Auto pilot

Dec 7, 2016
66
Beneteau Oceanis 45 Annapolis
HMT2,

I think I'm going to give the GWIND Wireless a shot. I'm curious as to if you used the GND 10 Black Box to convert the wind sensor data to NMEA 2000 when you had yours installed? The wording on Garmin's site is so tricky. They say the GND Black Box converts Nexus from the wind instrument to NMEA 2000 but the way they word it, it almost sounds like they are stating even though it's NMEA 2000 that it will only work with compatible Garmin chartplotters.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/146156

The wording on the black box functionality itself is a little more clear but I think speaks to greater clarity that the black box converter will translate between the wind instrument and any NMEA display device such as the Vulcan 7 I am using.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/144123#overview

Mike,

Good for you! Mine was an earlier promotion. There are a couple of wireless wind instruments that are NMEA 2000, I tried the Garmin GWind wireless. It worked great for a while then it started working intermittently, I went through a big thing with Garmin support replacing each part one at a time over several months. I eventually gave up and went with the wired Garmin GWind and it has been great. No I did not add the rudder sensor, mine works well without it. Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Dec 7, 2016
66
Beneteau Oceanis 45 Annapolis
So I cannot connect a seatalk ng wind instrument to the seatalk ng backbone of my autopilot, I have to spend another thousand on an MFD!? Seems like they're ripping us off.
Wing,

You can connect a seatalk ng wind instrument to the seatalk ng backbone you use for your auto pilot. The wind data will be available on the network and available for use/display by any seatalk ng device or nmea 2000 device if you use the seatalk ng to nmea 2000 converter cable. What I do not know is how many of the wind instrument data fields you will be able to view or use with the auto pilots P70 control head. I haven't had my EV-100 out on the water yet and I haven't yet installed a wind instrument but reviewing the documentation for the P70 control head it appears it will read and display wind direction only. This should suffice for the operation of the auto pilot but it probably wouldn't satisfy your curiosity and display of other wind instrument data fields.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
Wing,

You can connect a seatalk ng wind instrument to the seatalk ng backbone you use for your auto pilot. The wind data will be available on the network and available for use/display by any seatalk ng device or nmea 2000 device if you use the seatalk ng to nmea 2000 converter cable. .
Mike this is all true - but (you knew there was a but there) - you can't update the firmware (or maybe calibrate) it without a Raymarine MDF (or sending it back to Ray for updating), you may be able to calibrate with a I70 or some other small multi function device - That said the ITC-5 is fairly static at this point so firmware is probably not a big problem, but I would strongly look into the calibration of the device. This is one reason I stayed all Raymarine rather than put a Garmin or B&G system into the mix I got with the boat.
 
Dec 7, 2016
66
Beneteau Oceanis 45 Annapolis
I stand corrected, I searched back through the P70 manual and in section 10.5 there appears to be a selectable data view that allows you to display data fields such as Apparent Wind Angle, Apparent Wind Speed, True Wind Speed and True Wind Angle.
 
Dec 7, 2016
66
Beneteau Oceanis 45 Annapolis
Leslie,
Understand on the inability to update the AutoPilot firmware unless you have a Raymarine MFD. I knew this when I decided to go with my B&G Vulcan and somewhat wrote off any real necessity to update the firmware after conversations with owners of older Raymarine Auto Pilot systems who said their systems have worked great for years and years and never needed an update. Hopefully they have most of the bugs worked out and there aren't any frequent critical updates for the unit. One thing is for sure. These manufacturers don't make it easy to mix and match! I expect the auto pilot to outlive several chart plotters on my vessel so if the lack of update ability proves troublesome, a Ray MFD may be in my future.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
There have been 3-4 updates for the EV-x00 series of autopilots since I put it on last summer - one required the complete recalibration of the system. The updates effected the P70(r) as well. I think this system is still in the very actively maintained phase and will updated regularly until the next version comes out.
 
Dec 7, 2016
66
Beneteau Oceanis 45 Annapolis
Buggers! I guess as long as I don't know what I'm missing. :) The ACU is pretty easy to unplug. Sending it in might be a yearly off season maintenance item.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
one other idea is to score a old E or C series MDF and connect it up only when you want to do updates and calibration stuff - Then take it off the boat. I wouldn't want to devote space for them on my boat - but just to cal and update it might be worth it.
 
Dec 7, 2016
66
Beneteau Oceanis 45 Annapolis
Not a bad idea. Maybe find an older one with a bad internal GPS or something for cheap. Again, I haven't done any of this myself yet but according to the manual, calibration is possible through the P70 control head, it's just the ability to update the firmware that you lose. Well, that and any of the potentially proprietary slick auto pilot features you might gain by having a Ray Auto Pilot and MFD coupled together. I have not been able to confirm that I will be able to use ANY of the built in auto pilot features on my B&G Vulcan 7 with my Ray EV-100. A call to both manufacturers turned up nothing. They would neither confirm or deny. I don't believe they are going to work well together.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
yes you can calibrate your autopilot from the P70. I just mounted the wind instruments to the mast last week and the mast is due to be stuffed into the boat today. So I haven't tried the autopilot using the wind features, one thing I have heard is that it also requires the water speed to derive true wind speed/angle (note GPS speed isn't currently used) - I will have to see how that effects the autopilot, the good thing is I usually have the paddle wheel installed but it does get fouled occasionally. This is all from forum based chatter - so will believe when I see it.
 
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HMT2

.
Mar 20, 2014
899
Hunter 31 828 Shoreacres, TX
HMT2,

I think I'm going to give the GWIND Wireless a shot. I'm curious as to if you used the GND 10 Black Box to convert the wind sensor data to NMEA 2000 when you had yours installed? The wording on Garmin's site is so tricky. They say the GND Black Box converts Nexus from the wind instrument to NMEA 2000 but the way they word it, it almost sounds like they are stating even though it's NMEA 2000 that it will only work with compatible Garmin chartplotters.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/146156

The wording on the black box functionality itself is a little more clear but I think speaks to greater clarity that the black box converter will translate between the wind instrument and any NMEA display device such as the Vulcan 7 I am using.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/144123#overview
I would say give it a shot. I had a Garmin MFD so it should have been compatible. I will say it worked fine for a few months but then it became intermittent in its function. I replaced every component of the wireless GWind system one at a time and nothing fixed it. Perhaps I have some bad elctric juju? I hope it works well for you.
 
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Likes: Mike Kegley
Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
Also check Ebay. If you are patient, there are good deals to be had. I got an older Tiller Pilot for less than 100 bucks. Works great.