Anyone every connect a Raymarine E80 to a Nmea 2000 device?

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petemos

New member
I've go a Suzuki 115 and just bought the cabling to connect it to a Nmea 2000 network. After looking thru the E80 installation guide and all the Raymarine guide sites, it's not clear to me what is the connection point on the E80 for Nmea 2000 and whether the E80 supplies power to the network or I have to buy the 12 volt Nmea 2000 network power cable.

On the back of the E80 unit you have Nmea 0183, Seatalk/alarm out, Seatalk 2 and Seatalk HS. My best guess is the Seatalk 2 is really the Nmea 2000 interface, but i don't see anything that tell me that. I have ordered a Seatalk 2 to Nmea 2000 cable on that assumption, but I figured before i kill myself i would ask around.

So anyone ever connect a E80 to a Nmea 2000 device and do i need to power the network of does the E80 supply the power.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jim
 
I am not any kind of expert on this, but from what I understand from my installation, you need to install SeaTalk to get 3rd-party devices to talk Raymarine, and maybe even to connect certain Raymarine components.

Maretron is the leader in getting components from different manufacturers to talk to each other. They have a lot of info on their website.

Warren
 
Warren thanks.
I just looked at the Maretron site, but it didn't seem to offer much for Raymarine. I kind of know how to set up Nmea network and my E80 has all these different Seatalk interface outlets, i just don't know whether anyone of them support native Nmea 2000. It's hard to believe, but if none of the C-Brats have done this, then I'm just going to call Raymarine in NH and ask them what i have to do.

Thanks for the site, I'll probably look to use them to get my connectors, once i figure out what i'm doing.

Jim
 
The Suzuki interface is made by Lowrance, and the Suzuki digital guages had a common origin. The EP 20 (or Part #120-55) is the Suzuki interface kit--and hopefully you have one with a red connector. You may also need a NMEA Network starter kit (124-69) from Lowrance if you do not have the power supply module and extra cables. Double check to be sure that this kit has the red connectors, not the blue. This has the power supply module, the "T" Connectors and the resister terminator for the blanked off "T". I believe that the red connector will fit directly into the Sea Talk 2 input of your E 80. My comments are based on the fact that I use Lowrance readouts, and the Suzuki cable is made to specifically work with the Lowrance readouts or the chart plotters. There are reports that it works fine with the Raymarine E 80 Sea Talk 2 input port.

Earlier (Pre 2007) there as a blue connector on the end of the E 20. If you have the blue connector, you can either wire the plug directly to a Raymarine sea talk cable, or get the conversion kit from Maretron, as Warren notes. There is also a kit for converting the red to the blue; I had to just hard wire my blue connector cable to a red type fitting.

Since the sensor cable is Lowrance, there is a lot of information on the setup in the Lowrance manuals: the LMF 400 is the guage specifically for most sensors, and although much of it does not apply to your RayMarine, it does give some information on page 6 plus or minus of:
http://www.lowrance.com/upload/Lowrance ... 111506.pdf

Perhaps even more specific to the power and expansion module is:
http://www.lowrance.com/upload/Lowrance ... 112006.pdf, which deals with the full connection of the various parts of the network.

All of Lowrance manuals are at: http://www.lowrance.com/en/Downloads/Manuals/
and may be worth browsing through

Other cables and terminators are at:

http://www.lei-extras.com/store/search. ... nceNet+Red
 
Bob, thanks for all this good info. I do have the EP 20 (or Part #120-55), but it has a blue connector and includes a T connector. It does not include the power supply module, the resister terminator for the blanked off "T" or any cable. I'll have to get the starter kit N2K-EXP-RD-2 (124-69) for that. I have ordered a Raymarine Seatalk2 to Nmea 2000 cable to see how that looks it may do the red to blue thing, but i know the conversion cable (red to blue) you are talking about and will buy it if it turns out that the Raymarine cable does not do the trick.

Thanks again.

Jim
 
Not the E80, but yes, I have successfully connected the older C80 to a couple of NMEA2000 devices All the info is still on this site but after several days stuck in the high desert badland area north of Ocatillo CA, I'm still spitting dust and catching up, I ain't in the mood to find the thread. Mebbe tomorrow.

I interfaced the Lowrance fuel flow sensor and the Lowrance GPS module. Had to make the cable back then but you're on the right (Seatalk) path. It should be noted that the C80 accepted GPS input via the NMEA2000 Lowrance puck or the genuine Raymarine puck but not both at the same time. The fuel flow sensor gauge accepted GPS input from either one as well.

Fun project.

Don
 
Well I got think the information. On the Raymarine E units Seatalk 2 is = to Nmea 2000. You have to buy an interface cable from the Seatalk 2 to the Nema backbone network. I also think the connector is going to be a micro-c or Red connector Nmea type and not a blue connector, which will require another converter cable, Blue to Red. The Raymarine E units do not provide any power the the Nmea backbone, so you have to install a Nmea 12v power supply that connects to the backbone. Now I just have to lay all this stuff out and connect it to see if it works, before snaking the wires from the engine to the E80.

Thanks again for all the info and leads.

Jim
 
By convention, NMEA 2000 networks are never powered by any device connected to the network, and always require a seperate power source.

There are power modules that can have multiple power inputs, for use in multi engine installations or when the network needs to be powered when the engine is off.
 
petemos":2pc5bih9 said:
Thanks Don. Do you recall on your C80 whether you connected to the Seatalk or Seatalk 2 port on the back of your unit?
Jim
Click to expand...

I think it was the Seatalk port since I don't recall there being two ports in the C series. I also powered the bus from the battery 12v system using a fuse and the plug that was part of the Lowrance fuel flow meter installation. Definitely no need for a separate dedicated power supply. In 2006 nobody had settled on a Nmea connector standard. Big PIA. Good luck with the install. Ain't much that can go wrong. No matter what they call the wires, it comes down to two that carry data and two that carry power. Screw up power and you're in deep doo doo. Reverse data and yer just frustrated but nothing disastrous can happen.

Don
 
Well I bought a Raymarine E55053 cable that is supposed to connect to a E80 Seatalk2 to a NMEA 2000 network. It probably does, but only on a C80 or C120 device. It won't work on a E device as the connector is wrong. Why list it under a E device if it only works with a C device. The Raymarine site S---ks as it does not have any pictures of the cables, so you are kind of flying blind. I'm going to call Raymarine tomorrow and try to get the right part number.

It's harder getting the right parts to do this job then doing the actual work.

Jim
 
Maretron cable number MARE-005 is the adapter cable to connect Raymarine E series to a NMEA 2000 network.

Raymarine part number A06046 connects Seatalk NG to NMEA 2000 with a male connection on the NMEA side, and part number A06045 has a female NMEA connection.

SeaTalk NG is not NMEA 2000, but can be connected to it.

Hope this helps!
 
Matt, thanks the MARE-005 cable. It looks just like the cable i am looking for. I spoke to Raymarine today and they told me they really did not have a cable to go from an E80 Seatalk2 to NMEA 2000. That I should just cut the one end off the E55053 cable i just bought and hard wire it into the NMEA network. That is what i was going to do until your note.
One additional question?

How do you find stuff on the Maretron site? I've looked around it several times and it just does not seem to be user friendly unless you know exactly the part number your are looking for.

Thanks again on the MARE-005 pointer.

Jim
 
Well it looks like the Maretron MARE-005 is not the cable to connect from a Raymarine E80 to a NEMA 2000 network. The MARE-005 cable connects to the E80 NEMA 0183 network, but not to the Seatalk2, NEMA 2000 network.

So know it looks like i'm stuck until i can get a E series Seatalk2, NEMA 2000 cable or make one myself.

Jim
 
Jim-

Have you taled to Maretron? I can't imagine them building a cable for the 0183 port, as everything they do is 2000 based.

They are the most knowledgable of the NMEA 2000 players out there, so I woudl contact them and see what the issue is, and what you really need.
 
Matt, I think I have the problem solved. I got the answer from a nice guy on the "hulltruth" site. I found out that the Raymarine E55053 cable is really a hybrid cable. It’s Seatalk2 for a C-series on one end and Seatalk2 for an E-series on the other end. You have to cut the cable and depending what Raymarine unit you have (C or E) and then splice the proper end into a Micro-C NEMA 2000 connector. While I was thinking of calling Maretron, I figured this guy had the same issues and got it to work so I’m going with his solution. I then called the guys at BOE Marine and they were familiar with what I wanted to do and are sending me the E55053 and Micro-C connector. Now I just have to send all the redundant cables back and wait till next month went I can get access to my boat again. And try all the stuff out.

Thanks so much for all the pointer and comments.

Jim
 
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