Will autopilot talk to chartplotter?

[nickfabbri]

I have a garmin chartplotter that is connected to a simrad network via NMEA2000 . The simrad network has the wind instrument and the log as well as my AP24 autopilot.
My garmin 5008 is able display the wind and log data, so I know the network is ok.
The manual for the garmin says that if a "suitable" autopilot is connected then the two should talk to each other and allow the autopilot to steer to certain courses. However my chartplotter doesnt see the autopilot.
I tried phoning Garmin and Simrad. Neither knew the answer. Will this not work because i do not have the garmin autotpilot? Or am i missing something?
Many thanks

 

[lustyd]

If they are both NMEA 2000 they should be able to talk. Are you planning on letting the chartplotter steer? I've been curious as to whether people use this functionality very much

 

[Ripster]

I have a Raym 6001 AP that takes instructons from my Garmin network 4000 series, which is the same as the 5000 I think but without the touch screens. I needed a little box that converted nmea 2000 to Seatalk, but it all works. I suspect that you just need someone in the know to connect them to talk to each other, rather than a new AP

 

[chewi]

I'm not much into nmea2000, but under nmea0183 the autopilot would be listening to the chartplotter, not talking to it and the buffering would be so minimal it probably wouldn't have any return traffic to say for the chartplotter to hear.

I dont think my autohelm2000+ has any lines talking to the GPS or the windy. It steers to wind or waypoint using nmea 0183, but tbh its not that useful to steer to a waypoint, as it wants you to confirm any helm movements .

The steer to wind can be insultingly good at keeping the telltales streaming... better than I can do it!

 

[jfkal]

Settings

I have a garmin chartplotter that is connected to a simrad network via NMEA2000 . The simrad network has the wind instrument and the log as well as my AP24 autopilot.
My garmin 5008 is able display the wind and log data, so I know the network is ok.
The manual for the garmin says that if a "suitable" autopilot is connected then the two should talk to each other and allow the autopilot to steer to certain courses. However my chartplotter doesnt see the autopilot.
I tried phoning Garmin and Simrad. Neither knew the answer. Will this not work because i do not have the garmin autotpilot? Or am i missing something?
Many thanks

First of all it should work if the plotter has an Autopilot function. There may be some setup needed on the communication side. Usually the Autopilot only listens and wont tell the plotter that it is there as it is busy steering the boat ;-)

 

[Twister_Ken]

My Gamin plotter and Raymarine pilot can communicate via 0183*. So if you have a problem it may be at the Simrad end.

*But I don't let them.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I have a Garmin 5008 as well and we use a Raymarine autopilot. They work very well together.

It is important to remember that the plotter does bot steer the autopilot. All it does is send position, waypoint, cross track error and stuff like that to the course computer of the autopilot. What you need to solve is the data inputs to the autopilot.

On our Raymarine it was a simple case of making sure the correct data speed and input formats were selected. We take 0183 data out from the Garmin ( even though our network is 2000) as the autopilot will not accept 2000 data.

The reason that Garmin can't help is that this is totally down to the input requirements of your autopilot.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

If they are both NMEA 2000 they should be able to talk. Are you planning on letting the chartplotter steer? I've been curious as to whether people use this functionality very much

Yes I do. All the time. Every trip. All modes.

If I am crossing the channel I calculate a net tidal vector and get the autopilot to steer the required heading, but that isn't very often.

Most of the time I touch the place I want to go on the screen and then let the autopilot steer direct to that point. It adjusts for tide and then I can sit and play with sail trim.

Sometimes I let the autopilot sail an angle to the wind, which it does very accurately, and I monitor position and cross track error. We use this mainly when the weather is bad and we are hiding below.

 

[aluijten]

As said above normally the plotter 'tells' the autopilot which course to steer. But it can also send the cross track error information. Depending on the model of the autopilot it will use certain bits of information sent by the plotter to set and maintain the course. Normally no information is required from the autopilot to the plotter. But in NMEA2000 the system works a bit different as all the devices need to identify themselves on the communication line. I may be that the plotter is looking for a certain (Garmin specific) ID on the communications line and as the Simrad uses another ID, it's not recognized.

Typical information that can go from the autopilot to the plotter is the compass course. If the pilot has a gyrosensor equipped it can send the heading at a high refresh speed. This can then be used by the plotter to align the radar overlay with the map (MARPA).