[TG] [TG11] Autohelm T300 computer & Raymarine Smart Heading Sensor via NMEA

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Sergio,

Even with your fluxgate low and central, I suspect it's moving a fair bit in its gimble and that this is the cause of the problem. Fluxgates only work accurately when they're horizontal. If the problem is inaccurate heading data then about all you can do to reduce the activity is to turn down the Response level to 1, on that generation of pilot.

There's a fairly steady improvement in pilot performance from T100/300 > T150/400/S1/S2/S3 > T150G/400G/S1G>S2G/S3G > SPX range, which all used fluxgates (the latter two groups with rate gyros added), and then a big leap in performance with the latest Evolution pilot range (the name was chosen appropriately) introduced in around 2013. The EV pilots no longer use 2-axis fluxgate heading sensors, they use a solid-state, high-speed, 3-axis AHRS sensors including 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis rate gyro. This means that they're no longer affected by boat movement and can give rapid and accurate heading and movement data in all sea states. This allowed us to completely re-write the steering algorithm and drop almost all of the previous static calibration values and have the pilot steer 'by feel' instead. I wouldn't worry about changing to any of the intervening ranges, but you will really see the benefit if you change to an EV pilot.

Regards,
Tom