Help: Raymarine MFD / VHF / NMEA 2000 hell

loneshark64

loneshark64

Super Anarchist
1,537
1,399
Maine, USA
Hi, seeking any help. I have a Raymarine Axiom 7 chartplotter. I am trying to get GPS data to my Standard Horizon GX1850 VHF that does not have an internal GPS. I can't get it to work.

The VHF supports NMEA 2000 and has a 5 pin plug.

The Axiom has a network output on it's power cable that is for a drop cable to a network. Weirdly, though Raymarine pushes it's Seatalk NG and associated cable, the plug on the Axiom is not a Seatalk connector, it is an NMEA 2000 5 pin plug. My understanding is Seatalk NG is identical to NMEA 2000 for this purpose, except for the proprietary cables, but this may be wrong. I thought I could put in a new NMEA 2000 backbone and be good to go. Not.

Here is what I installed:

Axiom > NMEA2K drop cable > NMEA2K 2-port spur
VHF > NMEA2K drop cable > NMEA2K 2-port spur
NMEA2K 2-port spur > NMEA2K power doohicky
NMEA2K power doohicky > 12V power
NMEA2K terminators at both ends

Nothing.

On the VHF in it's setup screen for NMEA2K it does not see the Axiom on the network. It also has settings for 0183.

On the Axiom I can find no setup screen or options or squat for configuration so I can't tell if it sees the network. Raymarine's documentation sucks a$$ and their web presence is all about selling their own cables and converters.

I can't tell if the network is alive, because as far as I can tell the only way is to see if these devices see each other. There is no way to see if either of them individually can see the network. I can't figure out if the network is dead or not receiving power or if either device is at fault.

Any ideas appreciated.

 
Snowden

Snowden

Super Anarchist
1,230
699
UK
Does the Axiom need its own 12V power separate to the ST NG network? You don't mention it and usually the big stuff like plotters does.

Devicenet / STNG / NMEA 2K is all interchangeable except (i) the plugs, (ii) a small number of manufacturer proprietary PGNs and (iii) the ST NG stuff has an extra wire for limited backwards compatibility with original three wire SeaTalk

 
Last edited by a moderator:
loneshark64

loneshark64

Super Anarchist
1,537
1,399
Maine, USA
Snowden said:
Does the Axiom need its own 12V power separate to the ST NG network? You don't mention it and usually the big stuff like plotters does.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yes is does, the Axiom power plug is unusual, it has two outlets, one for it's own power, and one is for the nmea2k drop cable.

I checked in the raymarine forum and it looked like they have shut it down for new comments and replaced it with a standard issue support query site where you do a search and an bot with brain damage give you links to completely irrelevant shit. 

 
Snowden

Snowden

Super Anarchist
1,230
699
UK
loneshark64 said:
I checked in the raymarine forum and it looked like they have shut it down for new comments and replaced it with a standard issue support query site where you do a search and an bot with brain damage give you links to completely irrelevant shit. 
Click to expand...
That's a shame, the old mod called Chuck was incredibly helpful

 
A

Alex W

Super Anarchist
3,368
330
Seattle, WA
The older Lighthouse has a way to dump all NMEA traffic. It’s a little buried in the setup menus. Is that available to you?  It will at least let you see what is on the network. 

 
Slick470

Slick470

Super Anarchist
2,089
331
Virginia
Too bad about the forum. I was looking at it just a couple weeks ago. Hopefully the new system is as helpful, and I hope they keep the old forum accessible. Lots of good information in those threads that will be hard to replace if they go away.

I actually wish other manufacturers went to a support forum setup so it would be easier to troubleshoot random issues. Looking at you B&G and Navico... 

 
P

pnwer

New member
32
7
Seattle
loneshark64 said:
Hi, seeking any help. I have a Raymarine Axiom 7 chartplotter. I am trying to get GPS data to my Standard Horizon GX1850 VHF that does not have an internal GPS. I can't get it to work.

The VHF supports NMEA 2000 and has a 5 pin plug.

The Axiom has a network output on it's power cable that is for a drop cable to a network. Weirdly, though Raymarine pushes it's Seatalk NG and associated cable, the plug on the Axiom is not a Seatalk connector, it is an NMEA 2000 5 pin plug. My understanding is Seatalk NG is identical to NMEA 2000 for this purpose, except for the proprietary cables, but this may be wrong. I thought I could put in a new NMEA 2000 backbone and be good to go. Not.

Here is what I installed:

Axiom > NMEA2K drop cable > NMEA2K 2-port spur
VHF > NMEA2K drop cable > NMEA2K 2-port spur
NMEA2K 2-port spur > NMEA2K power doohicky
NMEA2K power doohicky > 12V power
NMEA2K terminators at both ends

Nothing.

On the VHF in it's setup screen for NMEA2K it does not see the Axiom on the network. It also has settings for 0183.

On the Axiom I can find no setup screen or options or squat for configuration so I can't tell if it sees the network. Raymarine's documentation sucks a$$ and their web presence is all about selling their own cables and converters.

I can't tell if the network is alive, because as far as I can tell the only way is to see if these devices see each other. There is no way to see if either of them individually can see the network. I can't figure out if the network is dead or not receiving power or if either device is at fault.

Any ideas appreciated.
Click to expand...
I recently installed an Axiom including connecting to an AIS transponder via NMEA 2000. Basically, you have to connect the NMEA cable from the Axiom to a SeaTalkng backbone using the correct connector, and then you have to do it again on the VHF end, I called Raymarine support and they were very helpful. Gave me the part numbers I needed. Very important to get the right connectors.

 
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