Raymarine E120 minor issues - depth missing on smartcraft and radar TX menu

[sb in gp]

I have a factory installed Raymarine E120 (classic) chartplotter with all the bells and whistles (radar, autopilot, etc). A couple of minor annoyances that I'm looking for advice on:

1. Depth shows on the chartplotter but it does not show on the smartcraft display (shows "---"). I believe it used to show on both when I got the boat 1.5 years ago.

2. To engage the radar, you're supposed to press the power button once, which causes one of the softkeys to enable for Radar Transmit feature (BTW, as a software guy this is one of the most unintuitive options I've ever seen on a user interface). I sometimes have to press the power many times to get this softkey to show up. What keeps showing is the brightness adjustment. If I keep pressing different buttons, like changing pages I eventually get the softkey to appear, but sometimes I'll be sitting there for 10 minutes waiting to leave a restaurant, and I cannot get the radar to transmit. I've read the manual, and I seem to be doing it properly. I've updated the software.

3. The heading on the autopilot is about 8 degrees different from the heading showing on the analog compass. Autopilot still works fine, but it is a little disconcerting.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[FootballFan]

Same equipment here - classic e120's, factory setup up.

I more or less have to be sitting in front of them to remember what the menu options are. But a couple of thoughts.

Regarding # 1. Not sure if you have run into this, but it seems after the boat has been sitting for a while the transducer gets out of sync with the network. I think I have a DSM300? - something like that. Have researched quite a bit - the out of sync does seem to be a problem.

My fix is to get the power shut off completely. Turning the all of the energize switches off at the power panel inside the boat kills the power to the DSM. I wait a minute or so, then power everything back on. After the DSM reboots and starts talking on the network - everything is good for a while.

Regarding the soft key for radar start up - thinking this probably depends on how the page sets are defined. On my port side I use a page set which gives me Depth on the left half, radar on the right half. Right e120 has full screen chart plotter. This is on the primary, the secondary is displaying chart plotter.

I think the key sequence I have, once I am ready to start the radar is - red button, then soft key to toggle transmit. That sounds like the key sequence you are following. Your right - hitting the red button does have dual purpose - it brings up the brightness control. I wonder if the button is making bad contact.

I'll be back on the boat in a few days and would happy to compare notes if that helps. I am by no means an expert on the e120 - but I have fiddled around with it enough can usually get what I want out of it.

On the difference in headings - others will know more than I do - but my first guess may be true north vs magnetic north. I think there is a setting in the plotter which controls which is displayed.

Saw that no one had responded - thought I would through out any help I could,

Mark

 

[sb in gp]

Thanks mark. Anyone else?

 

[Henry Boyd]

Not sure about your depth issue. If other data (heading, waypoint, speed, etc.) is getting to the smartcraft display, you can rule out a wiring issue. What you might also look at is the nmea0183 setup on the E. There will be a page that lists the "sentences" that the display will output via 0183. A sentence is the term used for a specific data stream. Both the C and E mfd have the ability to turn on/off specific sentences that are transmitted. It is possible that in searching through the various menu pages the depth sentence was inadvertently turned off.

It is also possible that there is nmea0183 programmable multiplexer between the E and smartcraft, if so it might be filtering out the depth sentence as well.

On the radar startup, the scanner is not instant on after initial power up. For lack of better terminology it has to warm up before it starts functioning. It can take a few minutes. This condition by the way is why you should always keep the radar in standby mode, rather than off, when you want to operate the boat without radar. If you need to you can then switch to active and get an instantaneous output.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[gerryb]

My autopilot and raymarine degrees are off, also about 8 degrees. I understand that you have you go through this realignment process with the boat to program the digital compass and fix this problem. It is in the instruction manual for the autopilot. I hope to get to it this summer as it annoying but as you state, everything seems to work fine with the operations.

 

[sb in gp]

Is the DSM the transducer? I assume you're referring to the thru hull component, so I'd have to haul the boat to change. How do I know if I have a unit that is defective?

 

[FootballFan]

I spent some time on the phone with RayMarine support. They are the ones that suggested the reboot. After a reboot, good for 3-4 weeks depending on usage.

 

[alnav]

If you have a bottom contour display available then you've got a DSM, if there's only been a depth readout then you've only got a depth transducer. Since you are still seeing depth I would doubt there's any problem with the transducer. As mentioned earlier, you probably have a multiplexer installed that takes in the depth NMEA output and combines it with waypoint and other info Smartcraft can display and sends it to Smartcraft since it only has one input available. So, the question as to whether Smartcraft is displaying any info from the E120 is important. I lost the Smartcraft inputs a couple of years ago and the multiplexer was the culprit. I have the factory electronic interface diagram from Sea Ray for dual E120 installations of our vintage if that's what you have, PM me if you'd like a copy.

You need to be on the radar application screen to enable the power key to enable for starting the radar; just reminded myself the other day on my first use of radar this year. I just went through the manual and this isn't documented. Otherwise the power button just controls screen brightness. Agree it's an awful interface but Raymarine is known for that. So, you need to first select a radar page then the keys should work the way you expect.

As noted earlier, you should go through the alignment process to line up your autopilot heading display to the compass. But, if you are happy with the performance of the autopilot you can go straight to the "Align Heading" screen by holding down the Standby key on the autopilot for a couple of seconds until the calibration mode starts then press the Display key until "Align Hdg" comes up then use the -1 and +1 keys to change the number until it matches the compass.

 

[Alex F]

Scott,
I’m not sure if the fact that you have SC automatically indicates that you have Multiplexer. If SC is using NMEA0183, then you don’t need it. So, along the lines Al was advising, I’d say that it could be poor contacts.

Find DSM box, when you look through the middle access panel under the steering wheel, it’s should be on your right, next to Ray230/240 VHF box. Trace the output from DSM. I agree that since you see depth data on your MFD, the DSM broadcasts the data successfully, so the receiving end must be the culprit. I doubt that you have two transducers where one goes to SC and the other to DSM->MFD, but only you would know for sure.

Regarding radar, I run split screens on both units, the only time I can see an issue you’re describing is when some other key was pressed and the menu is switched from “Main Menu View” the one that comes up right at the start. If you happen to have focus in different one, by clicking CANCEL brings it back to MAIN and then click of PWR button gives you radar TX option.

 

[sb in gp]

Thanks everyone. Some good ideas. I'll take them to the boat and report back.

Hey, one more minor thing. With this setup should The Ray240 VHF radio get GPS data? The radio display say "no gps". Does this enable AIS??

The dash was completely disassembled during shipping when I got the boat, so we may just have something hooked up wrong.

Scott

 

[Alex F]

If everything was disassamled during shipping, then it's just another can of worms. It's definitelly a possibility for something hooked up incorrectly or got loosened.

Ray240 should be on the SeaTalk bus for GPS data and DSC feature.

AIS, that's a whole different story and should be a differnt unit (not part of Ray240 VHF).

 

[sb in gp]

If you have a bottom contour display available then you've got a DSM, if there's only been a depth readout then you've only got a depth transducer. Since you are still seeing depth I would doubt there's any problem with the transducer. As mentioned earlier, you probably have a multiplexer installed that takes in the depth NMEA output and combines it with waypoint and other info Smartcraft can display and sends it to Smartcraft since it only has one input available. So, the question as to whether Smartcraft is displaying any info from the E120 is important. I lost the Smartcraft inputs a couple of years ago and the multiplexer was the culprit. I have the factory electronic interface diagram from Sea Ray for dual E120 installations of our vintage if that's what you have, PM me if you'd like a copy.

Late reply. Sorry. The smartcraft is showing no dsm data. What does that tell you ?? If you could send me a wiring diagram as you suggested, I'd appreciate it.

 

[alnav]

Late reply. Sorry. The smartcraft is showing no dsm data. What does that tell you ?? If you could send me a wiring diagram as you suggested, I'd appreciate it.

If you will PM me with an email address I will send the Sea Ray drawing for my Raymarine installation. It's generic for Dual E120 configuration so it may be relevant to your boat if that is what you have. But, you might be better off writing to Sea Ray customer service and asking for the diagram specific to your boat. They can also provide a "build sheet" specific to your hull that documents all major equipment and serial numbers that Sea Ray installed, very useful to have around. For example, if Sea Ray installed a DSM the model and serial number will be on the sheet.