A78 - possible GPS issues

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

silverbullet87,

Q1. Are you saying that while the autopilot is connected through seatalk it will provide the heading, .
A1. All Raymarine autopilots, and most other autopilot for that matter, feature a magnetic north seeking heading sensor. Should you have a Raymarine autopilot interfaced to your system, then it will indeed provide heading data to the system. Should a third party autopilot be interfaced to the system, then it may also be supplying heading data to the system. To determine whether your MFD is interfaced to a source of heading data, switch on all marine electronics (including the autopilot) and configure the MFD to display the "Heading" data item within a Databox. Should the value be something other than ---, then the MFD has been interfaced to a source of heading data which will need to be re-calibrated/aligned or serviced to permit the correct heading to be displayed. Such information will be found within the autopilot's commissioning guide.

Q2. If there is no autopilot present heading will be provided by the MFD?
A2. No. The internal GPS sensor or an a/c/e/eS-Series MFD will supply the MFD with GPS Course Over Ground (COG), not "Heading". To view more information on the differences between COG and Heading, click here.