Raymarine C120

Blackfeather

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Have one of these with autopilot dsc etc interfaces. I would like to have a chartplotting function on the flybridge. Does anyone have any experience of having some sort of repeater fitted or indeed can make a recommendation for suppliers/installers.

Please keep replies to the level of idiocy as I am not ITd up.
 

jfm

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The big probelm with C series is it will not video network. You can I think buy a whole new C unit for flybr, connect to Seatalk bus so it will get GPS data and depth etc off the Seatalk bus. But you wont be able to use your radar on it (if radar is connected to the downstairs C series) nor read the Navionics chips in the downstairs C series unit. If you get another navionics chip for the upstairs C series, and connect the upstairs unit to Seatalk, and turn off the downstairs C series, you should be able to interface with the autopilot using the upstairs C series

All slightly inconvenient. If you want to network, you need E series or HSB2
 

yachtbits

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safer way is to make one display the master and slave the second via NMEA.

Still need 2 chart cartridges, all route changes and selections done on master. Slave acts as repeater only.

This method prevents any chance of 2 routes active on Seatalk and crashing the autopilot.

Still no radar.

kev
 

jfm

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I'll happily be corrected if you know for sure, but I dont think this works. Can you send your route data by NMEA (or indeed by SeaTalk)? Didn't think you could. You can send loads of stuff incl XTE, but what I mean is you cant send the legs of a route in a nmea sentence

raymarine C is not configured to act as repeater and master. You cant press a button on a slave C and have that activate a function on a master C

Routes are not "active on seatalk" afaik. Seatalk only carries the next waypont and XTE etc, but not all the legs of a route
 

pvb

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It works, but it\'s clumsy...

I have a C120, and it does have the facility to transmit/receive waypoints and routes using NMEA (you go into the Data menu and use Archive & Transfer). But it's not worth doing it because the second unit will have almost zero practicality.

Best solution, as you said before, is to change to E-series displays.
 

Oldhand

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<Routes are not "active on seatalk" afaik. Seatalk only carries the next waypont and XTE etc, but not all the legs of a route>

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Have to disagree with the above. On my Raymarine system, which has 3 units which can handle routes, if a route is made active on any one unit and they are all connected by Seatalk, this route becomes the active route on all units. The whole route of up to 50 waypoints is passed by Seatalk because it can be saved as a route on the units which have received it from Seatalk. However this is with a RN300 GPS and 2 RL Series dispaly units and is in accordance with the RL plotter manual. I would be surprised if it didn't also happen with a C Series display on a Seatalk system as it is a brilliant Seatalk function which ensures all displays are "singing from the same hymn book", instantly and automatically. It is also a method of distributing waypoint data when the waypoint trasfer function doesn't work - has anyone made the latter work?!).
 

jfm

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OK, thanks, I stand corrected, can see you point.

This means he can have 2x C series displays, but as before will need a chart chip in each one (to get a decent picture) and can only use radar on one display (whichever display the radar is connected to). If both displays are turned on it will be be necessary to make sure only one has a route slected, else there will be two routes fying around on the seatalk bus

Also I think the GPS antenna can only be plugged to ne unit, so will need two antenae, and also the depth and log transducers

Hmm I think this is still heading for trouble. The C stuff will always struggle with two displays in a system. Which is why I'm afraid (as said before on here) that the C stuff is chocolate teapottish except for small single helm boats, you need HSB2 or E. Sell it on ebay and get E, which will drop intot he same hole, imho
 

Oldhand

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I think you would be OK with one GPS sensor input, the second display would get all the GPS data on Seatalk.

The HSB2 system on the RL system was the bees knees, any display could provide the full functionality provided by any other of the dispalys on the bus. i.e if you have a radar/chart plotter display and either a plain radar of fishfinder display (or both) then the latter also become chartplotters as long as the radar/chartplotter display is powered up. So one chart cartridge could give plotter capability on up to 10 displays even if 9 of them had no inbuilt chratplotter capability. The "E" Sereis has got over complex in that if you have more than 2 displays, you seem to need an additional active distribution box.
 

jfm

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Yup that makes sense re GPS.

I agree re HSB2. Functionally is bees kees - we have 3 RL80s networked plus various Raym plug and play add ons and it's great. The styling of the units is a bit Flash Gordon dashboard though.

The E has many benefits including the camera stuff and Canbus engine data, but I too noticed the need for extra black boxes to support the network. So quite complex. I quite like the stuff though.... tempted to upgrade but will wait till next boat I think
 
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