Autohelm st50 speed mixed with Seatalkng network

[windsurfer]

I have an old autohelm st50 speed display, which has the speed sensor/transducer connected to it. It uses a round version of the seatalk1 protocol. I want to connect this to my seatalkng backbone for the new autopilot I’m about to install.
there exists a flat seatalk1 to seatalkng connector for $20-30 on Amazon or west marine
However I need yet another adapter to go from seatalk1 round style to seatalk1 flat style. This connector cost some $65 on eBay. So that would be $90 just to connect this old thing to the new network, plus I might need a different backbone (not sure). Should I buy both of those? Or maybe just take apart the cable and splice them together?? Or some other suggestion?

oh I also have a Garmin mfd, so there is a nmea2k nearby and I want to connect this to the autopilot as well

Buying an itc5 transducer would be another $225

(note I also have a raymarine st60 wind which needs to talk to the boat speed so I don’t just have apparent wind).

 

[joker460]

I did something similar. See attached

 

[Ward H]

@joker460,
Did you connect ST50 instruments or ST50+ instruments?
Just curious, according to Raymarine Tech Support ST50 instruments will not work with the SeaTalk to Sea Talking converter. ST50+ will work. Be nice to know if they are wrong.

See the 2nd post in this link. Axiom 7 SeaTalkng

 

[joker460]

ST50s aren't officially supported by the seatalk1 to seatalkng converter but this is exactly the set-up I have. It's been working for several years now. If you have a ST4000 AP attached, the power usually goes from the AP to the ST50 instruments via the Seatalk cable (You'll have to confirm this). That connection has to be disconnected so that power for the ST50's is supplied by the Nmea2000 backbone through the converter. You can connect the black and yellow wires (Seatalk Cable), red wire cut, back to the AP so that information can get back to the AP. Hope that doesn't sound more complicated than it is. I get all my ST50's info on my CP.

 

[Ward H]

Very cool! Thanks.

 

[windsurfer]

ST50s aren't officially supported by the seatalk1 to seatalkng converter but this is exactly the set-up I have. It's been working for several years now. If you have a ST4000 AP attached, the power usually goes from the AP to the ST50 instruments via the Seatalk cable (You'll have to confirm this). That connection has to be disconnected so that power for the ST50's is supplied by the Nmea2000 backbone through the converter. You can connect the black and yellow wires (Seatalk Cable), red wire cut, back to the AP so that information can get back to the AP. Hope that doesn't sound more complicated than it is. I get all my ST50's info on my CP.

So you’re saying I have to have a nmea 2000 backbone connected to the seatalkng backbone to get the st50 info?

also, to be clear, I can cut theround 3 prong cable coming out of the st50 and the flat 3 prong cable from the converter set and splice the individual wires together? (But I should Not splice the red cable together)?

 

[joker460]

The backbone supplies power to the individual Nmea 2000 devices through a tap off the backbone. It also transfers information back and forth between the Nmea 2000 devices.

You get a cable with the converter that plugs into the converter. The other end of this cable has a rectangular female plug. That will not go into the ST50 instruments because they use a round connector.

See the attached picture, I quickly put this together.

I have not tried connecting the AP to the system yet but theoretically you could reuse the rectangular plug . Only the black and yellow wires would be connected to the junction box. This would allow communication from the system to the AP. You do this at your own risk!

You have to investigate how your existing system is connected and proceed from there.

PS: you can look at a MainSail Site: Raymarine SeaTalk 1 to SeaTalkng & NMEA 2000 - Marine How To

 

[Splendid Isolation]

The backbone supplies power to the individual Nmea 2000 devices through a tap off the backbone. It also transfers information back and forth between the Nmea 2000 devices.

You get a cable with the converter that plugs into the converter. The other end of this cable has a rectangular female plug. That will not go into the ST50 instruments because they use a round connector.

See the attached picture, I quickly put this together.View attachment 189363


I have not tried connecting the AP to the system yet but theoretically you could reuse the rectangular plug . Only the black and yellow wires would be connected to the junction box. This would allow communication from the system to the AP. You do this at your own risk!

You have to investigate how your existing system is connected and proceed from there.

PS: you can look at a MainSail Site: Raymarine SeaTalk 1 to SeaTalkng & NMEA 2000 - Marine How To

ST50s aren't officially supported by the seatalk1 to seatalkng converter but this is exactly the set-up I have. It's been working for several years now. If you have a ST4000 AP attached, the power usually goes from the AP to the ST50 instruments via the Seatalk cable (You'll have to confirm this). That connection has to be disconnected so that power for the ST50's is supplied by the Nmea2000 backbone through the converter. You can connect the black and yellow wires (Seatalk Cable), red wire cut, back to the AP so that information can get back to the AP. Hope that doesn't sound more complicated than it is. I get all my ST50's info on my CP.

The backbone supplies power to the individual Nmea 2000 devices through a tap off the backbone. It also transfers information back and forth between the Nmea 2000 devices.

You get a cable with the converter that plugs into the converter. The other end of this cable has a rectangular female plug. That will not go into the ST50 instruments because they use a round connector.

See the attached picture, I quickly put this together.View attachment 189363


I have not tried connecting the AP to the system yet but theoretically you could reuse the rectangular plug . Only the black and yellow wires would be connected to the junction box. This would allow communication from the system to the AP. You do this at your own risk!

You have to investigate how your existing system is connected and proceed from there.

PS: you can look at a MainSail Site: Raymarine SeaTalk 1 to SeaTalkng & NMEA 2000 - Marine How To

Hi Joker,

I also have the ST 4000 AP just like you, with the power going to it that then feeds my ST50 depth, speed and wind instruments.

But I don't have a NMEA 2000 network elsewhere on the boat and since I have all Raymarine electronics, I'm wondering if I need one. So, instead of disconnecting the AP from the other instruments, is it possible to route the AP data link to the converter, and then connect the next instrument in the chain to the converter as well?

If that's possible, I would then use the other available slot to feed data and power to my new Axiom+ chart plotter. Eventually, I could use the fourth slot to feed an AIS below, and then use a terminal at both ends.

So my chain would look like: Power > ST4000 AP > converter > ST50s and then a spur from the converter to Axiom+. Will that work?

Interested to hear what others think.

 

[JamesG161]

If you register you newest Raymarine item, then they will let you into their private message system.

They will answer all your question there. I know this for sure.
Jim...

 

[joker460]

Hi Joker,

I also have the ST 4000 AP just like you, with the power going to it that then feeds my ST50 depth, speed and wind instruments.

But I don't have a NMEA 2000 network elsewhere on the boat and since I have all Raymarine electronics, I'm wondering if I need one. So, instead of disconnecting the AP from the other instruments, is it possible to route the AP data link to the converter, and then connect the next instrument in the chain to the converter as well?

If that's possible, I would then use the other available slot to feed data and power to my new Axiom+ chart plotter. Eventually, I could use the fourth slot to feed an AIS below, and then use a terminal at both ends.

So my chain would look like: Power > ST4000 AP > converter > ST50s and then a spur from the converter to Axiom+. Will that work?

Interested to hear what others think.

I don't believe you can do it the way you want to. The converter power is supplied from the backbone through a power tap.

 

[Splendid Isolation]

Thanks Jim and Joker, I'll register on the RM forum and investigate further.

I did talk to a tech support person on the phone today who was very helpful. It seems like I might be able to do a variation of what I was thinking, but the Axiom+ needs its own power source from the control panel on my boat. That may have been why disconnecting the AP from the chain was the route others took in the first place, as I understand having two power sources on the backbone can cause issues.

RM also told me if you take the back off the ST4000, you can simply undo the 1/8" spade connectors from the round, 3-pin Seatalk 1 connector and run a cable from those spades to a D244 connector (Raymarine Seatalk Junction Box - D244), which would then allow you to plug in the flat, 3-pin Seatalk1 connector whose other end is the SeatalkNG yellow plug, which would then go into the converter.

But as I think about it and map it out, it occurs to me I can skip buying another $40 adapter and just cut the end off the flat, 3-pin Seatalk1 cable and splice it directly to the spade connectors on the AP, while keeping the spade connectors from the round 3-pin Seatalk1 cable that connects the AP to my other ST50s in place. I would just need to double up on the spade connectors on the posts inside the AP.

Like I said, I'll investigate further and report back.

 

[Splendid Isolation]

Hi Everyone,

So when I was at the boat this weekend, I was able to take the back off of my ST4000 AP, and I saw that there is a set of unused Seatalk pins. In the first pic, you can see the spade connectors on the back of the ST4000 that lead to the old round 3-pin Seatalk1 connector that feeds the ST50 depth finder, which is the next instrument down the line.

My Seatalk1 to SeatalkNG converter kit arrived today.

To get these instruments to feed data to my Axiom+ 9, I'm hoping I can just cut off the flat, three-pin female Seatalk1 connector that comes on the converter cable, splice spade connectors onto the black and yellow wires, and plug them into the unused Seatalk1 posts on the back of the ST4000.

I would then plug the yellow end of the converter cable into the yellow slot on the converter bus, and plug the white data cable from the Axiom+ 9 into one of the white slots, using terminals and blanks for the rest.

I will have dedicated power on a separate breaker to the Axiom+, in addition to the existing power that currently feeds the ST4000 and the rest of the ST50 instruments.

For those who have done this, does that seem like it will work without causing damage?

 

[Splendid Isolation]

Hi Everyone,

So when I was at the boat this weekend, I was able to take the back off of my ST4000 AP, and I saw that there is a set of unused Seatalk pins. In the first pic, you can see the spade connectors on the back of the ST4000 that lead to the old round 3-pin Seatalk1 connector that feeds the ST50 depth finder, which is the next instrument down the line.

My Seatalk1 to SeatalkNG converter kit arrived today.

To get these instruments to feed data to my Axiom+ 9, I'm hoping I can just cut off the flat, three-pin female Seatalk1 connector that comes on the converter cable, splice spade connectors onto the black and yellow wires, and plug them into the unused Seatalk1 posts on the back of the ST4000.

I would then plug the yellow end of the converter cable into the yellow slot on the converter bus, and plug the white data cable from the Axiom+ 9 into one of the white slots, using terminals and blanks for the rest.

I will have dedicated power on a separate breaker to the Axiom+, in addition to the existing power that currently feeds the ST4000 and the rest of the ST50 instruments.

For those who have done this, does that seem like it will work without causing damage?

Okay, replying to my own post here now that I have completed this project and much to my amazement... it worked!

All I did was cut the flat, three-pin connector off the converter cable that came with the converter kit, and then put 1/8" spade connectors on each wire (including what would be the black one, which was actually just an uninsulated neutral run.)

So, that meant I had a red, yellow and 'black' wire that I plugged into the available spades on the back of the ST4000. I then plugged the yellow SeatalkNG connector into the yellow slot on the converter.

Because even Seatalk 1 was a two-way protocol (or at least that's what I've read) and the existing instruments were linked to the ST4000 already, when I powered up the Axiom+ and went through the data sources wizard in the settings screen, it automatically pulled the wind, depth and speed data from the ST50 instruments, as well as heading and compass data from the ST4000. Now, they're overlayed on my chart screen, so I can see everything in one place.

I was actually pretty shocked by the plug-and-play nature of it. I'm amazed that Raymarine produced this conversion kit that makes what are 30-year-old instruments completely usable with a brand new chart plotter, without needing to buy and install new transducers or wind instruments at the masthead. At least for this install, it seems like a very smart and easy to use system. I've attached some pics that show a little bit more about what I did below.

One note and correction to my posts from above. I actually had a third dedicated power feed to the wind, speed and depth instruments, as well as a separate power feed to the ST4000. (So the ST4000 was not feeding power to the ST50s.) Of course, I also wired a (third) dedicated circuit for the Axiom+, complete with an RF ground for the "drain" wire to my engine's grounding point and the recommended inline fuse at the switch board.