Interfacing to old Autohelm/Raymarine SeaTalk Systems

Autohelm, the UK autopilot and instrument manufacturer who were bought by Raytheon in the 1990s and then evolved in to what is now Raymarine, developed their own instrument interface called SeaTalk. After NMEA0183, this is probably the most common network found on boats and there are still tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of boats around the world that have a SeaTalk network onboard.

Our Sonar Server cannot connect directly to a SeaTalk network but there are usually one or two NMEA0183 outputs in the Autohelm, Raytheon or Raymarine system where our Sonar Server can be connected to. Take the system below, most Multi-Function Displays have an NMEA port on them or perhaps the system has one of the SeaTalk to NMEA interface boxes (P/No E85001) which has an NMEA Ouput or an RS232 Output, either of which can be connected to our Sonar Server – click here for wiring diagram for the SeaTalk to NMEA interface.

Originally the Autohelm ST50 Tridata and Multi instruments had an NMEA0183 Output and this was also true for the ST50+ range – for an ST50 or ST50+ instrument wiring diagram click here.

By the time the ST60 range was released, the only instrument to have an NMEA0183 Output was the Multi instrument and when the ST60+ came out just the Graphic Display instrument had an NMEA0183 Output – for an ST60 or ST60+ instrument wiring diagram click here.

There were also a number of Autohelm/Raytheon Chart Plotters and the popular Pathfinder range of MFDs (RC530, RL70, RL80C, etc.) that all had NMEA Outputs, that would transmit the SeaTalk Instrument data. For a diagram showing the pin out of the Pathfinder and Pathfinder+ unit’s NMEA OUT Cable click here.