Adjusting Autopilot Wind Hold Response

• Changing the Autopilot Response value will result in either a more active rudder or a less active rudder

• See GHC 20 Owners Manual and search "Sailboat Autopilot Operation: Adjusting the Autopilot Response" for instructions

• Adjusting Autopilot Response is localized to the Autopilot system and will only affect the Autopilot steering system

• Before adjusting the Autopilot response, select and set the Wind Hold Type 

Other Considerations

• The Reactor 40 Autopilot uses the "Wind Angle Filter" dampening values from the GND 10 as the baseline for Wind Hold calculations.  See Option #2 below

  • The Wind Angle Filter dampening is automatically entered into the Wind Hold algorithm.  Any adjusting (adding or subtracting) of the Autopilot Response is a calculation that is applied AFTER the Wind Angle Filter dampening has been applied

• If "Adjusting the Autopilot Response" does not meet the users requirements; it is advised to apply new Wind Angle Filter dampening values

  • Then re-apply a suitable value to the "Adjusting Autopilot Response" process

• It is advised that when making changes to any value, that users should only make small incremental changes in that value to prevent unexpected and overactive rudder responses

• The Wind Angle Filtering feature is used to average out the readings and take away big jumps/peaks between reported wind angle shifts, it can be very useful when using the Autopilot in Wind Hold

• The "Wind Angle Filter" dampening value is applied automatically to the Reactor 40 Autopilot.  See "Autopilot Wind Angle Data Flow" below

• Users can create/establish a baseline "Wind Angle Filter" dampening value that will be used by the Autopilot

• After the "Wind Angle Filter" dampening value has been established, users can further adjust the Autopilot Response to varying wind conditions

  • See "GHC 20: Owners Manual--Adjust the Autopilot Response".  See Option #1 above

• Changing the "Wind Angle Filter" value affects every device that accepts the NMEA 2000 PGN 130306--Wind Data

  • Affected devices: Garmin Chartplotters, GND 10, Reactor 40 CCU, GHC 20, GMI 20, GNT 10, and all GNX series devices

  • If third party devices are installed on the vessel they can be effected

• Users can only enter/input the desired Wind Angle Filter value from a GMI 20, GHC 20, or a Chartplotter that is on the same NMEA 2000 as a GND 10 Black Box Bridge

  • The actual wind data value is processed in the GND 10 Black Box Bridge, then sent via NMEA 2000 to other devices on the network.  See "Autopilot Wind Angle Data Flow" below

  • From the compatible device, select the NMEA 2000 Device List > GND 10 > Review > Angle Filter > change the value from "01-15"

    • The lower the numerical value, the less filtering is applied.  The higher the numerical value, the more filter is applied

  • If the vessel is equipped with a gWind Wireless 2 wind transducer, see "gWind Wireless 2 Wind Transducer Considerations " below  

• Adjusting the "Wind Angle Filter" may also be called "Dampening"

• When "Dampening" is applied, it means the wind angle filter information can be adjusted using a value in the range scale.  See "Devices and Dampening Ranges" and "Numeric Time Values" below  

  • Smoothed out - The time between Wind Angle data being sent to the NMEA 2000 network is greater

    • This may reduce the Autopilots rudder reaction, reacting less often to sudden changes in the wind angle information

    • Possibly resulting in a less active Autopilot and the vessels steering may not make sudden changes in course due to sudden shifts in wind angle conditions   

    • The higher the number in the range scale, the more dampening is applied

  • Unrestricted - The time between Wind Angle data being sent to the NMEA 2000 network is shortened

    • This may result in a more active Autopilot rudder, reacting more often to sudden changes in wind angle information

    • Possibly resulting in a very active Autopilot and the vessels steering is making sudden changes in course due to sudden shifts in wind angle conditions

    • The lower the number in the range scale, the less dampening is applied       

• The vessel must be equipped with a functional Autopilot, chartplotter or GHC 20, GND 10, and gWind Wired Wind Transducer 

NOTE:  If the vessel does not have a GND 10 and is using a gWind Wireless 2 wind transducer.  See "gWind Wireless 2 Wind Transducer Considerations" below.

• Reactor 40 Autopilots use filtered or "dampened" Wind Data from the GND 10

  • Users can enter a numerical value via the chartplotter, GMI 20, or GHC 20

    • These devices do not compute or calculate the value, the GND 10 does that function 

  • The GND 10 uses the numerical value to convert Raw Wind data to Filtered Wind Data based on what the user entered as the numerical filter value

  • The filtered wind value is sent out on the NMEA 2000 network to all the compatible devices that accept Wind Data PGN 130306 information

  • The Reactor 40 CCU processes the Filtered Wind Angle value and applies it to the Autopilot Wind Hold algorithm.  See "Options #1 and #2" above

• gWind Wireless 2 Wind Transducers do not use the GND 10, the transducer wirelessly connects to either a GNX Wind Marine Instrument or a compatible GPSMAP chartplotter

• When a gWind Wireless 2 Wind Transducers is wirelessly connected to a compatible device, the wind data bridge in the wireless wind transducer to NMEA 2000; is at 2Hz or slower than with a gWind Wired Transducer with a GND 10.  Because of the gWind Wireless 2 Wind Transducer wireless transfer rate, the Autopilot Wind Hold performance could be affected

• If the Wireless 2 transducer is wirelessly connected to the GNX Wind Instrument, changing the GNX Wind wind angle dampening; will only be applied locally to the GNX Wind Marine Instrument

  • The rate of transfer to the Reactor 40 CCU will not be effected by localized dampening on the GNX Wind Marine Instrument or from the GPSMAP chartplotter

• If there are other devices such as: GMI 20, GHC 20 or GNX series devices on the vessel, adjusting the wind angle filter will not effect the 2Hz transfer rate across the NMEA 2000 network

Other Considerations

• Adding a GND 10 to the NMEA 2000 network will not make the gWind Wireless 2 wind transducer 2Hz transfer rate any faster

Dampening Across the NMEA 2000 Network

• The following devices will apply the Wind Angle Filter dampening across the entire NMEA 2000 Network

• Dampening the Wind Angle filter for use in the Autopilot system is done in the GND 10.  However, users enter the value into one of the following devices:

  • GHC 20 devices use a range of 01-15

  • GMI 20 devices use a range of 01-15

  • GPSMAP and ECHOMAP devices use a range of 01-15

Localized Filter Dampening

• The following devices will apply the Wind Angle Filter dampening "locally", applying any dampening value will only affect that specific device; not the entire NMEA 2000 network 

• GNX 20, GNX 21, GNX 120, GNX 130 and GNX Wind Marine Instruments can not change the GND 10 Wind Filter values

Localized Filter Dampening and Synchronized Filter Dampening Using a GPSMAP Chartplotter

• GPSMAP chartplotters with software version 25.30 and higher have an additional "Preference > Filter Settings" page.  This page that allows users to apply several different filter settings to be dampened between "0 to 08"

• Applying a value between "0-8" can either be Localized to the GPSMAP or Synchronized to other devices on the NMEA 2000 network

  • "Localized" - Establishing a value between "0-8" only applies to that specific GPSMAP

  • "Synchronized" - Establishing a value between "0-8" then selecting ENABLE "Sync Filter"

    • ENABLE "Sync Filter", will synchronize the dampening value to other GPSMAPs, GNX 120 and GNX 130 on the NMEA 2000 Network

• Applying a value between "0-08" will ADD to the GND 10 Wind Angle Filter value, that was set via the NMEA 2000 > Device List > GND 10 > Review > Wind Filter > the value the user entered

Special Considerations

• ENABLING the GPSMAP "Sync Filter" feature will not synchronize the following devices

  • The Reactor 40 CCU, GHC 20, GMI 20, GHC 20, GNX Wind, GNX 20 and GNX 21

• To emulate the GPSMAP "Sync Filter" feature, the following devices will need to be adjusted individually

  • GMI 20, GNX Wind Marine Instrument, GNX 20, and GNX 21  

• Filter Dampening numerical time values are doubled as the numbered value goes up from "0 to 15"

• The calculation is based on a "Moving Average" of the Filter Setting value

• "Refresh Rates" are pre-determined in the GND 10

  • GNX Series devices have localized "Filter Settings" that will ADD another layer to the GND 10 Filter setting

  • On the GPSMAP > Preference > "Filter Setting" page

    • If a user increases the "Filter", it will ADD another localized layer of filtering to the GND 10 Filtering

    • If the user ENABLES the "Sync Filter" on a GPSMAP, it will ADD another layer of filtering to the GND 10 Filtering out and across the NMEA 2000 network to the GNX 120, 130 and compatible chartplotters

• See below for time value for each numeric value

  • 0=0sec

  • 1=1sec

  • 2=2sec

  • 3=4sec

  • 4=8sec

  • 5=16sec

  • 6=32sec

  • 7=64sec

  • 8=128sec

  • 9=256sec

  • 10=512sec

  • 11=1,024sec

  • 12=2,048sec

  • 13=4,096sec

  • 14=8,192sec

  • 15=16,384sec

NOTE:  Users/vessels may experience "Lag" time between devices due to the number of devices, size and length of the NMEA 2000 network.