Raymarine electronics

[Wayne162]

Hey ya'll,
Getting ready to tackle electronics on the 405 and looking for any input from the forum as I am not trying to re-invent the wheel so here goes......

My boat came equipped with 2 E-series Raymarine 120 MFD's, a Raystar 125 GPS receiver, Raydome scanner (radar) and sat-dome. The E-series MFD's work and have a navionics chart card, and talk to the scanner and GPS but that's about it. I installed a transducer and fairing block last year while on the hard but have not wired it to the Fishfinder DSM 300 yet. As a novice, I did have (2) DSM 300's until a broker involved in my purchase took advantage of my inexperience at the time and one left the boat following sea trials but that's another story! I have not opened the helm to have a look at the wiring as I wanted to prepare myself for what I may find, that time has come and will be addressed in the coming weeks. I do not know if their is a sea talk switch aboard at this time.

My question is, can the MFD's recognize the GPS and scanner without a sea talk switch? Secondly, does anyone know if and how to update the chart card that came with the MFD's?

[bud37]

Heh there, just spent some time myself searching around for roughly the same as you.....cant answer the sea talk issue, but go to the raymarine website and you can upgrade your mfd, which I could not do as I could not connect it to laptop.....marina has interface ( they are ray marine dealer ) and can do it for me. Also the chart is navionics and much the same story....cant fit in the port on the laptop or I could update.

Bet there are others out there that are waaaayyy smarter than me when it comes to this techy stuff...I will watch with interest....

[Wayne162]

Hi Bud37,
I have to figure if Raymarine charges for the update or a dealer to do it, or if its cheaper to buy a card reader on line and do it myself. Thanks

[km1125]

I don't have 120's, but I have the Raymarine 435's. To do any software update you just download the sw from the Raymarine site and put it on a CF card, then plug that CF card into the plotter and turn it on.

Your Navionics may or may not be upgradeable. Mine aren't because they are older cards. You can check the Navionics site for more details. Most of the old Navionics cards were a custom configuration, so if you plugged them into a PC and did ANY write operation to the card, it would destroy the card for use as a chart card. You had to buy a special adapter if you wanted to write files (like waypoints) to the card from a PC.

[Wayne162]

Thanks km1125,
I'll check the site to see what I can find.

[Helmsman]

Wayne, I installed a new eS127, radar, autopilot, radio, RS130, and I70 last fall. Everything has worked well, though the mapping for it took me awhile. I developed a wiring map and posted it on the Raymarine message board. The moderator pointed out the one incorrect placement and I went from there.

The only issue I have struggled a little with is the autopilot calibration. I think it has to do with where I put the heading sensor which was under the same seat back you referenced. It doesn't like all the mechanicals in there. So, my next move is to move that to the front dash after I figure out how to get a wire up there from the rest of the autopilot.

[Helmsman]

Here are links to a discussion on interfacing an old gps to a new mfd.
http://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.p ... to+network
http://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.p ... to+network


Also, navionics supports update through the warranty period. I am not sure what the process is after that though I am pretty sure you just subscribe fo another year of support.

[Wayne162]

Thanks Nharrison5,
Got a look at what I have now. I do have sea talk, not sure about the connectivity as the wiring will be gone over. Have my E-120 card so I will be looking at Raymarine for updates too. Attached are a couple of photo's behind the panel.

I am also looking for a schematic for a 405 that anybody may have of duct work channels for wiring. I have to run a cable from a transducer mounted aft of the starboard engine to the bridge, and looking for the easiest path of least resistance.

[Wayne162]

I also have an unused Raymarine NMEA 0183 Multiplexer. I know its used to connect data equipment but not sure how. My 405 as I said has a minimally used Seatalk attached to a makeshift wooden cabinet with the Multiplexer mounted next to it. Do they perform the same operation hence why the multiplexer is not wired? Doesn't make sense that they would both be mounted next to each other if they did perform the same similar task? Any guidance appreciated.

[Helmsman]

Wayne, here is what I would do. Raymarine has an active forum. The moderator Chuck will typically provide very clear answers on questions like the last one posted. He is an excellent resource for you. Since I got rid of everything and replaced them, I started with the latest technology. So I don't have much info on wiring two generations together. There are some excellent threads on that very subject there, though. Hope that helps!