kearney" wrote in message
t...
You need indeed a "bridge" to convert Seatalk into NMEA.

So whose bridges are worth considering? Raymarine makes their own, of
course, but there are others. Anyone have experience with them?

Raymarine makes i'ts own indeed, but this one crashed when you feed it too
much data. Also the GPS data conversion to NMEA sometimes produces erroneous
positions, 200-2000 miles off.

Then there are a few NMEA multiplexers on the market that offer Seatalk to
NMEA translation (one way): Brookhouse and ShipModul. I only know the latter
best, since I make them :-)
And if you need a reference, we also produce multiplexers for Raymarine :-)

www.brookhouseonline.com
www.shipmodul.com

Meindert

Thanks for that answer Meindert. It is as I suspected, and I am
somewhat annoyed that the RayMarine gadgetry doesn't automatically talk

NMEA. to other components. I thought the entire reason for NMEA
standard is to have different brand components communicating.
Raymarine has ignored that.

My Garmin has wiring that says "DSC". Can I assume that it will work
just by wiring it into my ICom VHF?

This stuff is fascinating, but it doesn't seem like there's much
information available about it. Do you know of any books on this
subject?

thanks

Luc

Thanks for that answer Meindert. It is as I suspected, and I am
somewhat annoyed that the RayMarine gadgetry doesn't automatically talk

NMEA. to other components. I thought the entire reason for NMEA
standard is to have different brand components communicating.
Raymarine has ignored that.

To say it that way indicates a level of ignorance about the issues involved.
Raymarine certainly didn't "ignore" anything. For what they wanted their
devices to do they chose to use something better suited than just plain
NMEA.

If you bought stuff that doesn't do what you want, then who's to blame here?

My Garmin has wiring that says "DSC". Can I assume that it will work
just by wiring it into my ICom VHF?

Start by asking ICOM. They'd certainly be a position to know.

This stuff is fascinating, but it doesn't seem like there's much
information available about it. Do you know of any books on this
subject?

The market for nav equipment is considerably smaller than other technology
products. As such there's not much written up about it.