I have an admittedly complex system: A Raymarine E120 master linking together Seatalk HS, NMEA 2000, NMEA 0183 and Seatalk. I was having problems with my chartplotter failing to update the boat position and Raymarine suggested it might be the Raystar 125 GPS unit that was connected to my Seatalk bus. Instead of replacing the old unit, I am trying a new NMEA 2000 Lowrance GPS. It is getting a good satellite lock and a Maretron DSM250 GPS status screen looks good.
The problem is that shortly after starting the system, the E120 alarm shows "position fix lost" and the boat icon disappears. On the other hand, the COG/SOG and Lat/Lon data is still being displayed on the databar.
Has anyone tried/had success with a NMEA 2000 GPS working with the e-series? (Raymarine has confirmed that it should work with V 4.29.)
I have seen some intermittent issues with NMEA 2000 GPS sensors and the E120, particularly since the update to V4, and today I think I figured out what's going on. The E120 V4 edition does not like WAAS corrected GPS coming in via NMEA 2000.
I can particularly see this using a Garmin 17x N2K GPS. The E120 works fine with it when it first acquires a fix, but puts up a "no GPS" alarm when the Garmin goes on to acquire a DFix. The E120 boat icon vanishes and the GPS system icon gets a "?", but correct position and COG/SOG continue to show.
However, if I turn off WAAS on the 17x (using a Garmin MFD), the E120 instantly goes back to normal. Turn WAAS back on, and E120 immediately alarms a GPS problem (though every other MFD in the lab ignores all this).
I saw a similar response to a Furuno SC-30 GPS compass I just got in, and I'd bet a beer that if you can turn WAAS off in your Lowrance GPS, it will work OK with the E120.
Of course that's not really what you want, but there is some good news. I tried the same experiments with a new Raymarine A-Series, and it has no problems with the Garmin or Furuno N2K GPS sensors. It even shows satellites in use, signal strength, HDOP, etc. --- all the GPS status info that the E120 has never been able to display using a N2K GPS.
So I suspect we'll see this issue cleared up in the next software update to the E-Series. GPS, incidentally, seems to be one of the trickier sensors in terms of complete cross manufacturer compatibility, I think because there are numerous PGNs involved.
I have been going back and forth with Raymarine on this. They tell me that the e-series V 4.29 is supposed to work with a NMEA 2000 GPS. But then go on to say that I can't have the MFD connected to a NMEA 2000 bus.
Apparently there is new software in the works for release in Q1 or Q2. ( Although my experience is that Raymarine rivals Microsoft for late releases...)
Until then the official word is to NOT use a Raymarine MFD with NMEA 2000. Which kinda contradicts the earlier info on NMEA 2000 GPS. :)
I will also check the issue with WAAS.
You are dead on regarding WAAS. The second the Lowrance GPS gets a WAAS fix, the E-series alarm triggers.
I don't have a Lowrance MFD to turn off WAAS, but as you point out, that is not much of a solution anyway.
Correction: I can have the MFD hooked to NMEA 2000--just can't have any ST70s on the NMEA2000 bus--per Raymarine.
This will be fixed in V5 software that has one more beta release before it is available.
I have almost the opposite situation.
I have a RayMarine C-80 and RayStar 125 with both NMEA2000 and NMEA0183 networks.
The NMEA2000 side includes a Garmin GMI-10 NMEA0183/NMEA2000 monitor, a Lowrance LMF-200, and a handful of sensors, and I just purchased two FloScan FloNet NMEA2000 systems and plan on installing them this summer.
Anyhoo, the Lowrance gauge gets GPS data from the C-80 via NMEA-2000, but with a blinking "NO-FIX" indication on the display. Funny thing is, it displays the correct Lat/Lon from the RS125.
My guess is its just an incompatibility between manufacturers as I believe some of them still can't quite get over the need to have a proprietary system.
You will like the FloNet device. I installed one last December. You may want to add a Lowrance memory module to get full fuel monitoring on your LMF-200.
FYI, the FloNet devices are also very sensitive to air in the fuel system.
Lowrance memory module? I have not heard of that one. Any details?
Awboater, you've come to the right place ;-)
https://www.panbo.com/archives/2008/08/fuel_management_6_lowrance_lmf400.html
OK, you mean a Lowrance display. I was not sure what a memory module was.
I have a LMF-200, along with a Garmin GMI-10, and a Raymarine C-80, and between the three, I hope to have a sufficient data display.
On the other hand, I have been saving room at the helm for a LMF-400 sized gauge...
A follow on question. Does anyone know if there is a difference between the LMF-200 and LMF-400 displays in what the capability is?
Or is it just size of the display and how much information you can see on one screen?
I have both the LMF 200 and LMF 400. I believe the data capabilities are the same.
There is a Lowrance memory module. (I believe it is the EP-50.) It stores various data and adds functionality to the LMF gauges.