Running autopilot without magnetic reference

[CarinaPDX]

The u-Blox 9 is just showing up and the uBlox M9N standard precision module isn't actually available yet. The dual band operation removes small noise error but not the larger fundamental error; absolute accuracy is essentially unchanged for position but speed and heading should be more stable. Also it can manage all 4 GNSS systems at one time as opposed to the current 3 for the M8N - but even 3 is more than is useful so for now just cute. A small win but welcome when the price comes down.

Greg

[Tehani]

Originally Posted by jamiehc

Planning on sailing the high arctic with Raymarine ST6001 auto pilot. The proximity to magnetic north means there will not be reliable direction from the fluxgate compass. Most heading sensors still use magnetic north. I have looked into a satellite compass (SI-TEX Vector 3D Compass) which uses differential GPS to give a heading but it is unclear if the heading data generated would be readable by the Raymarine thru the fluxgate input. Any suggestion?

I have been able to verify that STxxxx pilots with Seatalk1 course units can operate with heading data via the Seatalk1 bus, if the fluxgate is completely disconnected.
You can do two things to make your SI-TEX Vector 3D work:
1) - Install the NMEA0183 / NMEA2000 converter from the antenna manufacturer + the Raymarine Seatalk / StkNG converter.
2) - Install a generic NMEA0183 / Seatalk1 bidirectional gateway (ShipModul, Ocenav, Actisense,...). This solution will be more economical.

Jose Luis