Data Source Selection

[[email protected]]

Are there any plans to allow data source selection on EVO autopilots when non Raymarine devices are part of the STNG/NMEA2000 network? I would really like to tell the EVO what to take route/track data from.

Tom

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum tpbradysr,

No source selection is required for the action which you have suggested. When a third party MFD/chartplotter has been interfaced to a SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone to which an Evolution autopilot has also been interfaced, and the MFD/chartplotter has been commanded to Go To Cursor / Waypoint or Follow a Route, then the autopilot may be commanded into Track Mode via the p70/p70R Autopilot Control Head which has been interfaced to the system and the Evolution autopilot will use the navigational data supplied by the third party MFD/chartplotter. If MFDs or chartplotters from more than one manufacturer have been interfaced to the SeaTalkng / NMEA 2000 backbone, then care should be taken to ensure that only one MFD or chartplotter has been commanded to Go To Cursor / Waypoint or Follow a Route.

[[email protected]]

Chuck,

The problem with that technique is that both the Raymarine a78 and a Garmin 4212 MFD at my helm output NMEA 2000 autopilot PGNs 129283 and 129285 with all 0's for data even when no track/route is selected or activated. When a track is selected on one or the other MFD, the EVO returns a no "Navigation Data" error as it is getting the same PGN from multiple devices. I can send a route/track to the EVO if I turn off one of the MFDs and restart the EVO.

Tom

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Tom,

Please note that Raymarine has identified a compatibility issue between the latest version of Evolution component autopilot software (EV-1, p70/p70R, ACU) and Garmin chartplotting products. Accordingly, it is recommended that software within Evolution autopilot components which have been updated with the latest Evolution autopilot software updates as of the date of this response be downgraded per the Forum thread found here.

Unfortunately, Data Source Selection for a navigation data source is neither specified by the NMEA 2000 specification nor coordinated among products of different manufacturers. Data Source Selection when executed within a Raymarine product will cause Raymarine products to each utilize the data source specified, whether that be a third party source or a Raymarine source. Should you consult with your third party chartplotter manufacturer on this subject, I strongly suspect that you will find that data source selection when executed within the third party chartplotting product will cause any products from that same manufacturers to then each utilize the data source specified, whether that be a third party source or a Raymarine source. Accordingly, within a mixed system, it may be necessary to perform data source selection from each manufacturer's product (where applicable), ensuring to be consistent in the choice made throughout the system.

Within a system of more than one Raymarine chartplotting product, navigation may be stopped and new navigation may be commanded via any of the Raymarine chartplotting products within the system. As there is no coordination of navigational data within a system featuring chartplotting products from more than one manufacturer, it is necessary to first command navigation to be stopped via the chartplotting product which had initiating initiated it before commanding navigation from a chartplotting product of another manufacturer. A feature request has been logged to consider data source selection of navigation data source within Raymarine products.

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[[email protected]]

Thanks for the reply Chuck. I had been following that other thread but have not experienced that problem. The problem was always the duplicate PGN's on the network apparently causing the EVO to reject any navigation data. I guess I'll have to wait for action on the data source selection feature request. I seem to recall one of the early versions of the EVO software (3 years ago) did give you some limited data source selection for GPS and heading sensors.

Tom

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Tom,

Again, all networked Raymarine components supporting MDS will be synched to utilize the same source for each corresponding type of data (GPS, speed, wind, depth, etc.). The source of heading data for Evolution autopilots must be an EV sensor core. The provision for data source selection found with the Evolution autopilots is intended for use in systems lacking an a/c/e/eS/gS-Series MFD or i70/i70S MFID.