ST-60's what to do?

[svinvictus2]

It can definitely be done but you need to get a box from Raymarine that hooks up into the SeaTalk system. Of course it's not so cheap....I wouild try Ebay or Amazon before I bought it.

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Does your Zeus plotter not have an auxiliary input for NMEA 0183 data?


Our plotter is NMEA 2000-centric but also handles 0183 sentences via the separate input...


-Chris

The Zeus2 MFDs do have an NMEA 0183 input, it is part of the power cable.

I believe the cable has a plug at one end and bare wires at the other. Check the Zeus2 Manual.

Assuming that the ST-60 output is NMEA 0183, then it should be a simple matter of connecting the ST-60 output to the Zeus. It may be necessary to buy a long Seatalk cable and cut one end of it off.

[a64pilot]

I have 7' plain Zeus, I'll look into it, 0183 may be worth doing myself, it's just not that hard. I've done 0183 before, but 2000 only once.

[a64pilot]

OK just looked, My Zeus does take 0183 in and out.
What will convert my ST-60's seatalk to 0183? These I believe are plain ST-60's

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

OK just looked, My Zeus does take 0183 in and out.
What will convert my ST-60's seatalk to 0183? These I believe are plain ST-60's

SeaTalk is a proprietary protocol.

Check these items: NMEA 0183 | Raymarine

[a64pilot]

I don't see anyway to convert Seatalk to 0183?
I have seem on the internet some ST-60's that have NMEA 0183 connections on the instrument back, mine don't, just Seatalk connectors and the sensor connectors.
My wind instrument on the back has a two wire connector colored red and blue that says ROTA on it, what is that?

[ranger58sb]

Hmm... twice.


I think I've been interpreting "tri-data" (depth, speed, water temps) differently from what you probably mean (depth, wind speed, wind direction?).


And, I think I didn't realize the ST-60 was new enough to not have NMEA 0183 output. I bet (now) that SeaTalk thing is what "ST" stands for, eh?


-Chris

[Dave Lochner]

Ray Marine had a better idea.

Shortly thereafter the company was sold to Flir after nearly going out of business.

[a64pilot]

I'm calling tri-data as three separate devices, speed, wind, and depth.
I may be misnaming them.

A lot of people have loved Raymarine, I have never been a fan, but admit they are sort of the Chevrolet of marine electronics, in that they do work and are widely distributed and available.

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I'm calling tri-data as three separate devices, speed, wind, and depth.
I may be misnaming them.

A lot of people have loved Raymarine, I have never been a fan, but admit they are sort of the Chevrolet of marine electronics, in that they do work and are widely distributed and available.

We're mixing our metaphors or something, it was Ford who had a better idea.

Usually Tri-Data refers to a display that provides speed, depth, and wind on one instrument head.

The good news is that NMEA 2K has greater standardization and the industry is moving towards ethernet because of the high bandwidth needed for things like radar and forward scanning sonar.

The next thing to look at is Signal K. This is an open source protocol that translated NMEA 2K data into an open source format. That should begin to take off in the next year or so. More software developers, more interesting applications.

If your instruments are working, it may be wise to wait a while before replacing them. New B&Gs are not cheap. I've looked at them.

Tomorrow UPS should be bringing a Zeus2 9" to go with the 4G radar.

Are you aware of the B&G rebate? It started a few weeks ago. $100 off a Zues2 7". Check the Defender website.

[Symphony]

If you are replacing anything then do not keep the old ST60s. It is time to go to a network system and use i60 or a50 or i70 with a touch sensitive plotter and supersmart autopilot. The modern auto pilot head and course computers are much more easy to calibrate.

I did this two years ago and I was able to sell all of my ST 60 instruments, my masthead anometer, my old Raytheon monochrome plotter, old AP head, old course computer, and my old analog radar for top dollar on eBay. There was huge interest in all of my instruments, of course I had the original boxes and the manuals, but I don't think that would've mattered. You see there are lots of people who have just one piece of their system that has died, and if they can buy a working replacement it's super easy for them to just drop it in the same hole. A working old ST 60, for instance, is probably worth now almost what it sold for new.

Raytheon and Ray Marine products of 10 years ago and longer are fantastic quality.

The only thing I kept of my old system was the linear drive of my autopilot.

I put a nice piece of teak over the three holes and then mounted one new instrument on that that I can use for everything. I also put a 12VDC outlet in that piece of teak so we can run devices and music in the cockpit.

[Pete7]

Indeed, there is a set of ST60s for sale on YBW at the moment. Asking price is £125 for each.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

This is the story, I have ST-60 Tri-data instruments I guess you call them, they all work and even look nearly new as they have always been kept covered, but I wanted to integrated the data to NMEA 2000 and connect that to my Zeus plotter.
Now it's my understanding that this can be done, not really meant to work, but it's possible.
But the ST-60's are out of date, no longer supported etc., so it's sort of throwing good money after bad.
What is there available from SImrad / Navico / B&G to replace my ST-60's?
I sort of like having a dedicated wind instrument, speed I don't really need a standalone for that, but depth is nice to see big numbers and know how shallow you are.
Plus and this may sound silly, but I have three holes in the boat, with no idea of how to tastefully fill them should I go to one or maybe two MFD's.

Then there is the just how useful is integrating them into the Zeus? Should I just leave well enough alone?

you can buy a multiplexer to translate the ST-60 word to a standard NMEA 183 word.


Try Brookhouse http://brookhouseonline.com/nmeamux_aisc.htm There are others. I wish I'd known Ray Marine wrote their own protocol before I bought the stuff. Otherwise, sell it to guys lie me. BTW, Raymarine will service the stuff for a lot less than new. We were hit by lightning- suite of 3 instruments serviced for about 250.

[TheThunderbird]

Bit rates are so different that connecting 0183 to 2000 is pointless.

D I S E M B A R K ST-60, keeping only the sounder

[Uncle Bob]

Hi, did this recently - st60 wind and bidata to simrad nse12 plotter. What was needed was the small raymarine 2000 backbone, converting cable from st60 instrument and a converting cable to simrad backbone. Paid a marine electrician to install, but the parts weren't all that expensive as I recall.