Joining Raynet network cable

[prv]

the old NMEA 0183 seatalk.

There's been a couple of posts conflating these two. In a sense they're comparable as they're of the same era and run at the same speed, but otherwise they are quite different. Seatalk is a true multi-station bus network, whereas NMEA0183 is a one-way point-to-point link.

Pete

 

[skyflyer]

From their own website, modified last in September 2015

The organisation has also been involved in a fair share of maritime incidents, most recently Piper Alpha, Zeebrugge and the Shetland oil spill.

 

[Crowblack]

All I was asking was whether, in any single given cable, it was acceptable to cut it and join it again. In other words does the actual join/junction/splice etc interfere with the signal transmission.

In particular I was wondering about principles like twisted pair cables where - obviously - you cannot continue the twist when you join it, all the cores simply have to run straight and parallel for a bit

As far as Raynet cable is concerned when I asked Raymarine Technical they said they don't recommend cutting the cable but if it's absolutely necessary they believe best practice is to solder the wires to rejoin then heatshrink - - some untwisting of the wires (there's four pairs plus a drain wire) is inevitable but should still work ok over the distance of a typical join - which I took to mean about 3 to 4 inches. In the end I did it as described above as other posters have used mechanical means and seemed to work well.

As far as the Seatalk ng cable was concerned the cable ends were not far off the external diameter of the end fitting so I was able to thread those through OK without cutting - although I know Raymarine sell bare end cable so perhaps their "soldering" practice is the way to go with those. Is Seatalk ng cable twisted ? - - - even if it is can't see a short untwisted piece affecting the messages.

I wouldn't know a "data packet" if it smacked me in the face that's why this forum is so useful to numpties like me - helping to sift my way through what the manufacturers say and what experienced forumites have done - - thanks to all.

 

[VicMallows]

Thread drift I know, but is it ever needed?

Pete

(Re: Radio Amateur Emergency Network = RAYNET)

I doubt it very much these days ... though it claimed quite a few 'major incidents' back in the 60s/70s.

I never got into it myself, but was reminded only last week when I saw a car in Leigh Park sporting an amazing array of antennae and flashing lights and sporting RAYNET/RSGB stickers everywhere.

G3TSM