Mercury GPS 300 / Maretron GPS 200 Antenna Receiver - Raymarine SeaTalk Network
TonyG13
Member Posts: 1,330 ✭✭✭✭
My GPS has not been displaying on my circa 2014 Raymarine e97 MFD, VesselView display, or VHF radio upon start-up. All feed from the receiver as part of the Raymarine proprietary NMEA 2000 SeaTalk network. It will eventually work after a few minutes to an hour, but from my limited research seems likely cause is the battery in the unit has failed.
Since there were no external markings on the antenna, I removed it and inside it was marked "Mercury GPS300 P/N 8M6000911" - and another label "Maretron GPS 200" -- looking at the unit the battery is encased in an epoxy box -- so no easy fix to swap it out.
Did some more research and seems like the only compatible GPS receivers are the Raymarine RS150 and RS 130 - which seem to be plug-n-play with the Raymarine SeaTalk system. The RS130 is obsolete and the RS150 is ~$300. And a Maretron GPS 200 is even more money.
Are these really my only choice for a replacement? Is there a way to get a less expensive GPS antenna to hook into this system?
Since there were no external markings on the antenna, I removed it and inside it was marked "Mercury GPS300 P/N 8M6000911" - and another label "Maretron GPS 200" -- looking at the unit the battery is encased in an epoxy box -- so no easy fix to swap it out.
Did some more research and seems like the only compatible GPS receivers are the Raymarine RS150 and RS 130 - which seem to be plug-n-play with the Raymarine SeaTalk system. The RS130 is obsolete and the RS150 is ~$300. And a Maretron GPS 200 is even more money.
Are these really my only choice for a replacement? Is there a way to get a less expensive GPS antenna to hook into this system?
Comments
the good news about the rs150 is that it’s up to date so if you plan to upgrade to a new axiom mfd you’ll already have the gps antenna ran and in place. I added an rs150 this summer to my axiom 12.
or have you checked eBay for a used 130?
"The RS150 is our current GPS antenna but any brand GPS antenna will work on STNG. You would just need to convert STNG to device net for the connection. For example, I have Simrad and Garmin branded antennas in my test stand and they all function great."
The bad news is techs talk tech and don't think about the average Joe who knows squat about connecting networks. I'm a plug-n-play guy with limited knowledge of how these things interface. While I think what he's saying is any antenna will work on the SeaTalk Network (STNG), yet I still probably wouldn't know how to "convert STNG to device net" - I just hear yada, yada, yada.
So - thank you @Liberty44140 -- I'll probably take your advice and get an RS150 since it is the up-to-date version, and plug-n-play.
But here's the biggest kicker: After reading my Raymarine MFD manual it says my MFD has a built-in GPS. So went down to the boat, found the internal GPS in the menu, selected it, refreshed the system - and viola! - my GPS is working -- all without the external antenna attached. So I now have some time to decide my next steps.
DeviceNet is the type of cable used for NMEA 2000 networking. The Raymarine A06045 adapter cable that I mentioned previously is the adapter that the tech was talking about. It connects STNG to N2K (DeviceNet).
Nowadays, it does not seem to be that easy. BNC, SeaTalk, DeviceNet connectors. Whew! But with your info I think I know what to do...
The bad, current external Mercury GPS has a five pin (DeviceNet?) connector and that's what is already fished up to the arch. A new Raystar RS150 has the proprietary SeaTalk six pin connector.
So if I get the Raymarine A06045 adapter cable and add it to the existing cable it should be plug-n-play? (Fingers crossed.)
There's a small chance that I have one sitting at home. If I do, it's yours. Will check tonight.
When I was researching adding the rs150 to mine this year I saw that with nema2000 I could buy other brands, cheaper brands, and they would work with my system, but I decided to stick with raymarine since I have a 4 year old axiom. If you start researching nema comparable antennas you’ll find the same info I had.
all that said if the internal antenna works your golden. My internal antenna was taking 20 min to connect due to hard top but now with the 150 connection is instantaneous.