Chartplotter at the binnacle

stu9000 said:
Fwiw, I wish my plotter was mounted under the spray hood rather than at the helm. On passage I rarely am actually at the helm as more exposed and auto pilot steers effectively.
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I think the most effective place for a plotter is near the autopilot control. Pick a waypoint on the plotter, press "go to" and it starts sending the course data on the network ..... start the "track" function on the autopilot and confirm .... then go and hide under the spray hood.
If the two are at opposite ends of the cockpit, then this can be a real pain. I use this function a lot.

I can monitor and control the system on my phone or tablet as the chart plotters do screen mirroring, but I prefer a dedicated autopilot control and turn autopilot control in the plotters off. The danger of being in mirrored mode and ass-dialling in a different destination, or turning the autopilot off under full sail scares me.

The majority of my sailing is done in good weather, but heading to the helm regularly in bad weather enables me to have a look at the wind instruments, check the course, and see how scary it feels to be standing there ... which might necessitate further reefing .... sitting in comfort under the spray hood can lull me into a false sense of security.
 
Baggywrinkle said:
I think the most effective place for a plotter is near the autopilot control. Pick a waypoint on the plotter, press "go to" and it starts sending the course data on the network ..... start the "track" function on the autopilot and confirm .... then go and hide under the spray hood.
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That sounds like old ST 60 method, which i'm sure you don't have. What do you have that needs those steps ? With my Garmin i tap the spot, or waypoint, hot Goto and a message pos up asking if i want to engage the AP, tap yes and we're off.
 
Bottlewasher said:
Hi all,
This may have been discussed before but it is my first post. In process of upgrading my trusty pioneer 10 to a boat with a wheel, binnacle and compass at the binnacle.

I am looking to mount a chart plotter at the binnacle but I have two concerns, firstly the proximity to the magnetic compass, only 3-5cm, and secondly the depth of some Chartplotters to fit in a suitable panel.

Does anyone have any recommendations for chartplotters, 7-9”, that can be mounted onto a panel at the binnacle?
Thank-you
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A friend mounted a Raymarine Axiom + 9" on his binnacle, a 36' boat. Like Post 7, a simple stainless bracket was fabricated and connected to the grab handle in front of the binnacle. The cable was routed below the compass, but I can't remember if a hole was drilled or an existing hole was used. A very easy installation, the screen size is good enough, but even at 7", while small, it would still do the job and be very usable. All plotters will impact the compass and the minimum distance for Raymarine is 50cm.

With a closer mounted plotter to the binnacle and hence the steering compass, swinging the compass will easily detect the deviation which you can then plot and compensate for, so it's not an issue. Lots of articles available on line for producing a deviation card and how to swing the compass. I would not worry about it too much. You can even have the compass professionally swung and the deviation removed or minimised with magnets. It cost about £400 to swing a compass up your way, five years ago, the adjusters will plan to share the time and travel costs with commercial operators.

Swinging the compass - Tom Cunliffe


Personally, I am surprised that you are fitting a binnacle and wheel. The boat is very pretty and the tiller a very acceptable way to sail a smaller boat, and maybe more efficient than a pedestal and wheel. It introduces a more complicated system, increased maintenance, more failure points than the simple tiller. The cost saving keeping the tiller could easily buy a larger plotter screen.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
A friend mounted a Raymarine Axiom + 9" on his binnacle, a 36' boat. Like Post 7, a simple stainless bracket was fabricated and connected to the grab handle in front of the binnacle. The cable was routed below the compass, but I can't remember if a hole was drilled or an existing hole was used. A very easy installation, the screen size is good enough, but even at 7", while small, it would still do the job and be very usable. All plotters will impact the compass and the minimum distance for Raymarine is 50cm.

With a closer mounted plotter to the binnacle and hence the steering compass, swinging the compass will easily detect the deviation which you can then plot and compensate for, so it's not an issue. Lots of articles available on line for producing a deviation card and how to swing the compass. I would not worry about it too much. You can even have the compass professionally swung and the deviation removed or minimised with magnets. It cost about £400 to swing a compass up your way, five years ago, the adjusters will plan to share the time and travel costs with commercial operators.

Swinging the compass - Tom Cunliffe


Personally, I am surprised that you are fitting a binnacle and wheel. The boat is very pretty and the tiller a very acceptable way to sail a smaller boat, and maybe more efficient than a pedestal and wheel. It introduces a more complicated system, increased maintenance, more failure points than the simple tiller. The cost saving keeping the tiller could easily buy a larger plotter screen.
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I would be very wary of making changes to the compass, such as magnets, or it's potentially useless if the electronics fail, which is when you'll really need it.
 
PaulRainbow said:
I would be very wary of making changes to the compass, such as magnets, or it's potentially useless if the electronics fail, which is when you'll really need it.
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True, unless the plotter itself has sufficient ferrous components to offset the compass when not powered up. Even without GPS, and only using plotter charts, a modern 9 axis sensor compass would be available.

Thanks for correcting and clarifying that point.
 
lustyd said:
Modern plotters are autopilot controllers
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PaulRainbow said:
Absolutely. I can fully control the AP from either plotter, i can even calibrate it from installation. Current Garmin autopilots don't need a control head at all, although i do have them.
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I'm aware of this, mine does to, but when you put the plotter in screen mirror mode to a phone or tablet, which I do when sheltering under the sprayhood, you can control the autopilot with the phone touch screen.

Put the phone in your pocket in mirroring mode and bingo, you can butt-dial an autopilot command. I'm not sure I like that, so I turn plotter control of the autopilot off - so there is no confirm pop-up on the plotter, it needs to be confirmed on the autopilot head.
 
We gave up on mirroring mode, Navionics is what we use on the phone and then use either upstairs or downstairs plotter or controls to change course. It’s not often we change course on passage other than tacks and gybes though so we’d be out anyway.
 
PaulRainbow said:
I would be very wary of making changes to the compass, such as magnets, or it's potentially useless if the electronics fail, which is when you'll really need it.
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If you swung it with the electronics off it would be OK as a backup should the electronics fail, but you'd have to swing it again when the electronics are replaced - adding considerably to the cost of a new plotter. I agree, not worth doing.
 
lustyd said:
We gave up on mirroring mode, Navionics is what we use on the phone and then use either upstairs or downstairs plotter or controls to change course. It’s not often we change course on passage other than tacks and gybes though so we’d be out anyway.
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You need good electronics for reliable mirroring, such as Garmin ;)
 
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PaulRainbow said:
Yiu need good electronics for reliable mirroring, such as Garmin ;)
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It's not unreliable, it's by design. They don't want you to control the AP remotely for some reason, uness you buy their expensive remote. Today I'd go Garmin, but 5 years ago Garmin weren't where they are today with marine stuff. Even now I think their instruments look dated (case design, I mean), but the software is excellent and theirs are much snappier than Raymarine or B&G in use.
 
Like the pictures. And yes having a magnetic compass these days is a back up to the banks of electronics.

The reason I like the pretty graphics at the helm is when the cook takes the helm on coastal passage they can see where they are and not mis-read the geography. I confess to having gone into the wrong bay. Briefing crew on the charts about monsters, rocks and ferries is often forgotten 5 minutes later.

If steering to compass I suppose the electrical gubbins can be switched off reducing compass error as lustyd points out.
 

This guy has an interesting solution. I am certainly going to get one to put on the binnacle, even though I currently use a weatherproof tablet.

If you need to control an autopilot you might require more magic.
 
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Also don’t overlook moving the compass. Our main one at the helm is almost impossible to use despite being ubiquitous. Seemingly designed to be used sitting down at the helm where on most boats you then can’t actually see ahead of the boat.
 
Baggywrinkle said:
If you swung it with the electronics off it would be OK as a backup should the electronics fail, but you'd have to swing it again when the electronics are replaced - adding considerably to the cost of a new plotter. I agree, not worth doing.
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But creating a Deviation card for electronics ON and another for OFF - is purely your time to do it ... only cost is fuel etc of your own use. I would generally advise not to have correctors used on a yachts compass unless its literally a ships job ....
 
Lucky Duck said:
Indeed, much better on the aft bulkhead or any instrument garage. Unless someone is standing in front of it..

Interesting to read about people using the auto track feature on sail boats as it is something I’ve never used
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I don't use Auto-Track from plotter to Autohelm ... my AH's do not accept NMEA anyway ... too old.

But even if they did - I would most likely not use it - preferring to have AH steer a course that I am happy with based on my obersvervation of wind / track offset etc.

I certainly do not find it a hardship to +1 .. -1 deg or whatever manually on the AH ...
 
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