Garmin auto-guidance with EV-100 ?

[nurber]

I did an install on customer sailboat consisting of EV-100 wheel pilot and Garmin GPSMAP 942.
Chartplotter was connected to SeatalkNG backbone with Raymarine DeviceNet adapter cable.
Initially, not even waypoint data seemed to make it to EV-100 when in "Track" mode, but after updates on the EV-1, ACU100 ( as of 6/22/2017) the pilot would steer to waypoints. But the customer expected auto-guidance to work with EV-100. I contacted Garmin who said it would not be possible to make this work, but I just learned that customer has called a competitor who has taken over the job believing that the installation of Actisense NMEA2000<>NMEA0183 adapter will allow auto-guidance to work. Is it possible for Garmin auto-guidance to work with EV-100 wheel pilot with the use of such an adapter or in any other way ?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Chris,

According to Garmin's FAQ on the Auto Guidance feature available on some Garmin products, "Non-Garmin autopilots will not support this feature."

[nurber]

Thanks for replying Chuck. I'm aware of this document, but on the Raymarine forum I'm more interested in Raymarine's experience with interfacing these systems. I've now spoken to my competitor. He says that Evolution pilots like preceeding Raymarine pilots will interface to Garmin auto-guidance using NMEA0183 ( NGW-1-STNG only ), but not using NMEA2000/SeatalkNG . This is software version dependent and my first course of action, updating EV-1 and ACU100 software, was the wrong course because according to him the later version prevent it from working ? But reading http://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.php?tid=3007 there is no information of interfaces, only the possibility of if it working with software update. Raymarine, do Evolution pilots support Garmin auto-guidance using NMEA0183 ? If so, why not using with NMEA2000 ? If so, where is this mentioned ?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Nurber,

Per our phone conversation, a FAQ has been previously posted to address Evolution autopilot compatibility issues arising when interfaced via NMEA 2000 to some Garmin chartplotting products. The referenced FAQ may be found here. I have updated the FAQ to additionally include the suggested workaround involving a NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 data bridging device. Based upon the information found on Garmin's Auto Guidance feature, it simply appears to be an autorouting feature analogous to the Navionics Dock To Dock Autorouting feature supported by Raymarine MFDs. When the chartplotting product is commanded to following these routes, corresponding navigational data will be transmitted to the MFDs. While I feel somewhat confident that downgrading the Evolution autopilot's software may address issue specified within the FAQ, its good to know that the suggested workaround involving a NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2000 data bridging device has been proven. Thanks again for the suggestion.