Raymarine Seatalk NG cables?

[Ian_Edwards]

I have an old Seatalk NG cable which I'd like to reuse to extend an existing Seatalk NG network, there are no Seatalk 1 instruments on board.

I've just checked the continuity of the cable, and the 5 connections around the outside of the plugs all check through with very low resistance, but the centre pins aren't connected. The cable has been used before, some years back and is in superficially good condition, no corrosion and no obvious mechanical damage.

When I check another Seatalk cable, all 6 pins check out OK.

The cable with only 5 pins connected is white cable, where as the cable that has all 6 pins connected is white and black, is this colour coding for different cable specs'?

Does anyone know if different cable specs' where sold, and if my cable with only 5 connections will work on a Seatalk NG network. I've read somewhere that Seatalk NG cables have the same cores as CanBus, but with the addition of a 6th core to make it backward compatible with Seatalk 1.

I could just try it I suppose, but it would be time consuming to run the cable and difficult to know if it had full functionality.

I'd really like to us the old cable, Raymarine cables are very expensive.

 

[prv]

SeatalkNG cabling distinguishes between "backbone" cables, which are black and blue with blue plugs, and "spur" cables which are black and white with white plugs. I don't know what all-white cable would be.

There's nothing different about the actual cable, but by using different plugs for backbone vs spur they make it harder for someone who's just plugging cables together without understanding, to install a topology that's against the NMEA2000 rules.

Five cores will be fine for any part of a SeatalkNG network except the drop cable from a Seatalk1 adapter, which isn't relevant to you. Two for power, one each for CAN-H and CAN-L, and one for the screen.

But since we don't know what plugs might be on a mystery all-white cable, you should check whether they mate with the devices at either end. You can do that without actually running the cable.

Pete

 

[Ian_Edwards]

Hi prv,

Thanks for the very prompt reply, the plugs on the 2 cables are identical.

The new short cable is black and white, so I guess that's a backbone cable.

Another question if I may, I'm adding a, new to me, e97 to a system which already has an e95 and an e125 along with i70 instruments. I know I need to connect with a RayNet cable to share charts, but do I need a SeaTalk NG cable as well to see speed, depth, wind etc on the new e97?

 

[prv]

The new short cable is black and white, so I guess that's a backbone cable.

Nope, backbone cables are the blue ones.

Afraid I don’t really know anything about e-series plotters.

Pete

 

[Ian_Edwards]

OK, I just mis-read read your initial post, spur cables it is.
thanks again.

 

[pvb]

Another question if I may, I'm adding a, new to me, e97 to a system which already has an e95 and an e125 along with i70 instruments. I know I need to connect with a RayNet cable to share charts, but do I need a SeaTalk NG cable as well to see speed, depth, wind etc on the new e97?

As I understand it, you don't need to use the SeaTalk ng connection - all the data should be shared over the RayNet cable.

However, if you were to add the SeaTalk ng connection to the new display, it might add some degree of redundancy in the event of the failure of the data master. The new display by default would use the data coming through the RayNet cable, and ignore the additional SeaTalk ng connection, unless a fault occurred.

 

[matthewriches]

You will find some of the drop cables will be 6 core for use with integrating to Seatalk 1 (the old system with the squarish black 3 pin plugs).