Autohelm 7000 interface questions

Status
Not open for further replies.

Persy

.
Dec 22, 2004
192
Hunter 42 Madisonville
I just purchased a Hunter 420 Passage with an Autohelm 7000 & ST60 wind, depth, & speed. I have a laptop with Capn Nav software and want as cheap as possible GPS that will interface with both my laptop and seatalk with the Autohelm. Will only Raymarine GPS units 'seatalk' with the autohelm? Thanks!
 

Persy

.
Dec 22, 2004
192
Hunter 42 Madisonville
I just purchased a Hunter 420 Passage with an Autohelm 7000 & ST60 wind, depth, & speed. I have a laptop with Capn Nav software and want as cheap as possible GPS that will interface with both my laptop and seatalk with the Autohelm. Will only Raymarine GPS units 'seatalk' with the autohelm? Thanks!
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,929
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Guy, I'm not sure what you mean by cheap...

I have a ten year old Garmin 38 handheld that interfaces with our ST6000 head and ST7000 course computer and linear drive motor. I just installed a Garmin 178C which also interfaces. I plan to use the 178C for primary track and the 38 for backup. Both share the ST6000 head NMEA socket; only one working at a time. One important consideration. The red (+) wire connects to the GPS data in and the blue (-) wire must connect to GPS ground (the manual says GPS data out), otherwise, it will not work. Took me the longest time to work out the bugs, with Raymarine technical assistance that is. The 178C is really slick. I purchased the 32MB data card (half the size of a match book), which will hold two chart regions. At the present time I'm using only one region, which includes 150 charts, all on the data card. This way I don't have to pack around a laptop. All the charts that I need for my cruising grounds are at my finger tips. Plus it has all the tide tables built in. Terry
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,929
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Guy, I'm not sure what you mean by cheap...

I have a ten year old Garmin 38 handheld that interfaces with our ST6000 head and ST7000 course computer and linear drive motor. I just installed a Garmin 178C which also interfaces. I plan to use the 178C for primary track and the 38 for backup. Both share the ST6000 head NMEA socket; only one working at a time. One important consideration. The red (+) wire connects to the GPS data in and the blue (-) wire must connect to GPS ground (the manual says GPS data out), otherwise, it will not work. Took me the longest time to work out the bugs, with Raymarine technical assistance that is. The 178C is really slick. I purchased the 32MB data card (half the size of a match book), which will hold two chart regions. At the present time I'm using only one region, which includes 150 charts, all on the data card. This way I don't have to pack around a laptop. All the charts that I need for my cruising grounds are at my finger tips. Plus it has all the tide tables built in. Terry
 
E

Eli Rothbart

NMEA data connector for ST6000 needed

I am looking for 2 pin NMEA connector matching one on the back side of Autohelm ST6000control head. Anyidea where to look? elI@asucon.com
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,929
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Eli, I ordered mine from RayMarine...

It did not cost that much, under $20 I think. Also try Ebay. There are several dealers that sell quality marine cables. Terry
 
Dec 5, 2003
204
Hunter 420 Punta Gorda, FL
Raymarine/Autohelm Course Computer

Guy, Your AH7000 will have a 100/300 course computer that interfaces with the control head,fluxgate compass, rudder indicator and the autopilot drive. The course computer will have NMEA in and out terminals. You can use these with any NMEA GPS. If you wish to connect your laptop to the seatalk bus, you will need a NMEA Bridge (D153) or (Z270) which can convert NMEA/Seatalk. You could alternatively route the GPS out to the PC in and the PC out to the autopilot. This can save using the D153 multiplexer. You would need a switch to short the gps to the autopilot incase the PC is not being used. On my boat I have the NMEA bridge and can steer the boat via the PC or a chartplotter. Bill
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,929
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Bill, it depends on which model he has...

Our ST7000 course computer does not have a direct NMEA interface port. This was confirmed by the owner's manual, a visual inspection, as well as Raymarine technical support. Some later models do. The ST6000 head is the only place on ours that has the NMEA socket. Eli will need to verify with Raymarine that his model course computer has the terminal interface. Terry
 
Status
Not open for further replies.