GP1971F

[Bullish]

I have a few questions but first some background on my setup. I have two 1971's, each connected to a different transducer. No external antennae installed. I also have the wireless radar connected to one of the units and my iPad. I also have the Furuno radiotelephone with AIS receiver built in. Everything connects through the Furuno hub (bus) for which I forget the name of. AIS received through the radiotelephone displays nicely on chartplotter and radar. I installed it all 2.5 years ago.

1. When using the chartplotter on either 1971, the heading line does not correctly point in the direction I am heading. I have to intentional point my heading line about 20 degrees off from my intended destination to ensure that I am on track to my destination. Is there a way to correct the heading line so that it actually points in the direction I am heading?

2. With one of my 1971's, not both, it appears the internal antennae cannot locate my position for several minutes after start up. The chart appears on the screen but does not indicate my position or any other data, such as speed, heading, etc. This is a new occurrence.

My boat is within reach of WiFi from my house. Could either of these problems be fixed with a software upgrade that is performed via my WiFi connection so I don't have to remove either flush mounted unit to send to you?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Magnetron]

I'm not sure that software is going to be the fix here, since that heading line is going to update itself based upon your vessel's movements. If that's updated by the internal GPS, sometimes the heading line might lag a little behind. :roll:

You would probably benefit a lot by picking up a SCX20 satellite heading sensor (external GPS/Compass). With the external Satellite Compass your POS updates would load faster, share the same POS between either unit, and update that heading line more accurately, as well as set you up to do radar overlay. :cool :cool

Just a thought, :sail

- Maggy

 

[Johnny Electron]

1. When using the chartplotter on either 1971, the heading line does not correctly point in the direction I am heading. I have to intentional point my heading line about 20 degrees off from my intended destination to ensure that I am on track to my destination. Is there a way to correct the heading line so that it actually points in the direction I am heading?

COG (course over ground) is not valid sitting still. To have heading and boat icon correct in place, you must have a heading sensor connected. You might consider the PG700 or the SCX20 to be added to your NMEA 2000 bus.

2. With one of my 1971's, not both, it appears the internal antennae cannot locate my position for several minutes after start up. The chart appears on the screen but does not indicate my position or any other data, such as speed, heading, etc. This is a new occurrence.

While the one unit might have excessive blockage, you can always use the one good source for both units. Have the GPS PGN data go out from the good machine and change the source of the GPS on the other machine from INTERNAL to being NMEA 2000. This will put both unit on the same source of GPS data.

My boat is within reach of WiFi from my house. Could either of these problems be fixed with a software upgrade that is performed via my WiFi connection so I don't have to remove either flush mounted unit to send to you?

There is no wifi update possible and any update would be done using the microSD card reader at the side of the machine. It doesn't need to be unmounted for that process. Software and instructions are posted under the product page if you need the newest software.

 

[Bullish]

Thanks for these points of advice. I didn't mention that I have a Furuno auto pilot as part of my network, including the PG700. I will perform the software upgrade as it can not hurt to do so.

I'm probably not describing the heading line issue so it can be accurately understood. Perhaps I can post a picture the next time I use the boat. Although the arrow representing my boat on the chartplotter is always pointed exactly in the direction I'm heading, the heading line coming out of the front of the arrow is always pointing about 20-30 degrees to the left of my actual heading, so I can not overlay the heading line with my destination and arrive at my intended destination. So, if I follow the heading line, I will arrive well right of my intended destination. When you look at the arrow with the naked eye, you can tell that the line is not coming straight out of the front of the arrow. It is coming out at an angle pointed to the left. I was hopeful this was a known problem that you've heard of before but it doesn't seem so.

I had a pair of 1650s for 15 years before these units and never had this issue. There is something clearly off with my 1971s in this regard.