Raymarine Sirius weather AND Sirius radio together?

[DogTired]

Looking at the possibility of using the Raymarine Sirius Weather rec. in a Raymarine E series system.

Sirius says their audio feed is included with the weather subscription:

Quote from Sirius FAQ:

"8. Can I get the SIRIUS Satellite Radio Service with my SIRIUS Marine Weather service?

SIRIUS Marine Weather receivers allow for the simultaneous reception of both the SIRIUS Satellite Radio Service and the SIRIUS Marine Weather service. Your ability to actually receive and display the wide selection SIRIUS Radio channels available via your SIRIUS Marine Weather receiver depends on the capabilities of the navigation system you purchase to work with your SIRIUS Marine Weather receiver."

But none of the Raymarine info I see on line says the SR100 outputs any audio.

If so how interface Sirius audio to on-board stereo?

[Stretch]

If the Raymarine system with Sirius is anything like the Garmin with XM, the chartplotter's software provides the XM controls for channel selection and volume and the output jacks are on the chartplotter unit--not on the satellite receiver.

[tunachick]

The C series presently has the ability to select audio through the unit. The E series will have the same feature in the future with a software update, that's not yet available. Works well on the C series.

[DogTired]

So the audio wiring to the Stereo head unit will eventually run from the display to the stereo and not from the reciever unit to the stereo?

So does the E series display the weather functions currently? (Raymarine advertises the E series as being Sirus Weather capable.)

[Shambala]

The E-Series multifunction displays obtain weather data from the SR100 Sirius weather receiver. The weather feature has been functional since last summer.

Currently the SR100 receiver only outputs weather signals; it does not output audio signals. It is anticipated this will change in the future with a software upgrade to the SR100 receiver. The SR100 has an unused port, which could be made available for audio output to an audio head unit.

If you have an E-Series display and you want to get both Sirius weather and Sirius radio today, you will need two mushroom antennas and two receivers; the SR100 and its antenna to connect to the E-Series display for weather, and a Sirius satellite radio receiver and its antenna to connect to your audio head unit.

The C-Series multifunction displays obtain weather data from the SR50 Sirius receiver. The SR50 can output both weather signals for the C-Series display, and audio signals for your audio head unit. With a C-Series system, you only need one mushroom antenna and one receiver (SR50) to get both weather and audio signals.

[DogTired]

Thanks Shambala.

Guess I'll just forgo the music part IF I decide to go Raymarine. The music portion is not worth the cost to me for two antenna subscriptions.

Maybe Ray will get the SR100 in order soon.

[marinerjoe]

Dog Tired,

I heard that there will be a software update that will be released by the end of the summer that will allow the SR100 to act as an audio receiver, just like the SR50 does for the C-series.

Joe

[DogTired]

I'm bumping this back to the top.

I'm outfitting the boat now and am holding on RayMarine/Sirius weather hardware untill I get the music along with my subscription as well.

Has RayMarine done their software or hardware upgrade yet?

Please read the above before responding.

[mig888]

DogTired - 7/5/2007 5:11 PM

Thanks Shambala.

Guess I'll just forgo the music part IF I decide to go Raymarine. The music portion is not worth the cost to me for two antenna subscriptions.

Maybe Ray will get the SR100 in order soon.

I may be wrong, but I believe the only difference is that until the software is updated, with the SR100 you have to buy two of the mushroom type antennas in order to get both weather and music on the e-series while on the c-series the SR50 can handle both music and weather and therefore you only need one antenna. I believe you still need to pay for a separate music and weather monthly subscription with both units. Does anyone else agree with this?

[marinerjoe]

Once the software is updated and released, Raymarine E-series displays will be able to tune Sirius audio programming from the E-series display using the SR100 as the music receiver. You WILL need separate weather and music subscriptions, but per the Sirius site, adding music is a lower cost add-on than getting a music subscription on its own.

You will NOT need an additional mushroom antenna in order to receive the music, but you will need a cable coming off that unused connector on the SR100 that will terminate in RCA plugs that connect to an AUX input on a stereo.

In order to subscribe to the music service, you will need the music ESN (EIN?) available off the back of the SR100, or it can be viewed on one of the data screens that shows the SR100 information (somewhere down in the sytem integration part of the menu).