Chartplotter question?

Bob S

.
Sep 27, 2007
1,771
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
My boat icon is 90 degrees offset from the direction I am moving. I have a Garmin 7612 that is not tied to my older autopilot. I only say that because I have searched the web for a cure and I've seen many referencing to recalibration of the fluxgate compass. I spent a number of hours playing with it last night with my manual with no luck. The only device on the same backbone is an Airmar Weather Station. My next move is to update the software. Has anyone seen this before and can offer a suggestion?
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Up dating the software is a good idea.

Check the settings, there is often an option for "course up" or "North Up". This will determine which way the boat icon is pointing. In the course up setting the boat is always pointing towards the top of the screen. In the North up, north is always at the top of the screen and the boat points in the compass direction it is traveling.

Look around the fluxgate compass for steel or iron. If it worked before, someone may have set a tool box or some other metal near the compass.

Does your Beneteau have a cast iron keel? That may be affecting the compass.

Try recalibrating the compass. Usually it requires motoring in a circle while in calibration mode.

There are magnetometer apps for phones. I have one put out by Gemeco. This will help you locate any stray magnetic fields.

Good luck!
 
  • Like
Likes: Sailor Sue

ToddS

.
Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
I haven't used that specific chartplotter, but there must be some setting/configuration where you select your preference for "Heading Up", "North Up", "Course Up", etc... and yours must be set to something like "Heading Right" (or left)... I wish I had the same software to help you troubleshoot, but it must be somewhere in your settings. I'm assuming that all the "writing" (numbers, letters, etc) is facing the correct direction... If the text is also sideways, it must be some kind of setting that allows for different mounting options, in case you need to mount the hardware sideways... that seems less likely though.
 

Bob S

.
Sep 27, 2007
1,771
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
My guess is that you have a heading sensor that's faulty
If I do I'm not sure where it might be. The chart is facing correctly and it doesn't make a difference whether it north up, heading up or course up which I understand. The heading layline which is taken from the gps points in the right direction and is always 90° to port on the boat icon. Looks like I can update the software from my phone wirelessly from their Active Captain app.
Like I said in my original post, the chartplotter is not tied into the autopilot so the fluxgate compass isn't the problem.
Can be a bit frustrating but on a side note, I'm getting pretty good at navigating the software layers.
 

Bob S

.
Sep 27, 2007
1,771
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
The blue layline is the course over ground taken from the GPS
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
After looking at the manual and the photo, those are part of the sailing features, which show the lay lines. Since you don't have any wind instruments installed, the feature won't work. Look in the manual for Layline Settings and disable them.
 

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
Bob,
Some of the AirMar Weather Stations have GPS built into them and can provide COG and SOG.
Is it possible that the chart plotter is set to use the weather station GPS instead of the internal GPS?
Maybe disconnect the chart plotter from the network to ensure the weather station GPS is not interfering with the chart plotter?

Edit: The manual covering several of the AirMar Weather Stations has instructions for calibrating the compass. Maybe calibrating the weather station's compass will fix the issue?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes: Bob S
Jan 25, 2011
2,391
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
I have RM. the boat icon direction gets its data from the autopilot fluxgate compass. If your pilot is not “connected” what is providing the data for the icon? Does the plotter have a connected compass? Are you displaying true or magnetic? Mine worked fine until they said i needed a sw update. Never has worked the same since. But, this has piqued my interest. I should verify that I am reading from the compass and not gps as I’m out about 20 deg off.. I don’t even know if its possible to read from gps either..Compass gives heading and gps gives course
 

Bob S

.
Sep 27, 2007
1,771
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
Thanks Dave. The Airmar Weather Station is providing wind. You can see the true wind icon. I'm heading into it. I think Ward might be onto something!
The manual covering several of the AirMar Weather Stations has instructions for calibrating the compass. Maybe calibrating the weather station's compass will fix the issue?
Guess I'll be heading down there tonight.
 
  • Like
Likes: jssailem