raymarine gps receiver to usb? also raytech rns autopilot control

[luvitt]

I dont know the model number off hand, but is it possible to connect this to my laptop with some adapter? I did a brief google search but couldnt find anything. Im probably not phrasing my search terms correct. I also have a garmin receiver.

I built a 19" monitor into my nav station and have a mini pc (p4) hidden in a compartment and a wireless keyboard. I want to run raytech rns or Seaclear or something like that, but need to get my receiver hooked up.

Also, I read something saying that raytech rns could control my autopilot. I have the autopilot itself, the fluxgate compass, but I sold the course computer. Will my pc and these components be all that i require?

I plan on buying a display for the cockpit and tying it all together.

Thanks

 

[paulj]

Try this.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|344|302025|320651&id=989320

 

[sailingdog]

I dont know the model number off hand, but is it possible to connect this to my laptop with some adapter? I did a brief google search but couldnt find anything. Im probably not phrasing my search terms correct. I also have a garmin receiver.

I built a 19" monitor into my nav station and have a mini pc (p4) hidden in a compartment and a wireless keyboard. I want to run raytech rns or Seaclear or something like that, but need to get my receiver hooked up.

You can use any USB-to-Serial adapter to feed the NMEA 0183 signal from the GPS into the computer, like this Belkin one over at mwave.com

Also, I read something saying that raytech rns could control my autopilot. I have the autopilot itself, the fluxgate compass, but I sold the course computer. Will my pc and these components be all that i require?

I plan on buying a display for the cockpit and tying it all together.

Thanks

Don't believe you can control the autopilot without a course computer, regardless of what software you're running. The course computer is what would normally take the NMEA input from the GPS, but you've gotten rid of it.

 

[luvitt]

yeah, but the connector on the end of the raymarine gps receiver isnt either one of these kinds of connections. its certainly some proprietary connector that wont mate up with serial or usb. Im trying to plug the gps receiver directly to my pc. is there some connector that accomplishes this?

 

[Bob S]

Why don't you ask Raymarine, there online help is pretty good and if you can't find an answer they usually email one back within 24 hours.

http://www.raymarine.com/

 

[luvitt]

cool, thanks

 

[Bill Roosa]

SeaTalk or NMEA

The plug on the back of the GPS is a SeaTalk port (+12 volts, ground, and data). You cannot generally use this on a computer unless you have some SeaTalk to IEEE converter software. SeaTalk is a standard IEEE interface but has an undocumented data format. The data stream is text (octal I think) and the "words" are Raymarine unique.
The GPS power cord has the NMEA data (+ 5 in, + 5 out, - 5 in, and - 5 out) wires which most plotter software can read through the serial port or USB. check you plotter software on for the following, does it support you GPS model, does it allow you to pick the com port that it talks over. This can give you some cabling options but you are still going to have to create a cable that takes the GPS info into a serial or USB port connector. This is not as hard as you might think and all the parts are available at Radio shack.

 

[sailingdog]

It would help if the OP said which of the Raymarine GPS receivers he has. Several output NMEA 0183 data directly, and as such would work with the setup I indicated. Others are SeaTalk only. IIRC, the RayStar 125 is an NMEA 0183 output GPS unit.

Bill—

IIRC, Seatalk is a standard RS-232 signal, but the sentence structure is different from that of NMEA, so it isn't compatible. Some PC software can interpret Seatalk just fine, provided the connections are done properly.

The plug on the back of the GPS is a SeaTalk port (+12 volts, ground, and data). You cannot generally use this on a computer unless you have some SeaTalk to IEEE converter software. SeaTalk is a standard IEEE interface but has an undocumented data format. The data stream is text (octal I think) and the "words" are Raymarine unique.
The GPS power cord has the NMEA data (+ 5 in, + 5 out, - 5 in, and - 5 out) wires which most plotter software can read through the serial port or USB. check you plotter software on for the following, does it support you GPS model, does it allow you to pick the com port that it talks over. This can give you some cabling options but you are still going to have to create a cable that takes the GPS info into a serial or USB port connector. This is not as hard as you might think and all the parts are available at Radio shack.

 

[Bill Roosa]

RS-232 is an IEEE interface

Hi saildog
both seatalk and MNEA are IEEE interfaces. Both are RS-232 as demonstrated by their ability to be read by an IEEE port called your serial port. Seatalk uses a serial buss implementation verses the MNEA master slave implementation.
With all the different interfaces out there to keep us from connecting our GPSes to stuff it is the computer plotter software that will control the cabling. IF the software supports his GPS protocol then all that needs to be done is define which port is being used to transmit the data. Some software assume a USB and you can't redirect to the serial port so you have to figure out which way the software wants to work and go with the flow.

 

[Rick]

Brobins here is another thought. I got the Garmin GPS 18 USB receiver to use with my laptop. It gives me a backup/comparison to my ondeck chartplotter. Comes with the software, not too pricey. To make it work with seaclear II, all you have to do is download Spanner (freeware from Garmin) which is a program that will allow your GPS to talk to a COM port on Seaclear. Have been very happy with it. Cant remember what I paid... which means it wasnt too bad. It will be seperate from any HSB or Seatalk you have. I havent heard of anything on laptop that will control autopilot.

Cheers

 

[Stu Jackson]

Comparison question

BIt gives me a backup/comparison to my ondeck chartplotter.

Rick, have you ever found yourself in a situation where the two conflicted causing more confusion than perhaps was necessary, or do they jibe consistently? Inquiring minds... Some of the navigation texts warm that sometimes too much information is a bit dangerous.

 

[Rick]

Stu, to answer you question... no I havent. Keep in mind that my cruising grounds are from the Channel Islands down to Ensenada Mehico so that makes us mostly coastal. The thing I like is I keep my laptop charts from NOAA current so they are "chummed" where as my C Map chip in my Raymarine chartplotter is only updated every other year. I launched recently out of Mission Bay in about 50 feet of vis... rounded the corner and set a course for Avalon 'bout 65 miles away. It was comforting to go down below and compare the two. Both were within 2 degrees and 5 minutes of arrival time. I keep a handheld in the "grab and go" just in case the two systems are casting different votes about where we are going We dont plot on the chart anymore. Just been there too many times. I hear several now use cell phones for backup also. Nice idea.

Cheers

 

[luvitt]

i have 2 gps receivers. one happens to be the Raystar 125, and the other is a Garmin--not sure of the model until i go to the boat.

 

[Steve Dion]

Probably you will need a USB-Serial converter (as some others have stated above). Then you will need to put a Raymarine E85001 in the loop the covert the NMEA to Seatalk or vise versa. These units are about $125.00 (sometimes available on ebay).

 

[sailingdog]

...Then you will need to put a Raymarine E85001 in the loop the covert the NMEA to Seatalk or vise versa. These units are about $125.00 (sometimes available on ebay).

Again, not necessary if the GPS outputs NMEA 0183, which several Raymarine models do.

 

[Seattle Scott]

I use something like this http://www.adorama.com/GPGG18UDP.html?emailquote=Y&sid=1235512173264185 on my laptop. Gets a signal in the cabin when hung by the window. The computer powers the gsp puck so you don't need the expensive power cords when running a handheld GPS to a lap top or battaries for the GPS.

 

[luvitt]

I emailed Raymarine to ask them the question. basically my goal is to have a pc based system. i am running raytech rns 6.1. I dont quite believe the answer they gave me. I understand that the autopilot wouldnt work, but the gps should and possible the transducers.

this was my question to them:

"I have several raymarine transducers and equipment but no raymarine displays. I have other brand instruments on board as well. I recently purchased the vessel and there are random pieces of equipment on board that dont constitute a complete functioning system. I am considering displaying the data from the Raymarine products at my navstation in the cabin. I have a built in pc & 19" flat panel at the nav station for Raytech RNS or similar software. My Raymarine products consist of: S3g Corepack autopilot with 2s linear drive, Wind xducer, Depth xducer, Speed/Temp xducer, & Raystar 125 Gps Receiver. Will your product "PC-SeaTalk-NMEA Interface Box" allow me to use these instruments with Raytech RNS or similar software w/o a Raymarine Display? Or do i require another piece of the "network" to enable this function? if so, what product?"

Their response:

"Unfortunately, it is not possible to connect the transducers to anything other than instrument display heads. Likewise, the S3G corepack requires a Raymarine SeaTalk Autopilot Control Head to to function. Once these instrument and autopilot display heads are installed and interfaced to the SeaTalk bus along with the corepack, the PC/SeaTalk/NMEA Interface Module may be interfaced to the SeaTalk bus, permitting the PC running RayTech software to interface with these products."

I dont think i would even need that 'nmea interface box' if the instrument output nmea as well as seatalk.

my goal is not spend any more $$ than i have to, b/c i am broke. I have mini outdoor screens that i can mount in the cockpit and display Raytech. I have wireless keypads that will control the software.

whats your thoughts?

thanks

 

[Phantomsailor]

brobins75,

Lets break this up and address this piece by piece.

1) The RS125 will output NMEA 0183 if the RS125 GPS is version 2.3 or later. I don't know how to tell the version but if your RS125 is reasonably new then it is probably v2.3
2) The RS125 will output Seatalk too. The choice between SeaTalk & NMEA is done by wiring the output cable for either mode. The wiring choices are described here: http://www.raymarine.com/GetFile.aspx?fileId=783&categoryId=3
3) Raymarine instrument transducers are designed to work with the corresponding Raymarine instruments. The transducers are powered by the instrument head, and the output from the transducer is in a form only understood by the instrument head. For example, the speed transducer outputs a series of contact closures (two per paddle wheel revolution). The Speed instrument processes these contact closures to produce the speed display. The temp function is a variable resistance and the instrument head reads that resistance to determine the temp. The instrument head then manufactures the SeaTalk sentence from the interpreted transducer signals. The signals from the transducers are just that; signals, not data.
4) Raymarine autopilots require a control head be wired to the corepack to function.

What to do:

1) If you have v2.3 of the RS125, wire the output of the RS125 as shown in the picture. You can make the rs232/db9 cable yourself, you don't have to buy the Raymarine cable. Connect the yellow wire to pin 2 of the db9, and connect the ground or screen to pin 5 of the DB9. That's it, only 2 connections required.

2) You didn't mention if you had any serial ports on your mini computer but if you do, plug the db9 into an available serial port.
3) If you don't have a serial port, you'll have to obtain a USB to serial adapter. There are several brands but I have had the best luck with the Keyspan 19HS serial to USB adapter. Install the Keyspan drivers, plug the DB9 into the adapter, and insert the adapters USB plug into an available USB port.
4) Use Device Manager on your PC to determine the com port the Keyspan adapter is emulating. The com port should be listed under "Ports (COM & LPT) within Device Manager.
5) Once you know the com port, start your charting program and configure it to use the corresponding com port. Set the com port for 4800 baud, 8 none & 1.
6) Your charting program should start displaying position data.

If you have an older RS125 that does not output NMEA 0183, then the ballgame changes. You WILL need the E85001 Raymarine SeaTallk to NMEA convertor box.

1) Bring the RS 125 cable to the E85001 Box. If there are no other Seatalk instruments you will have to supply +12V DC to the 85001 box as shown.

2) You can make the serial cable for your PC. Same as above.

3) Connect the serial cable to your PC as above.

Hope this helps.

 

[luvitt]

Sweet. thanks a bunch. that looked like a lot of work for you!

 

[Phantomsailor]

Nah, not a lot of work. Been through getting different manufacturer's equipment to talk to each other and it is anything but plug & play. Don't ask me how I know this stuff.