Will this electronics upgrade configuration work?

[efanost]

Hello everyone. I bet there is someone here who understands boat electronics and networks configurations better than we do.

We have a boat with an old electronics network setup, which is a mix of SeaTalk 1, NMEA 0183, and NMEA 2000.

The problem now is that our GPS sensor (old SeaTalk 1 Raymarine) has failed and we want to upgrade our system with an AIS transceiver and a WiFi Gateway (to have all boat data on tablets, laptops and phones). We want to do so that we slowly upgrade to NMEA 2000.

We've attached two diagrams. One showing the current configuration, and one showing our upgraded configuration plan.

Do you think our upgraded configuration plan will work and we're not doing anything stupid?

In particular:
- Will the GPS data be available on the VHF (via SeaTalkNG-to-SeaTalk1 conversion, then via NMEA 0183)? We are using this GPS because we have one already available
- Will all boat data (depth, water speed, wind, AIS) be available on the chart plotter and on the WiFi?

[Tin Tin]

Do you have an autopilot attached as well?

[efanost]

Yes, I also have an autopilot attached. But I'm not sure how's connected, and I didn't think it would be affected. What do you think the implications on the autopilot would be?

[cr180]

Several thoughts. 1. Not sure why you need that additional GPS unit (receiver/antenna). The AIS has one of its own and the Lowrance plotter has an internal gps. 2. For the vhf, you may need to connect a new 0183 input from either AIS or chart plotter output. 3. All of the Raymarine inputs should still work the same via the SeaTalk converter. 4. The WiFi output from the Lowrance (Navico) chart plotter is a feature of that individual component. May or may not have. The older Navico units could add a separate WiFi module. Check the Owners Manual.

I have a B&G Zues3 (Navico) plotter that has the WiFi output you are looking for. Full chart plotter display is shown and all controls except autopilot are available on iPhone or iPad. By the way, the internal GPS receiver works fine without external antenna.

[cr180]

The autopilot may complicate if you were to replace chart plotter. Don’t know. The new plotters require NMEA 2000.

[cr180]

OK, see now what additional Raymarine gps antenna does. It is an input to the ST-60. Likely is used to calculate apparent wind speed and direction. Not sure your new proposed NMEA 2000 gps antenna will be compatible. Give Raymarine a call.

[OldGreyB]

I performed similar update to friends boat with same MDF , legacy Raymarine equipment etc 2 years ago. Yes it works, and yes all data will be available. Only additional advice is to ensure the SeaTalk/SeaTalkNG convertor is powered from the same breaker as the MDF, so the networks are all fed from same power source.

[smac999]

the chart plotter should be putting gps onto the nmea 2000 network as is. so if the current way doesn't send gps to the radio etc. then I doubt adding nmea 2000 gps will change anything.

if the new AIS has 4800baud output (some do ) I would feed the vhf from the ais (from the ais gps ant). that will give you a backup gps display on the radio. incase the main nav even went down.

[wholybee]

I don't see any issues. The GPS antenna is probably redundant. However, some AIS devices will not share the GPS data on the NMEA2000 network. So, you might need the extra GPS.
The ST-60 should be able to use COG/SOG data from any GPS, converted through the Seatalk converter.
You don't say what ICOM radio you have. Its operation should not change from what you have now. If the ICOM radio is an AIS type, then you could connect it to the AIS. If it is not an AIS type VHF radio, then the current connection is fine.
Yes, you should have all data available on the YDWG-02 wifi.

[jamhass]

There are data multiplexors that can take various formats and output the streams to a single one. Some (Brookhouse etc al) have the ability to deal with multiple GPS units, treating one as primary and the other as backup