Transducer for Depth on a 320 SD

[Jerroz]

I have a 2005 SD 320 with T-350 MAG and BIII and a Raymarine C80 Chart Plotter and what appears to be an AirMarr P-17 transducer (no DSM).

I bought it used and the previous owner and broker swear the P17 functions. However I can't see depth ANYWHERE on the chartplotter or in the SmartCraft guages.... I feel a little blind when close to shore.

Does anyone know of things I can try either on the boat or in the C80 that would switch the transducer "on". Ive tried everything I can think of....pleeease???

ANY advice would be great,

 

[Vince_nj1]

I have 2006 320 with Smart Craft and a Raymarine C80. I bought the boat late last year, so I have to preface my comment by saying that my experience is limited. I installed a Raymarine Fishfinder DSM and new airmar transducer over the winter which gives me depth on the C80, however prior to doing that I am fairly certain that I could not get water depth on the Raymarine C80. I could only get water depth from my Smartcraft display.

I now have depth on both, but they are using different transducers.

This is the owners manual for the smartcraft display. You might want to go to page 56 to see how to reset everything to factory defaults.

http://www.mercurymarine.com/_media...rtcraft_manuals/SC5000_System_View_Manual.pdf

 

[CJ Martin]

I have depth on my C80, but my transducer is connected to a ST60 tridata display. The ST60 is on Seatalk, and that is how my C80 gets depth. Not sure if you can connect the C80 direct to the transducer.

my advice would be to call Jim at BOE and see what he thinks.

-CJ

 

[Jerroz]

-CJ,
Thanks for the quick replay... for the benefit of us "newbies", what is BOE?

I assume ST60 is a DSM and I know I dont have that. I assume you also use it as a fish finder as well... and I know I cant get that with the P17.

Also, there is a Sea Talk cable plugged into the back of the C80 but I dont know where it goes from there... where should it go?

-Ryker
I will try resettiing the SmartCraft since what I have read so far says that "depth" is something I should see in the guages. If I could see it there that would be fine. I understand I will have to upgrade to get it in the C80 I guess.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Jerroz,

The ST60 is a standalone data display. I use the same setup only with a ST40 and RL70 CRC display. The Raymarine displays need something to interpret the data from the transducer. The DSM 300 does this and a lot more by supporting some pretty fancy transducers for serious fishing. But if you aren't fishing it's pretty much overkill. If you want depth and only depth, you can use a depth display from the ST display series and then use SeaTalk to network it into the C80.

if you don't have a dsm or ST display, I don't think you can get depth on a C80. I know you can't on the older RL series displays. So that would mean that depth is ony going to your smartcraft display.

Henry

 

[Vince_nj1]

Jerry

I beleive the Sea Talk cable is connected to your GPS antenna. You may have another cable sending your GPS coordinates to your VHF, assuming your VHF has DCS capabilites. You can learn about DCS here:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/dsc/player.html




My C80 has

1. Cable in for power, (bottom left)
2. Cable in for Radar, (bottom middle, large)
3. Cable out for DCS to VHF (bottom Right)
4. Cable in for new DSM fish finder (Top Right)
5. Cable in from GPS antenna (top middle)\

At least that is my understanding of the what each cable does. I'm not sure if I have the "GPS in" and "DCS out" cable backwards.


You can download the C80 manual here:
http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&PAGE=1921&PRODUCT=1672

 

[Tonka Boater]

-CJ,
Thanks for the quick replay... for the benefit of us "newbies", what is BOE?

BOE refers to BOE Marine. Jim Maier, the guy who owns this site, also owns BOE marine. The link is at the top of every page.

http://www.boemarine.com

I have not yet made a purchase from BOE but I find their prices are competitive and Jim has been kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

e

 

[everthing's irie]

I think you need the DSM for the transducer to work. Check with Jim like the others said I have an A65 and had to have the DSM to make the transducer work along with an adaptor cable. I don't know if the C80 has a sounder module built in or not.

 

[CJ Martin]

Henry has it right - I don't have a DSM, and all I get from that transducer is basic depth (no fish) and sea water temp. There is a second paddlewheel transducer that gives the ST60 speed. I don't think Smartcraft recognizes the Raymarine depth, at least mine doesn't. You've given me an idea though, and I want to check out the manuals this weekend - I'm wondering if I have the Raymarine stuff set to output the depth. On my setup, Smartcraft gets the GPS position via the NMEA 0183 interface, and I want to check to see if I can output depth that way...I know, way too technical. I'm at my limit here, again I recomend you call Jim (site owner as well as owner of BOE marine electronics, link at the top of this page) for advice.

-CJ

 

[Henry Boyd]

CJ,

I haven't had any luck getting the depth out of RM and into Smartcraft either. I wasn't been able to find a listing that explained the NMEA data segment tags, so I turned on all of them on the RL 70 to transmit and still didn't get depth.

Henry

 

[Jerroz]

Fellas,
Thank you for all of the VERY helpful information. With all of your help, I was able to get depth to the SmartCraft gauges. Appearently, the previous owner didnt care much about depth and had turned it off. I read the SmartCraft book and followed the instructions to turn that feature on and whaddayaknow?? It works!

Im pretty convinced that if I want the depth in the C80 that I will need to replace the extisting transducer and get a DSM as well...Ill save that expensive little upgrade for next year maybe a christmas present from my wife.

Thanks again.

 

[Vince_nj1]

Happy to hear that you got it working.

If you do want to pursue adding fish finder capabilities to the C80, you would need to install a new transducer and add a DSM. You would leave your existing transducer in place. (At least that is my understanding and what I did over the winter)

 

[Alex F]

Vince,

Looks like I've missed a good thread. Was this DIY project you had it done prefessionally?

 

[flflatrate]

thats great you figured out the depth issue. the 320's come with the smartcraft depth ducer, and like you did you just have to turn it on in the gauge. Also if you want gps speed in your smartcraft you can run that from your gps nema wires. Also you would need to turn it on in the speed gauge.

 

[daddyox]

On my 320-- the depth (smartcraft 1000) shows a footage and then -- (dashes), and nothing changes. obviously its not working, but how do I troubleshoot? Where do I find that actual transducer? On my engine there are wires labeled with 'depth' but not sure what else to do? I went through the smartcraft manuals and reset but still nothing. It has worked in the past, and briefly a few weeks ago, but then it stops. Thank you!