EV-100 Auto Pilot Install

[BOAT]

My winter project is to install an EV-100 tiller pilot below deck similar to the Boat installation (much thanks Boat). After spending several hours trying to get some guidance from ray marine and not getting through, I thought someone here could answer a relatively simple question. The tiller drive (non clutch model) is connected to the central computer unit using two wires a red power wire and black ground. As I look at the wire and plug from the drive the two wires are blue and brown. Which one is power and which is ground??? Thanks for any help. Roger

It does not matter - if you get it wrong it will just run backwards for the first few course changes until it figures it out and then it will flip. Otherwise the way I did it was to hook up the wire to the power computer and then i jogged the drive with the head (port - starboard) and I watched what way the piston went (in or out) in fact I think I got it back wards the first time because I think I reversed the wires and did another test to make sure PORT = OUT and STARBOARD = IN on the drive before I installed in. (For my boat to make the boat turn to PORT the drive piston must go OUT). It all depends on what side of the boat you mount the piston. On Luna Sea and KADET boats I think to turn their boats to PORT the piston must go IN. They mount their drives on the starboard side, I mounted mine on the port.

It all depends on where you mount the drive.

[Estate Sail]

Boat. Thanks for the info and insight. The project continues and can't wait for summer in the northwest!
Roger

[RobertB]

I have the RM EV100 tiller AP and a Garmin chartplotter. While electrically they are compatible, I have never figured out how to get the EV100 to accept course correction inputs from the Garmin.

I have - it works really good too. You put in a way-point in the Garmin and then select the option to go to that destination under auto pilot.

Let me clarify - I understand how to program the units/to operate the controls - it is a matter that the Raymarine unit will not accept the data from the Garmin. It is likely a settings configuration issue but Raymarine will not help with integrating a Garmin unit and vice versa. In the setting menue, the Raymarine shows it is not accepting that type of data.

[grady]

I have the RM EV100 tiller AP and a Garmin chartplotter. While electrically they are compatible, I have never figured out how to get the EV100 to accept course correction inputs from the Garmin.

I have - it works really good too. You put in a way-point in the Garmin and then select the option to go to that destination under auto pilot.

Let me clarify - I understand how to program the units/to operate the controls - it is a matter that the Raymarine unit will not accept the data from the Garmin. It is likely a settings configuration issue but Raymarine will not help with integrating a Garmin unit and vice versa. In the setting menue, the Raymarine shows it is not accepting that type of data.

Had a simialar issue with my Garmin chart ploter 7607 and a Simrad TP22 autopilot. The autopilot was looking for a specific GPS lat lon output. (HH,MM,SS versed HH,MM.MM) Go into the GPS configuration and change the format see of you can get it to work.

[RobertB]

Grady, thanks, this is a useful lead.

[Estate Sail]

As I install my EV-100 I also would couple the autopilot with my Lowrance HDS-8. The Lowrance MNEA connection comes from the power cable, i.e. color coded wires. Can I cut the end of a Lowrance/raymarine compatible cable and match the color codes to join in to the sea talk NMEA network?

[March]

You mean, to shorten them? As long as a color-coded cable does not end in a plug, cutting it should not be a major problem. Typically, a cable would be color-coded so that you'll know which wire goes where and with what function. The colors of the cables of two different devices do do not necessarily have to match, even though there are some conventions across the board (for instance, red would generally stand for +, black for - or for ground, etc.) But blue from Lowrance does not necessarily mean that you have to splice it with blue from your raymarine AP

Make sure you read the manuals and see which color stands for what. Some wires may also have additional mini-lablels (such as 'NMEA in') that may come in handy

[BOAT]

As I install my EV-100 I also would couple the autopilot with my Lowrance HDS-8. The Lowrance MNEA connection comes from the power cable, i.e. color coded wires. Can I cut the end of a Lowrance/raymarine compatible cable and match the color codes to join in to the sea talk NMEA network?

If the Lowrance device does not have a dedicated NMEA 0183 or 2000 plug there is no way to tell. The NMEA colors are standardized but it's important to note that there are NO POWER COLORS in NMEA! So the red and white colors in a NMEA cable could mean a completely different thing than positive and negative power or grounds. All the colors in NMEA are identity colors representing certain groups of "talking ID's" - it's not necessary to get ALL the wires matched up and connected because you can run the autopilot with one NMEA group of sentences called RMC and I think those all come down one wire. If you can add the RMB sentences (another wire) the pilot can do more things like waypoints and stuff.

Also. YOU CAN'T HAVE TWO POWER SOURCES ON A RAY MARINE BACKBONE! That is important - the backbone must be powered from one source (preferably the Ray Marine power cable) if you add another power source to the backbone the system will not work. If the wires your using are coming from the power source I would be very careful about using the wires.

If you can get the needed wire for RMC sentences and get that wire connected correctly to a node on the backbone the pilot should see it. Another thing - there is a difference between true heading and magnetic heading in the sentences - I have all the group wires connected for both so I can run my Plotter on TRUE while at the same time run my pilot on MAGNETIC - (why?) It's an old habit most Pac Cruisers still run their pilots on MAG because GPS would drop out over the Pacific in the old days - it's better now, but I still run the AP on MAG because I don't trust the government. (strange huh?)

Anyways, try to isolate that one wire if you can and make sure you use a real Ray Marine cable to connect it to the backbone. You can add wires one at a time carefully to see what happens. There might be a color chart on the Lowrance device on the internet.

[RobertB]

While my system appears to be working, I could never get a definitive answer if the ETEC60 engine was providing power to the NMEA2000 backbone (I connect to the engine to add a "fuel gauge" capability to my system)

[BOAT]

While my system appears to be working, I could never get a definitive answer if the ETEC60 engine was providing power to the NMEA2000 backbone (I connect to the engine to add a "fuel gauge" capability to my system)

The communications port from the outboard should NOT be providing any power to output - it should only be outputting DATA (NMEA sentences) there would be no reason for that port to output any power.

[Estate Sail]

March and Boat, thanks for the reply. The Lowrance does have a dedicated NMEA 0183 plug for data. It connects to the back of the chart plotter. The end of the cable is a loose set of wires. The Red and Black power the unit, the remainder of the loose wires are for NMEA connections. I have a Raymarine to NMEA 0183 cable. When I cut the NMEA0183 end of the cable, I hope the color coded wires match the colors of the Lowrance unit and can be connected to the sea talk network. I haven't gotten to that point yet.

[BOAT]

garmin GPSmap 547xs

This is the chart plotter I have on boat - this model has been around for over three years and is still available today because it's so popular and the price is really cheap - a good plotter for 300 bucks ain't bad. LOT's of people use this unit so it's really easy to get help online about anything. It's old enough to have all the NMEA0183 talking ID's and also new enough to have a pretty complete database of NMEA2000 device net commands and sentences. I have not found a command yet it could not transmit or receive. This chartplotter actually has more NMEA sentences for my RayMarine AP than my RayMarine wireless remote dongle has!

https://youtu.be/lJw8j6klvvk <<< CLICK FOR VIDEO


The game changer on chartplotters came about 5 years ago when they started making plotters with a transmitting and receiving antennas built in to create their own wifi network - the plotter has a wireless router built into the case. The reason this is such a game changer is that it makes everything on the plotter now available on your laptop, ipad, iphone, or any other device. You just log onto the plotters wifi network and now you have full control over everything from anywhere on the boat.

This also eliminated the need for multiple heads and displays on the backbone and also makes a large screen on the pedestal unnecessary (where room is at a premium). From below decks on the ipad I can set a course, waypoints, monitor the engine, get sonar and position info, and everything else that you do on the plotter - EVERYTHING the plotter can do is now on any wireless device on the boat. Since the plotter can control the auto pilot you can navigate from the iphone or other devices too. GARMIN was really cool about putting in a super fast processor in this unit so all the screens are lighting fast on all the devices - it works flawlessly.

WIFI is taking over everything - my TV is wifi, your appliances are going to all be wifi - and your cars will be too very soon. WIFI is just a way to replace wires - Nicola Tesla would be proud

The unit can also receive a signal from a CHIRP sounder - it has a separate chirp plug in the back so you can just plug one in right there in the cockpit - not a big deal for us sailors, but for me my wife likes to see whales so I am going to get a CHIRP sounder to just throw over the side for those days when she wants me to find a whale. It's easier to find sea creatures with a CHIRP sounder than the normal sounder. In this vid I am using the normal sounder on the hull:

https://vimeo.com/176998271 <<<<< CLICK FOR VIDEO



I think it's a perfect unit for the MAC.

[Russ]

Whew...I thought this thread might have been lost.

However, the images don't show for me. Is it just me?

Is it possible to repost images if they don't show?

--Russ

[BOAT]

I will try to find the original pictures and repair the post - it might take me a day or two Russ.

I am also rewiring the system (another mod I did not tell you guys about) and that wiring mod has a trick in it that makes wire runs from the top of the boat to the bottom of the boat a lot eisier.

The mod involves moving the power panel for the auto pilot - only pictures can explain.

[BOAT]

Okay Russ, I tried to fix as many of the pictures as I can - from here on out if you need a picture I guess you will need to request it.

When I get the re-wiring done I will post - I needed to add more circuits for a shower sump pump out I am making so I decided to combine that into a new panel and put the Auto Pilot on that panel too and relocate the panel out in the open so it's easier to get to - the new panel location will also solve a lot of wiring problems getting from the upper liner to the lower hull.

Again - all easier to explain with pictures - I will post later.