It is very difficult to provide a clear verbal description of how a marine autopilot performed, but included within the data recording will be time-stamped data that states:
- Pilot direction vs. GPS track over the ground
- Velocity through water versus velocity over land
- Demo mode (standby, auto, shuttle, track, calibration)
- Desired and actual rudder angles and rudder turn rate
- Ship’s yaw rate
- Vessel pitch and wind data
- Any pilot warnings and error messages
- Direction and distance to the waypoint, and cross-path error
- Product part numbers, serial numbers and software releases
And much, much more. In other words, if you can record that data and send it to us, we can “replay” your flight, see how the pilot and ship are performing almost as if we were on board ourselves, and graph any combination of data over time.
What you should do?
1. Run the 'Debug' trial, in Setup > Calibration > Run. Set Debug to 7 and ACU Debug to 31. To see these options, Calibration Lock (in Ship Settings) must be turned off.
2. Insert a blank MicroSD card into the plotter slot on your Raymarine Lighthouse2 or Lighthouse 3 MFD (if you have more than one MFD, this should be the main unit, connected to the STNG)
On Lighthouse 3 MFDs:
3. Go to Home > Settings > Network > Diagnostics > NMEA Devices & Messages (if you don't see this option, make sure your monitor is running a recent version of the software and that you're on the Home screen), specify where to save the recording using Save To:, and then press On starting registration
4. Press Return (<) once to access the NMEA devices page and press Refresh to have the system poll all NMEA2000 devices, which will then appear in the registry.
On Lighthouse 2 MFDs:
3. Go to Home > Setup > Maintenance > Diagnostics > Interfaces > Log File and make sure you select the correct slot (1 at the top), then go to N2K/STng > Buffer > Start Buffer > Log Buffer
4. Go to Home > Setup > Maintenance > Diagnostics > Select Device. This causes the system to poll all NMEA2000 devices, which will then show up in the registry.
Once you start recording:
5. Use the evidence for as long as you need to clarify the problem. It must be in progress, and you must log at least several minutes of data. If you log for a long period, please note when we can expect to see the issue (for example, 4.30pm or 25 minutes after the log).
6. Return to MFD Diagnostics and stop log recording.
7. Turn off debug mode in the beta version.
8. Ask a question here, describing the issue and attaching all the NMEAxxxxxx.log files you will find on your MicroSD card. It is important that you tell us what to look for in the register.
If you do not have a LH2 or LH3 MFD
Many Raymarine technical service dealers have equipment that can perform recordings, or we may be able to provide a "data logger" that can do the same thing. If you think you might need to go this way, contact support.
Which autopilots will this process benefit?
Any pilot connected to SeatalkNG: SPX pilots are equipped with color pilot displays and the Evolution autopilot package.
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