Raymarine GPS antenna

[Deleted]

I’m about to exchange my old RC435 for an C80 chartplotter. Now I found out that the RC435 GPS antenna is of the coaxial type whilst the C80 uses one to be connected to NMEA or Seatalk. The GPS125 is not available anymore so I will have to buy a 2nd hand or an NMEA replacement version but does anybody know if there are converters on the market that convert the coaxial signal into NMEA. That would save me time to route the cable throughout the boat. Or is there somebody amongst us who has a GPS125 for sale.

[ianpowolny]

Marien,

Not sure if this will help but we change out antenna for something similar to this: www.gps-galore.co.uk/?product_cat=marine-gps-receiver. It works very well. There are cheaper after market ones on eBay.

Also: jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/5500/raystar-rs125-battery-replacement-procedure

Ian

[Mistroma]

Pretty certain that the item you are talking about is just a GPS antenna (passive or possibly active). In that case, the actual GPS receiver is probably inside your old plotter and the antenna and co-ax are just supplying a decent strength signal. If this is correct you won't be able to convert to NMEA as there's nothing to convert. You need to get a unit with built-in GPS unit and might as well get something able to output NMEA.

I had the same battery problem on my 125 as already mentioned. The battery lasted about 6 years or so but was trivial to replace on my 2009 model as it wasn't soldered in place. I assume that models later than 2009 would also have easily replaceable batteries. So not a big deal if you do manage to find a relatively new 2nd hand unit.

Only 2nd hand Raystar 125 units I've seen recently have been in USA and seemed to be very expensive. I have seen units for ~£15 on eBay which look very similar to your original unit and have NMEA output. However, the output is via USB and would require an adapter to connect to a Raymarine plotter (not impossible).

[alenka]

I think the 125 was replaced by the 130.

It depends on if the GPS is integral in the C80 and therefore needs just an antenna, or if you need a separate GPS to determine the position and send that to the chart plotter.

If you have not already come across this Raymarine page then it might prove useful. It lists the C80 at the bottom of the page.

www.raymarine.com/view/?id=3528

Edit. 

The above page has a link that takes you to another page that suggests the 125 in a Seatalk type 1 device which needs an adapter to make it work with the C80 which is a Seatalk type 2 device.

[Deleted]

Ian, thanks for the link. Mistroma and Alenka are right, the antenne for the C80 is a system, the old antenne is just an antenna. The Galore replacement is an NMEA version but the original GPS125 for the C80 has the Seatalk interface. The problem I’m facing now is that I need the C80 NMEA input for the AIS data. So I either need an NMEA multiplexer or a replacement antenne for Seatalk.

Does anybody know if the NMEA input data on the C80 is directly distributed back over the NMEA out as I also need the AIS data on my COMAR NMEA2Wifi.

[ianpowolny]

Marien,

We worked with the owner/director of the Raymarine base from Lisbon. He changed our system and connected the antenna in the auto pilot somehow. I don't know much more than that. Do you have an RM auto pilot? I'm on the boat next week so can take some photos to show how it's connected. Yours is an E system 2008 vintage so similar to the C.

Ian

[Trevor]

Oh and also before I forget, Ebay has plenty of GPS125 antennae for you to choose from.

Regards,

Trevor

[Deleted]

Thanks all for the feedback. I had some contact with Raymarine in The Netherlands but they told me the Smart pilot I have will not forward a GPS NMEA signal connected to the input of the Smartpilot. So I need a multiplexer.

Now I searched on eBay and found a great device. It is a NMEA2Wifi from Vela-Navega. It costs only € 45,- including shipping. The great thing is that it has 2 NMEA inputs and 1 output that multiplexes these 2 inputs. On top of that the Wifi is bi-directional.

So I solve 2 issues because I will replace my COMAR NMEA2Wifi with this one and will be able to control the pilot from the iPad as well. So no need to buy an old GPS125 but buy a cheap but good NMEA GPS antenna.

If there is anybody interested in a 2nd hand COMAR, please let me know.




Next thing I need is the NMEA cable for the C80. It is an expensive cable so I will probably buy an Amphenol connector and make the cable myself.

[Deleted]

Is there anybody on the forum that has a brokken C70, 80 or 120 and doesn’t use the NMEA cable anymore. These plotters have a very rare NMEA connector which makes the cable very expensive. Otherwise I will try to find the right connector from Amphenol but that’s like seeking for a needle in a haystack.

[mickbond]

Hi

I tried for several days to source the 5 pin plug for NMEA without success, in the end the nearest I could find was the following connector. The pins are the right spacing but the keyway is 90 degrees out. It was easy to make a new keyway with a needle file and block up the original with a small piece of plastic and glue. Total cost £8. available on ebay or many other sites.

CIRCULAR CONN PLUG 5POS CABLE - 2CT3032-W05300 (Fnl)
media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Conxall%20Switchcraft%20PDFs/Mini-con-x.pdf


www.23hq.com/mickbond/photo/41383332/original

Raymarine Plug



www.23hq.com/mickbond/photo/41383333/original

Modified Plug


Hope this helps

Mick Bond

[Deleted]

Hi Mick,

Thanks for sharing this. I checked with Amphenol, Binder and Molex and later I came to Weipu but they all have slightly different dimensions. Furthermore those website don’t show the dimensions in detail. I will purchase this one as the mod indeed looks very simple. Again thanks a lot.