Simrad autopilot to Raymarine es97

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Caladh

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Following on from another thread of mine I have tried to i/f the above from the Robertson (Simrad) APX3000 box of tricks to my Raymarine es97 plotter. Paul Rainbow kindly advised the wiring but I can't get the things to talk to each other. I do get confused with NMEA In/Out. I want Heading to be displayed on the plotter but the connection advised from the APX3000 is Rx (Receive) - so is this correct? I'd have though I'd send to send data from the APX3000 to the es97. I am aware NMEA is a can full or worms esp re. Raymarine kit and I might need a converter box. There is a monitor of MNEA port data on the es97 and no data is shown however I wire it, although a volt meter on the circuit does show from 0-4 volts when connected. The port settings on the es97 are set to 4800. If anyone one has successfully done this with Simrad/Roberson kit I'd appreciate advise.
 
Is it just me, but I don’t want my autopilot controlled by the chart plotter. I have a lot of technology on board which is useful, but I really don’t see why I would want the autopilot to change direction automatically on reaching a waypoint. I am happy to check for other boats, and manually alter the course onto the new one.
Not least as waypoints are generally placed a safe distance away from hazards, but if weather and visibility is good I may take a manually controlled short cut if safe.
 
dunedin said:
Is it just me, but I don’t want my autopilot controlled by the chart plotter. I have a lot of technology on board which is useful, but I really don’t see why I would want the autopilot to change direction automatically on reaching a waypoint. I am happy to check for other boats, and manually alter the course onto the new one.
Not least as waypoints are generally placed a safe distance away from hazards, but if weather and visibility is good I may take a manually controlled short cut if safe.
Click to expand...
I agree.
Plotter and autopilot were not connected when I bought the boat for exactly the same reason and I have left it that way. I want a change of course to involve a conscious decision by the watchkeeper, not just because the plotter says so.
 
PaulRainbow said:
You need to connect one of the es97 RX ports to the TX port on the auto pilot.

If this is the correct manual ; https://www.echomastermarine.co.uk/assets/manuals/Simrad/Autopilot/AP3000 Manual.pdf

Page 3-15 shows the NMEA connections. Your plotter is the "listener" shown in the diagram. TX- on the AP goes to RX- on the es97, TX+ on the AP goes to RX+ on the es97
Click to expand...

Sorry Paul - this is what you advised last time !!

According to the manual you need the Raymarine accessory cable R70414.

You then connect :
Plotter Yellow (positive) to AP RX1 positive
Plotter Brown (negative to AP RX1 negative

See page 85 of the AP manual for connections. If you don't have the manual https://www.defender.com/pdf/eS_Seri...structions.pdf

Rainbow Marine.
www.rainbowmarine.co.uk

I'll endeavour to try the alternative next week !
 
Caladh said:
Sorry Paul - this is what you advised last time !!
Click to expand...

No, i previously advised how to connect them together to enable the AP to steer to a waypoint etc. You didn't say then that you wanted to receive data from the AP.

According to the manual you need the Raymarine accessory cable R70414.
Click to expand...

The es97 should have a combined power/NMEA/video cable (see manual page 35), you only the cable with 7" MFDs. I was wrong when i previously said you needed the cable.

You then connect :
Plotter Yellow (positive) to AP RX1 positive
Plotter Brown (negative to AP RX1 negative
Click to expand...

The plotter yellow and brown wires are TX wires, so they do indeed connect to the AP RX connections. TX = transmit, RX = receive. So this connection (which is the one i said previously) sends data to the AP.

To receive data from the AP you need to connect the AP TX wires to the plotter white (+) and green (-) wires.

See page 85 of the AP manual for connections. If you don't have the manual https://www.defender.com/pdf/eS_Seri...structions.pdf
Click to expand...
https://www.defender.com/pdf/eS_Seri...structions.pdf

Link not working
 
dunedin said:
Is it just me, but I don’t want my autopilot controlled by the chart plotter. I have a lot of technology on board which is useful, but I really don’t see why I would want the autopilot to change direction automatically on reaching a waypoint. I am happy to check for other boats, and manually alter the course onto the new one.
Not least as waypoints are generally placed a safe distance away from hazards, but if weather and visibility is good I may take a manually controlled short cut if safe.
Click to expand...

westhinder said:
I agree.
Plotter and autopilot were not connected when I bought the boat for exactly the same reason and I have left it that way. I want a change of course to involve a conscious decision by the watchkeeper, not just because the plotter says so.
Click to expand...

You are, of course, both welcome to connect or not, as you please, but It doesn't work how you seem to think. There are a couple of possible options where you can have it work as you describe, such as Garmins "guide to", but even then it's an option that you have to explicitly select.

Without being connected to the plotter, all the AP will do is to steer to a compass course. This isn't always how you might want to do it. Sure, if you have plotted a course to steer on paper, taking into account tides etc you may only want it to steer to the compass. But there are times when you haven't done that and you have to continually correct the course due to the effects of wind and/or tide, this can lead to an inefficient track.

If the plotter is connected to the AP you can set it to steer to a waypoint (some plotters will allow you to touch the screen and steer to that spot, as if it's a waypoint, or do the same with the cursor if it isn't touch screen). If the tide is setting you off course the plotter/AP will adjust the course accordingly and you should always follow a direct COG to the waypoint. When you arrive an alarm will sound to notify you.

If you enter a route, this is just a series of waypoints and you will be steered to the next waypoint, at which point in time an alarm will sound and you will have to confirm that you wish to change course for the next waypoint. The plotter will not automatically change course without your confirmation. It could be argued that this is better than relying on the watchkeeper alone (as would be the case with steering to compass). If the watchkeeper has dozed off or is otherwise not paying attention the alarm will alert him to the fact he has arrived at a place where he should change course, he gets not such warning in steer to compass mode.

If wind data is also available on the system, most auto pilots will steer to wind.

So, if it is connected you get a lot more useful features, without the drawbacks described above. If circumstances dictate that steering to compass is the best option on the day, that option still remains and works exactly as it does now.
 
dunedin said:
Paul. You don’t need A/P to Chartplotter integration for either waypoint arrival alarm or for steer to wind.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be a chart plotter to steer to a waypoint, but the discussion was about integrating the AP with the chart plotter.

As for wind, you only need wind data on the system, as i said.
 
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