GPS Antenna

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Wandering Star

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I've just bought a used Raymarine E80 on eBay. I'm trying to source a Raystar 125 antenna but someone's mentioned I can use absolutely any GPS antenna provided it has NMEA output - so Garmin, Furuno or anything else I can find.

Is it as simple as that? Anything I need to know about? The Chartplotter will be used in standalone mode although I'll probably want to add an AIS receiver at a future date.
 
Wandering Star said:
I've just bought a used Raymarine E80 on eBay. I'm trying to source a Raystar 125 antenna but someone's mentioned I can use absolutely any GPS antenna provided it has NMEA output - so Garmin, Furuno or anything else I can find.

Is it as simple as that? Anything I need to know about? The Chartplotter will be used in standalone mode although I'll probably want to add an AIS receiver at a future date.
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The E80 I assume will accept the NMEA output from any GPS which outputs NMEA ..... but, if the GPS outputs at low speed NMEA you need to see if the E80 will also accept high speed AIS at the same time. If not, it gets a lot more complicated. If it has 2 NMEA ports you will be fine.

The RS125 will output Seatalk as well as NMEA, I think, which the E80 can handle without affecting the NMEA port. Other GPS units might also be able to use Seatalk but perhaps they have to be Raymarine but I don't have any experience.

Richard
 
RichardS said:
The E80 I assume will accept the NMEA output from any GPS which outputs NMEA ..... but, if the GPS outputs at low speed NMEA you need to see if the E80 will also accept high speed AIS at the same time. If not, it gets a lot more complicated. If it has 2 NMEA ports you will be fine.

The RS125 will output Seatalk as well as NMEA, I think, which the E80 can handle without affecting the NMEA port. Other GPS units might also be able to use Seatalk but perhaps they have to be Raymarine but I don't have any experience.

Richard
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Many AIS receivers have a built-in multiplexor so slow NMEA can be input (from, say GPS) and the high speed output contains all the data streams. If you added an AIS transponder, many come with their own external GPS which can also be set as an output with the AIS data. I have just installed a McMurdo M10 Transponder which does exactly that.
 
Wandering Star said:
I've just bought a used Raymarine E80 on eBay. I'm trying to source a Raystar 125 antenna but someone's mentioned I can use absolutely any GPS antenna provided it has NMEA output - so Garmin, Furuno or anything else I can find.

Is it as simple as that? Anything I need to know about? The Chartplotter will be used in standalone mode although I'll probably want to add an AIS receiver at a future date.
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Yes, it's simple, the E80 will accept GPS data in NMEA format. The Raystar 125 isn't a very good receiver anyway, and was discontinued years ago. The Evermore SA320 is often mentioned as a good standalone GPS receiver, although cheaper ones are available. If you want to add AIS later, the GPS can be connected to the AIS receiver and the data will be multiplexed with the AIS data.
 
As the E series only has one NMEA port another consideration might be to add an NMEA 2000 network and fit an NMEA 2000 GPS receiver. Would cost a little more but would be a better network that you can add AIS to at a later date as well as various other devices, should you decide you want something else.
 
PaulRainbow said:
As the E series only has one NMEA port another consideration might be to add an NMEA 2000 network and fit an NMEA 2000 GPS receiver. Would cost a little more but would be a better network that you can add AIS to at a later date as well as various other devices, should you decide you want something else.
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Surely that's a ridiculous proposal? The E80 can't accept NMEA2000 data.
 
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pvb said:
Well, it can accept SeaTalk2, which is similar, but it has no standard NMEA2000 connection, so some conversion hardware would be needed.

Perhaps you should read this exchange on Raymarine's technical forum - http://raymarine.ning.com/forum/topics/nmea-2000-classic-e80?xg_source=activity
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By conversion hardware, you must mean a Seatalk2 to NMEA 2000 cable ?

After fitting said cable he'll then have a standard NMEA 2000 network as Seatalk 2 uses standard protocols, just non-standard connections.

Anyone setting up a NMEA 2000 network would need a drop cable for the plotter, so the fact that the E series requires an adaptor cable is financially and otherwise irrelevant. If the OP purchased a NMEA 2000 receiver he'd need to buy a couple of tee's, a couple of cables and a couple of terminators. If he will definitely not want to fit anything other than an AIS receiver with built in multiplexor then a NMEA 2000 network would be a waste of a small amount of money. If on the other hand he decided to supply the E80 with some additional data, say depth or heading data, he'd have the headache and additional expense of multiplexing additional NMEA 0183 data streams, rather than simple NMEA 2000 connections.
 
PaulRainbow said:
By conversion hardware, you must mean a Seatalk2 to NMEA 2000 cable ?

After fitting said cable he'll then have a standard NMEA 2000 network as Seatalk 2 uses standard protocols, just non-standard connections.

Anyone setting up a NMEA 2000 network would need a drop cable for the plotter, so the fact that the E series requires an adaptor cable is financially and otherwise irrelevant. If the OP purchased a NMEA 2000 receiver he'd need to buy a couple of tee's, a couple of cables and a couple of terminators. If he will definitely not want to fit anything other than an AIS receiver with built in multiplexor then a NMEA 2000 network would be a waste of a small amount of money. If on the other hand he decided to supply the E80 with some additional data, say depth or heading data, he'd have the headache and additional expense of multiplexing additional NMEA 0183 data streams, rather than simple NMEA 2000 connections.
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It's a lot of cost and complication, and frankly there's no guarantee it would work. Did you read the Raymarine guy's reply in the forum? "Please note that E-Series Classic MFDs have limited support for NMEA 2000 communications, and such support is principally in support to the MFD's engine monitoring features. "
 
pvb said:
It's a lot of cost and complication, and frankly there's no guarantee it would work. Did you read the Raymarine guy's reply in the forum? "Please note that E-Series Classic MFDs have limited support for NMEA 2000 communications, and such support is principally in support to the MFD's engine monitoring features. "
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Two tee's, two terminators, one power cable, one Seatalk to NMEA 2000 cable. Not a fortune and would be no more complicated to fit than wiring an NMEA receiver. Apart from two power wires it's half a dozen plug together connectors.

As i said, if the OP never fits anything else it's a waste of money.

On the other hand, i need to replace the ancient Stowe log on my "new" boat. I've already installed a NMEA 2000 network so i'll make the hole where the old Stowe paddle wheel fits a bit bigger and replace it with the Airmar NMEA 2000 triducer that i picked up brand new for £100 (delivered). That £100 and a simple plug connection gives me speed, depth and water temp. How would you get all of that into the E80 for £100 ?

Your original post accused me of being ridiculous and claimed that the E80 will not accept NMEA 2000 data. You then went on to say it needed "conversion hardware", fancy name for a cable :D

Oh, rather than rely on the one negative link you posted, anyone interested can Google for E80 NMEA 2000 and find plenty of examples where people have successfully done this. Sure, there will be some with problems too, but they won't be any more/worse than the typical problems people have encountered over the years with Raymarine proprietary nonsense.
 
pvb said:
It's a lot of cost and complication, and frankly there's no guarantee it would work. Did you read the Raymarine guy's reply in the forum? "Please note that E-Series Classic MFDs have limited support for NMEA 2000 communications, and such support is principally in support to the MFD's engine monitoring features. "
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By the way, it's pretty bad form to selectively quote in this manner.

The guy from Raymarine went on the say :

"Raymarine offers the A06061 E-Series Classic MFD Adapter Cable which may be spliced to a SeaTalkng to DeviceNet Male (A06046) or SeaTalkng to DeviceNet Female adapter cables (A06045) to support interfacing the MFD as a spur to Maretron NMEA 2000 backbone. "

As we're posting links ; https://www.navstore.com/maretron-nmea-2000-raymarine-e-series-product-to-nmea-2000.html
 
PaulRainbow said:
Two tee's, two terminators, one power cable, one Seatalk to NMEA 2000 cable. Not a fortune and would be no more complicated to fit than wiring an NMEA receiver. Apart from two power wires it's half a dozen plug together connectors.

As i said, if the OP never fits anything else it's a waste of money.

On the other hand, i need to replace the ancient Stowe log on my "new" boat. I've already installed a NMEA 2000 network so i'll make the hole where the old Stowe paddle wheel fits a bit bigger and replace it with the Airmar NMEA 2000 triducer that i picked up brand new for £100 (delivered). That £100 and a simple plug connection gives me speed, depth and water temp. How would you get all of that into the E80 for £100 ?

Your original post accused me of being ridiculous and claimed that the E80 will not accept NMEA 2000 data. You then went on to say it needed "conversion hardware", fancy name for a cable :D

Oh, rather than rely on the one negative link you posted, anyone interested can Google for E80 NMEA 2000 and find plenty of examples where people have successfully done this. Sure, there will be some with problems too, but they won't be any more/worse than the typical problems people have encountered over the years with Raymarine proprietary nonsense.
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Equally, you can Google for e80 nmea2000 and find loads of examples of people having major problems trying to get things working! When it's possible to simply hook a cheap GPS receiver up to a cheap AIS receiver and have it work instantly with the E80, I really can't see that there's much mileage in going for a much more complicated and expensive solution.
 
I have the raymarine E140w with an AIS transponder wired in to the NMEA connection. The AIS transponder has its own GPS input so this also squirts into the same connection. This provides theosition information on the E140w. Works very well. You don't need the NMEA backbone unless you intend to add ST70 and ST60 displays etc. We have all this but it is not necessary for what you are doing. If you want to add this lot a future date then you can but its separate to your NMEA AIS connection anyway.
 
Thanks for all the advice, very helpful. It was the Evermore SA320 I was thinking about buying so good to know it'll work however Geems mention of a GPS integrated into an AIS thingy might be the way to go as I'm fairly sure I'll be using AIS (receive only) sooner rather than later - any tips on best (cheapest) integrated unit to buy?
 
Wandering Star said:
Thanks for all the advice, very helpful. It was the Evermore SA320 I was thinking about buying so good to know it'll work however Geems mention of a GPS integrated into an AIS thingy might be the way to go as I'm fairly sure I'll be using AIS (receive only) sooner rather than later - any tips on best (cheapest) integrated unit to buy?
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AIS transponders (receive and transmit) have to have their own dedicated GPS receiver. Unless you want a transponder, just buy any decent AIS receiver and a separate GPS receiver (SA320 is fine) and you're sorted. AIS data is transmitted on 2 frequencies; cheap receivers only have one receiver (eg Nasa AIS engine) and alternate between these frequencies, which doesn't give the best results. It's worth paying a bit more and getting a true dual frequency receiver (eg McMurdo M15 or Comar AIS3R).
 
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