New instruments??

[LeslieTroyer]

Probably vendor proprietary. I know of no standard PGN for firmware or calibration. I have found a 2009 doc that talks about future cross vendor calibration, but I don't have access or $$ to view the official list of PGNs. I could possibly capture an update but don't think it worth my time or risk of bricking my devices. Even with my actisence PC-N2K gateway I'm not ready to tackle it. Maybe a remote to drive the AP remotely as Rays remote is expensive and is seatalk-1 only so also requires a bridge to get to N2K

Les

 

[ice breaker]

Do you have a below-deck autopilot, or a wheel pilot? I ask because I'm interested in the market, in the way that it seems only Raymarine, among the "big" names, sells a wheel drive unit, as far as I can tell. And, many installations I am aware of using linear drives, use the Raymarine drive, whether they are Raymarine, Simrad/Lowrance/B&G, or Garmin. Garmin seems to only supply hydraulic drive units.

Also, no one has commented on the relative performance of the autopilots. Which is best, for course holding, power consumption, and ease of use (like a temporary jog around a lobster pot, for example)?

I have a below deck linear drive electric. Works fine in most conditions, once you get it dialed in at commissioning. My only issue with the 7001 that we have is that every way point requires a keyboard touch to stop the alarm. Raymarine said it was an intentional design decision. So if you build a GPS course plan with multiple waypoints, like my garmin chart plotter allows, the raymarine will only drive to the first waypoint, and then starts beeping at you.

 

[FastOlson]

One nice thing about the CPT autohelm is that, while it does not 'talk' to your other instruments, breakdowns in your other computing devices will have no effect on it. We have a Raymarine AP, and like it, but have no intention of interfacing it with anything navigational other than our "mark one eyeball". When making offshore passages I prefer to do the navigating without a possibility of the AP getting some wrong direction that was unintended. When inshore around other shipping or land bits, it's even more important to make heading changes quickly as situations change.
I do have to admit to being escorted out of meetings at the Ned Ludd society after adding a hi-def Lowrance radar and integrated plotter at the helm!

 

[LeslieTroyer]

, breakdowns in your other computing devices will have no effect on it.

I think this is a common misperception - If my N2K engine instruments fries - it won't take down the N2K network - and if it did - I could easily unplug it. Everything else on the network that doesn't rely on that device is working fine. If the device that goes out is needed (say fluxgate compass) by something else (Autopilot) - then you loose your autopilot also - but with out the fluxgate your non-networked autopilot would also be down.

Pay attention to your backbone & node cables and you won't be having any major system outages.

 

[Tally Ho]

Greg, SeatalkNg can be your friend if considering an EV100 system. If the Garmin CP accepts N2K data you can make the connections. I took an EV100 AP and now display depth from an old transducer through the Raymarine iTC-5 Convertor. The Raymarine iTC-5 converts analogue transducer signals used in i70, ST70+ and ST70 instrument systems to SeaTalkng. Transducers for Speed/Temperature, Depth, Wind, and Rudder Angle can be connected to the one iTC-5 unit, eliminating the need for multiple ST70 pods.

The analog info is displayed on the p70 pod that was provided with the AP.

Thanks JS,
I don't think my old ST4000 AP will network to my Garmin CP, but if I upgrade the autopilot at some point, I hope I can get them to talk.

Hey, by the way, docking is going much better. Still using my "loop" to throw over a post, but getting much better at it!

Greg

 

[jssailem]

docking is going much better

Great to hear Greg.