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Thinking of adding a heading sensor to my C-80. What will it do for me besides the marpa? Please break it down to laymens terms. Also recomendations on which sensor to buy.
A heading sensor will ensure proper operation of the radar overlay function.
If you have a free NMEA 183 port, KVH Autocomp 1000 is the simplest solution, if your NMEA 183 port is taken Maretron SSC200 which is connecting using NMEA 2000 is a better choice.
SSC200 is a more advanced compass than Autocomp 1000. Autocomp 1000 is just an electronic compass, SSC200 is combining a 3-axis magnetometer, a 2-axis accelerometer and a rate gyro. The output of all these sensors are combined in a software algorithm running at an internal microcontroller to give better and more stable heading information.
I have SSC200 connected to my E80, the MARPA and radar overlay functionality is excellent using this combination.
Which would you choose between the raymarine smart heading sensor and the maretron ssc200? I have a raymarine e-120 and a simrad autopilot. I was advised against the kvh because it used the nmea 183 and the raymarine smart would comunicate better. For $100 difference which would be better for setup? Thanks
Which would you choose between the raymarine smart heading sensor and the maretron ssc200? I have a raymarine e-120 and a simrad autopilot. I was advised against the kvh because it used the nmea 183 and the raymarine smart would comunicate better. For $100 difference which would be better for setup? Thanks
I believe Seatalk "speaks" fast and easier that NMEA, Glen?
ALL OUT, which Simrad autopilot do you have? You may have the possibillity to get heading information from your autopilot.
SSC200 is much more advanced and better heading sensor than Raymarine Smart Heading Sensor. The advantage for you selecting Raymarine would be ease of calibration, you can contraol the calibration from your E-120. With SSC200 and no Maretron the display the calibration is a bit cumbersome, it will have to be controlled from a PC using a terminal emulator.
Seatalk is slower than NMEA for compass data. You might want to check the requirements of your Simrad Autopilot. The little peach-sized Raymarine compass might be suboptimal. There are reasonable alternatives to deal with the E-120's insanely thoughtless limit of one NMEA port. Garmins have four, and three network connectors as well as N2K!
__________________ If it ain't broke, I haven't played with it.
Will the addition of the heading sensor to a c80 increase the update speed of the heading on the chartplotter?
I moved from an old Garmin 188 to the Raymarine and feel like the Garmin updated coarse much faster. I'm wondering if this is due to slower screen refresh or slower COG calculation on the Ray? Hoping the heading sensor would address this but wondering if anyone has seen an improvement.
Will the addition of the heading sensor to a c80 increase the update speed of the heading on the chartplotter?
I moved from an old Garmin 188 to the Raymarine and feel like the Garmin updated coarse much faster. I'm wondering if this is due to slower screen refresh or slower COG calculation on the Ray? Hoping the heading sensor would address this but wondering if anyone has seen an improvement.
i would make sure you are running the latest software.
i'm not sure what added benefit a heading sensor would give you. it would give the actual direction of the vessel when not in motion, but does that really matter to you. i do have an autocomp 1000 on a c-80, but that is for the radar overlay. it works fine. i do have a garmin 2010c next to the c-80 and while i haven't focused on which updates faster, i've never noticed any differences either.
You can get 10Hz heading info (HDG and HDT) from NMEA port 2 at your AP22 (J300X course computer)
There are 2 alternative compasses for AP22, RFC35 (Fluxgate compass) or RFC35R (Rate compass). If you have RFC35R you should see RFC = ROBNET in the Installation Interface Set-up, if you have RFC35 you should read RFC = J300X.
RFC35R will give you the best heading info since it has a rate gyro sensor in addition to the fluxgate compass, while RFC35 should give a performance comparable to KVH Autocomp 1000 which is one of the most common heading sensors.
Azimuth 1000 is a fluxgate compass with digital (NMEA 183) output. Most autopilots can send the same heading info as Azimuth 1000 over it's NMEA 183 output. (and for the newest models also over NMEA 2000) If the autopilot has a rategyro the heading should be more stable than from a compass with only fluxgate.
In my experience with my Garmin Radar WITHOUT the heading sensor (3210 and GMR18HD), the biggest issue regarding inaccurate chart overlay is when the boat is drifting. If the boat rotates while drifiting, often the charts and the radar overlay dont match up. While I am motoring along, regardless of speed, the radar/chart overlay match-up works perfectly for me even without the heading sensor....just FYI
In my experience with my Garmin Radar WITHOUT the heading sensor (3210 and GMR18HD), the biggest issue regarding inaccurate chart overlay is when the boat is drifting. If the boat rotates while drifiting, often the charts and the radar overlay dont match up. While I am motoring along, regardless of speed, the radar/chart overlay match-up works perfectly for me even without the heading sensor....just FYI
why not toss in a sensor. the kvh are $260 (azi) and $360 (autocomp).
Heading sensor 
