what is sea talk

[PhilF]

do you think I can link an HSB raymarine colour plotter/radar pathfinder to a raymarine radar only display via sea talk or nmea. The radar only is connected to the scanner. will it send the radar display to the plotter.
I bought the kit in the wrong order /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Thanks
Philf

 

[Guest]

If its Raymarine it will generally act on HSB / Seatalk - but there are I believe two versions of HSB .... so a quick call to Raymarine / study of manuals ... if you don't have manuals - Raymarine web site has them for download.

 

[davidwf]

If the Radar is not HSB then I think the answer is no, however you can display waypoints from the plotter on the Radar disply. If both are HSB then answer is yes although if one is HSB2 and one HSB you will have to get the HSB one upgraded, not an expensive mod.

 

[Oldhand]

Depnds on the type of radar only display you have. If it is a SL series display it will only work as a radar if the radome is directly connected to it. If it is a RL series display you should be able to connect it to your plotter/radar display by HSB which will allow both units to display radar and chartplotter functions. There are 2 types of HSB, original HSB on early RL series Pathfinder dispalys and HSB2 on the newer "Plus" versions. Original HSB can handle 2 displays linked together whereas HSB2 can handle up to ten linked displays.

Furthermore, RL Pathfinder "Plus" displays badged "Raymarine" rather than "Raytheon" are the newest of the series and include the MARPA function to assist radar collision aviodance. However, older Pathfinder displays can have hardware/software upgrades done by Raymarine, the functionality achievable depending on model.

Once you link 2 RL series displays by HSB, if they are both connected by Seatalk or to a Seatalk system then in plotter mode they will both "sing from the same hymn sheet". i.e if you make a route active on one display it automatically becomes the active route on the other display. Which ever display the radome is connected to must be powered up in order for the other display to show radar via HSB.

Of course you have to input at least position data as well and this can either be on NMEA or Seatalk. As it is best to have Seatalk linking the displays as well as HSB, then GPS input on Seatalk will be the simplest solution. You also should try and heading stabilise the radar display by providng "fast" (10Hz) heading input. This is only accepted on NMEA but Seatalk can provide slow heading input (1Hz) if it is available.

If you want to PM me with exactly what equipment you have, I could suggest the best solution for you.