Actisense NMEA 2000 & Autopilot Issues with Raspberry Pi Open CPN

[SirChaunchy]

Originally Posted by Tehani

Frankly, I don't see the need to employ SignalK for this purpose.
Any direct NMEA0183 <-> NMEA2000 gateway can do what you need without any hassle. If it's still time, swap the Actisense NGT-1 for an NGW-1.

The navigation sentences to your Simrad AP will be sent without problems, you only need to configure OCPN to send RMB, APB and XTE on the channel configured for NGW-1.

The only reason to use SignalK, and outside the scope of OCPN, is the processing of engine and transmission data (RPM, oil pressure, engine temperature, etc). It is not the case.

Yesterday I got the Yacht Devices USB Gateway YDNU-02 device that Rick recommended above and I took it to the boat today to test it out. I connected it to the NMEA 2000 backbone as directed in the pretty useful user's manual and plugged the USB cable into my RPi 4 and opened the "Serial App" included with Open Plotter. I created a "device" as a serial/dev/ttyACMO and declared the alias as ydnu and the data type as NMEA 2000. I then opened Open CPN 5.6.0, went to the Options window and created a "serial" connection using port /dev/ttyACMO and selected the baud rate of 230400. I hit "apply" and restarted Open CPN. The GPS data coming from my Airmar Weather Station at the top of the mast through the NMEA 2000 backbone immediately showed up showing three bars in the upper right hand corner, the boat turned red, and all of the AIS targets coming from my VHF radio over the same NMEA 2000 Backbone showed up along with their call signs and other information. I turned the radar on which is connected to the RPi through an ethernet cable and it worked perfectly. All of the other information such as AWA, AWS, TWA, TWS, true wind direction, magnetic heading, atmospheric pressure, air temperature, etc. also showed up on the dashboard and the satellite array also showed up in the dashboard. I then tried turning on the autopilot and engaged it and put a waypoint out to the front of the boat and a bit off to one side (I was still tied up at the dock), and gave the command "navigate to here". Nothing happened so I went to the same connection that I used to import all the data from the NMEA 2000 backbone through port /dev/ttyACMO and checked the output box and filtered out everything except RMB, APB, and XTE as recommended by Tehani above. I again selected the waypoint and gave the command, "navigate to here". Again nothing happened so I think I'm still doing something wrong so, if you have additional guidance to pass on to me it would be much appreciated. I did not connect this YDNU device to Signal K, but everything is working actually better now than it was when I was importing information from the NMEA 2000 backbone through my Actisense NGT-1. I'm hoping there's just one more tweak to the connections and my autopilot will start working from Open CPN. My autopilot is a SIMRAD AC-12 autopilot computer and it is connected in to the NMEA 2000 backbone.

[rgleason]

SirC I dont recall recommending yacht devices yd, but glad it iz working well.

[Tehani]

Originally Posted by SirChaunchy

... I then tried turning on the autopilot and engaged it and put a waypoint out to the front of the boat and a bit off to one side (I was still tied up at the dock), and gave the command "navigate to here". Nothing happened so I went to the same connection that I used to import all the data from the NMEA 2000 backbone through port /dev/ttyACMO and checked the output box and filtered out everything except RMB, APB, and XTE as recommended by Tehani above. I again selected the waypoint and gave the command, "navigate to here". Again nothing happened so I think I'm still doing something wrong so, if you have additional guidance to pass on to me it would be much appreciated. I did not connect this YDNU device to Signal K, but everything is working actually better now than it was when I was importing information from the NMEA 2000 backbone through my Actisense NGT-1. I'm hoping there's just one more tweak to the connections and my autopilot will start working from Open CPN. My autopilot is a SIMRAD AC-12 autopilot computer and it is connected in to the NMEA 2000 backbone.

After indicating "navigate to here" in OpenCPN, you should put your pilot in NAV mode. I don't read that you have done that.

[SirChaunchy]

Originally Posted by Tehani

After indicating "navigate to here" in OpenCPN, you should put your pilot in NAV mode. I don't read that you have done that.

Tehani, I don't think my autopilot has a "NAV" mode. It has off and "ACTIVATE", plus some buttons for self tacking, etc. I did have the autopilot in the ACTIVATE mode, but I put it in the ACTIVATE mode before telling Open CPN to "Navigate to Here". Do I need to do that in the reverse order and give the order in Open CPN before putting the autopilot in the ACTIVATE mode?

[SirChaunchy]

Originally Posted by rgleason

SirC I dont recall recommending yacht devices yd, but glad it iz working well.

Rick, you are right. You didn't recommend the YDNU Yacht Devices USB Gateway to me. You gave me a couple links that discuss this issue and the YDNU was one of many discussed in those articles. Dave from MacENCx64 recommended the YDNU versus the Actisense NGT-1 because it doesn't require drivers etc. Sorry for the confusion, but really glad I got the YDNU device

[JBP]

FYI, Yacht Devices is a Russian company.

[rgleason]

No problem. Jose Luis [Tehani] is working on what I believe, will be the "go to" gateway for OpenCPN. Glad you had success with YDNU.

[SirChaunchy]

Tehani,
I'm back at the boat today and indeed my AC-12 SIMRAD Autopilot does have a Nav mode. I started everything up again this morning as described in previous postings and everything seems to be working fine (i.e., GPS, wind, compass, etc.). Again I I put a waypoint off to the front of the boat and a bit off to one side and gave the command "Navigate to this Point", the point was blinking and it was clear that Open CPN had executed that command as far as the display was concerned. I pressed the button to put the autopilot in the Nav mode and it beeped a few times and then gave the alarm "Autopilot data missing". I went to the Options/Connections window and activated the "show NMEA debug window" and data was streaming there including in blue RMB, APB, and XTE data indicating that those bits of data that I had listed in the output filter of the connection were being sent out back towards the port for the YDNU device connected to my NMEA 2000 backbone. So, now the question is, why isn't my autopilot getting that info because the autopilot control panel is connected to the same NMEA 2000 backbone and it does send commands to the autopilot. Could it be that Open CPN is sending NMEA 0183 commands RMB, APB, and XTE sentences to the YDNU device and it's not converting those back to NMEA 2000 PGNs that may be required by my autopilot? If you think that is the case, what additional connections do I need to create to fix that?

[Tehani]

Make sure the GPS is connected to Simnet (NMEA2000). If that is not the case. you must add GGA and RMC to the OpenCPN output sentences RMB, APB and XTE.

Your AC12 unit is connected to an AP24 or AP28 control unit.
To enter NAV mode follow the steps on pages 31 to 34 of the AP24 manual:
https://www.nuovamarea.com/files/pro...20EN%20web.pdf

J.L.

[Tehani]

Originally Posted by JBP

FYI, Yacht Devices is a Russian company.

True, its directors are Russian:
https://www.yachtd.com/company/

[JBP]

Originally Posted by Tehani

True, its directors are Russian:
https://www.yachtd.com/company/

Headquarters are in Kaliningrad, Russia. I've seen claims the manufacturing is actually in Lithuania. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't patronize them, just pointing it out so you can make your own decision since they very much downplay the fact that they are Russian. Too bad since they made good products.

[SirChaunchy]

Originally Posted by Tehani

Make sure the GPS is connected to Simnet (NMEA2000). If that is not the case. you must add GGA and RMC to the OpenCPN output sentences RMB, APB and XTE.

Your AC12 unit is connected to an AP24 or AP28 control unit.
To enter NAV mode follow the steps on pages 31 to 34 of the AP24 manual:
https://www.nuovamarea.com/files/pro...20EN%20web.pdf

J.L.

Tehani, I do not have the AP24 or AP28 unit. I have B&G controller. I'm not sure of the model, but will look when I go to the boat in a little while. I will look in the manual to see if it lists other sentences it needs besides the RMB, APB and XTE.

[SirChaunchy]

Originally Posted by JBP

Headquarters are in Kaliningrad, Russia. I've seen claims the manufacturing is actually in Lithuania. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't patronize them, just pointing it out so you can make your own decision since they very much downplay the fact that they are Russian. Too bad since they made good products.

JBP: I suspect this is the wrong forum for this discussion so I'll limit my discussion to this one response. There are few Americans more patriotic than me. I grew up dirt poor and am exceedingly grateful for all this great country has done for me and the opportunities it has provided. I am a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served twenty years as an Army Ranger, four of those years on the East/West German Border in Fulda Germany. Having said all that, I'm not in to the "Cancel Culture" mind set. If this company is managed by Russians, they are the Russian people. They are not the problem, the government is. I run a small business here in California and I'd not like people to not buy my product just because they think President Biden is an incompetent or bad person. After the Army I was the Director for High Energy Lasers and Advanced Beam Control for Hughes Aircraft Company. We were inventing laser weapons. I had several PhD Russian scientists working for me that came over here when the Soviet Union collapsed. They were fantastic people. We've also had several foreign exchange students from various countries including Russia and China. Those people were great too. In general the people all over the world are pretty good, it's the governments that are messed up. Sorry for this diversion, I'll not do it again, but will remain engaged on this thread regarding any help you or others can provide on solving my technical issues with my autopilot in hopes that it will not only solve my problem, but may be useful to others with the same or similar problems.

[SirChaunchy]

Originally Posted by SirChaunchy

Tehani, I do not have the AP24 or AP28 unit. I have B&G controller. I'm not sure of the model, but will look when I go to the boat in a little while. I will look in the manual to see if it lists other sentences it needs besides the RMB, APB and XTE.

Tehani,
I went to the boat today and sailed a little over 16 nm to test out the Open CPN software as it is currently configured. It worked perfectly with the exception of the one feature we've been discussing (i.e., controlling my AC-12 SIMRAD autopilot from Open CPN). While out on the sail, I activated a route while I was sailing fairly close on one of the legs. When I made the route active, it made the waypoint to my front active. I put my B&G autopilot controller in the Nav mode and it beeped a few times and gave me the warning "Autopilot Data Missing" which is the same thing I got when I was still tied to the dock and just put a waypoint out to the front and gave the command, "navigate to here". I didn't have a manual for the B&G autopilot controller so I went to Open CPN/Options/Connections and went to the connection through which I'm receiving and sending data to my NMEA 2000 backbone. I added the GGA and RMC sentences to the RMB, APB, and XTE list of sentences to be output in the filter, and hit the OK/apply buttons. I got the same "Autopilot Data Missing" error as before, but it also started causing my GPS lock to be intermittent and then just lost it all together. I went back to the Connections and deleted the GGA and RMC sentences from the output filter and the GPS and AIS targets reappeared so clearly those sentences conflict with what I'm already getting from the NMEA 2000 backbone. Once back to shore, I went on line and downloaded the manuals for the B&G autopilot controller and on page 36 it lists the following PGNs for navigation 129283, 129284, 129285, 129029, and 129291. PGN 129029 corresponds to GGA and RMC in the NMEA 0182 world from my conversion table. Does any of this give you any additional ideas about what I might need to do?

[Tehani]

Originally Posted by SirChaunchy

Tehani,
... I added the GGA and RMC sentences to the RMB, APB, and XTE list of sentences to be output in the filter, and hit the OK/apply buttons. I got the same "Autopilot Data Missing" error as before, but it also started causing my GPS lock to be intermittent and then just lost it all together. I went back to the Connections and deleted the GGA and RMC sentences from the output filter and the GPS and AIS targets reappeared so clearly those sentences conflict with what I'm already getting from the NMEA 2000 backbone.

Yes, what has happened is that the GPS is on the NMEA2000 network, and by adding the GGA and RMC outputs in OpenCPN, you have created a data loop, which jams the NMEA2000 bus.

Once back to shore, I went on line and downloaded the manuals for the B&G autopilot controller and on page 36 it lists the following PGNs for navigation 129283, 129284, 129285, 129029, and 129291. PGN 129029 corresponds to GGA and RMC in the NMEA 0182 world from my conversion table. Does any of this give you any additional ideas about what I might need to do?

Suppose the problem is in the translation of PGN 129285 and 129291:
-129285 is "route /WP information". Its translation from RMB/APB is a bit confusing, and in fact not vital (Actisense NGW-1 doesn't even translate it). It basically contains the IDs and ASCII names of the route, or at least the route leg. I had to use Raymarine NMEA2000 captures to simulate something compatible. Your YDNU may not be doing it correctly, but I don't think that's the problem.
-129291 is "set and drift". Your pilot will probably read this PGN only when in "NO DRIFT" mode. Actisense NGW-1 generates it from VDR (NMEA0183), but OpenCPN does not send VDR. In any case, according to the documentation, your YDNU is not able to generate it.

Seeing all this, it is not possible that NGW-1 or YDNU is malfunctioning because they have many users of all brands of AP. Although I don't think it is because of this, since the loop problem has appeared when sending GGA/RMC, I suggest you check if your YDNU device is in "SILENT OFF" mode. In this mode it sends information to NMEA2000, otherwise it does not send it. Read chapter 5 and 11 of the YDNU manual to proceed.

If in spite of everything the NAV mode still does not work, the solution is much more complicated and involves directly analyzing the data in NMEA2000 with a logic analyzer, or with its YDNU in Raw mode.