Upgrade Raymarine ST60 to i70

[sailman]

My ST60 instruments are having issues with reliability.  Specifically Wind and Depth.  Looking at options and price it seems a package of either three i70 displays or one Tri-Data i70 would work. I have a Raymarine below deck AP linked with the NMEA 2000 conversion bus and an E7 chart plotter, AIS through a Simrad VHF connected to the NMEA bus.

What other options are out there with the same connectivity and pricing?  Strictly cruising here so not overly concerned about bells and whistles.

 

[ryley]

when Glory got hit by lightning a few years ago, we upgraded the ST60s to i70s. As I recall it required adding a box to the transducers to convert to seatalk. I like the displays, they're very clear. It's not straightforward to switch to night vision, but I usually just dim them. We have two displays over the companionway and an ap controller at the helm.

 

[sailman]

when Glory got hit by lightning a few years ago, we upgraded the ST60s to i70s. As I recall it required adding a box to the transducers to convert to seatalk. I like the displays, they're very clear. It's not straightforward to switch to night vision, but I usually just dim them. We have two displays over the companionway and an ap controller at the helm.

So if my mast head unit and thru-hull transducers are good I don’t have to run new wires?

 

[Alex W]

So if my mast head unit and thru-hull transducers are good I don’t have to run new wires?

You don’t, you just need a itc5 box that puts them onto the seatalkng (nmea2000) network. 

 

[sailman]

You don’t, you just need a itc5 box that puts them onto the seatalkng (nmea2000) network. 

I feel like Ted Lasso…well my job just got easier!

 

[Snowden]

Cheaper to go i50 / i60 and run the transducer wires directly to the back of the displays per your ST60s, no ITC-5 required.

 

[Alex W]

That is true but you give up a lot of flexibility to n what you display. The i70s is very flexible in what it can do, the i50/i60 are generally fixed function. 

You can do one i50 and one i70s if you are happy with the info layout of the i50. 

 

[SimonGH]

the ITC-5 then puts all the data on n2k for other things, it's quite useful.

 

[Bump-n-Grind]

the ITC-5 then puts all the data on n2k for other things, it's quite useful.

+1. very easy to hook up... just went thru all this on my 35.  and added another little connector box that lets me feed back to old Seatalk boxes as well... 

 

[Overbored]

the ITC-5 then puts all the data on n2k for other things, it's quite useful.

I installed the ITC-5 on the analog ST60 stuff when I replaced the failed speed sensor and added the p-70 depth. the ITC-5 works on the Sea talk NG system. good for the last 6 years. Does  sea talk ng and N2K work together?

 

[WHK]

My ST60 instruments are having issues with reliability.  Specifically Wind and Depth.  Looking at options and price it seems a package of either three i70 displays or one Tri-Data i70 would work. I have a Raymarine below deck AP linked with the NMEA 2000 conversion bus and an E7 chart plotter, AIS through a Simrad VHF connected to the NMEA bus.

What other options are out there with the same connectivity and pricing?  Strictly cruising here so not overly concerned about bells and whistles.

I'm familiar with your installation since my hands have been on most of the wiring  

The ITC-5 option mentioned is probably the least expensive and most flexible.  Assuming the problems you are seeing are not the sensors and associated wiring, the ITC-5 will be fine.  If the issue is with the sensor / wiring then you will see similar reliability issues.  With the ITC-5 you will have everything available on the SeatalkNG bus that you already have wired.  SeatalkNG is Raymarine's NMEA 2000 bus with proprietary connectors.  There are adapters available to connect a standard NMEA Micro C & proprietary SeatalkNG connectors making interconnecting both busses easy.

Once you install the ITC-5 and start changing displays, don't feel constrained to use just Raymarine displays.  You can use Garmin, B&G or whatever works on a NMEA 2000 bus.  Since you have a Raymarine pilot, you'll want to keep a Raymarine chart plotter as it has the best ( e.g. most functional) controls since different vendors chart plotters and autopilots do not play well with other vendors.  Unique features such as direct pilot control are lost when mixing vendors. You can still send waypoints and sensor data.

 

[sailman]

I'm familiar with your installation since my hands have been on most of the wiring  

The ITC-5 option mentioned is probably the least expensive and most flexible.  Assuming the problems you are seeing are not the sensors and associated wiring, the ITC-5 will be fine.  If the issue is with the sensor / wiring then you will see similar reliability issues.  With the ITC-5 you will have everything available on the SeatalkNG bus that you already have wired.  SeatalkNG is Raymarine's NMEA 2000 bus with proprietary connectors.  There are adapters available to connect a standard NMEA Micro C & proprietary SeatalkNG connectors making interconnecting both busses easy.

Once you install the ITC-5 and start changing displays, don't feel constrained to use just Raymarine displays.  You can use Garmin, B&G or whatever works on a NMEA 2000 bus.  Since you have a Raymarine pilot, you'll want to keep a Raymarine chart plotter as it has the best ( e.g. most functional) controls since different vendors chart plotters and autopilots do not play well with other vendors.  Unique features such as direct pilot control are lost when mixing vendors. You can still send waypoints and sensor data.

Thanks Bill.  The mast comes down this winter so I can ring out the wires.  The i70 system sounds like it is in my future.

 

[WHK]

Thanks Bill.  The mast comes down this winter so I can ring out the wires.  The i70 system sounds like it is in my future.

FYI - when I put in my new mast, the only wiring reused was my wind sensor. One month after the install the wind started being intermittent and I ended up replacing the cable to fix the problem. Stupid of me to reuse the cable from the old mast.

If the mast is coming off, do yourself a favor and replace that really old wind sensor cable.  For the price, it isn't worth it to continue to wonder where the intermittent problem is located. When you ring out the old cable it just may read ok and you just didn't see a system intermittent problem.

 

[Alex W]

Does  sea talk ng and N2K work together?

Yes, they are the same thing except for the physical connector.  Raymarine sells adapters. 

 

[DDW]

In fact, some of the new Raymarine MFDs require an adapter to get to the STng connector as they come with a Micro C!