Anchor alarm on B&G Zues (or Navico/Lowrance)

[jbinbi]

Does anyone know if you can set an anchor alarm on a Zues 2 chartplotter? I have not found a way to do this, been thru all the menus many times. Been through their crappy manual as well, which after a few firmware updates, is way out of date, and they haven't posted up a new one to match the SW yet! (can you tell I am frustrated).

I find it hard to believe that this will figure out my best tack to a mark, and can't tell me if I have drifted 50' too far?!?

Hoping it is something simple that the braintrust here can point out to me. Thanks.

[noelex 77]

On the Zeus 3 the procedure is:
Alarms
Setting
Anchor

Fill in the distance you want and tick the “active” box. I don't know if it is the same on the Zeus 2 but I would be surprised if it was much different.

The anchor alarm is poor in that it can only be set from the current position. Sometimes you can get around this by using a waypoint alarm, but I have not tried this on the Zeus as I normally use the Vesper alarm.

[Kelkara]

Yes you can, you simply go to the main menu, and select ALARMS from the column on the left, scroll down a bit and check "Anchor" and select a radius.


Unfortunately whoever designed it doesn't anchor on the same planet that I do. It sets the centre of the swing circle where the GPS is located ... not where the anchor is located ... so if the boat swings a bit it will keep you up all night with false alarms ... still, that's better than waking up on the rocks.


edit: noelex beat me to it ... Never thought of trying a waypoint alarm ... might be better.

[jbinbi]

Thanks. will look at this when at the boat next. Waypoint alarm, zoom way in, and drop a waypoint approx where the anchor is..., not just at the boat?

If I can set a radius, that is ok, I would just make it bigger, normally have a bit of room to spare. There are some anchor alarm programs for my phone, just figured I have this real expensive piece of electronics, why not use it...

[OS2Dude]

Ditto on the GPS vs Anchor location, but you can get around this by setting the hook, then motoring close to where the anchor is (Rode loosely vertical) then hit the anchor alarm. WAY easier with 2 or more folks to help...

[johnserr]

If you want a backup download an anchor alarm app on your phone that uses your phone GPS. There are few you can try. Some even text you. I have sailsafe.

[GALAWA]

There is no way to program a usefull alarm on the full NAVICO - LOWRANCE range of HDS chart plotters.
You can program any kind of alarm condition : Approaching way point, depth, wind speed, boat speed, anchor drift, radar detection of intruder... anything.
But the alarm output is a weak sound which cannot be heard beyond 3' from the chart plotter .
There is no way to hear the alarm outside if there is any wind, and it will certainly not wake you up if your anchor drifts while you are asleep below.

You cannot increase the volume of the alarm sound.
And contrary to most chart plotters by GARMIN, SIMRAD or others, there is no dry contact output which you could connect to the siren of you choice.

I bought my LOWRANCE HDS plotter in 2013, and LOWRANCE-NAVICO had not cared to correct this design blunder in 2017.
Unless NAVICO -LOWRANCE adds a dry contact alarm output, LOWRANCE HDS chart plotters should be avoided by serious cruisers.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by OS2Dude

Ditto on the GPS vs Anchor location, but you can get around this by setting the hook, then motoring close to where the anchor is (Rode loosely vertical) then hit the anchor alarm. WAY easier with 2 or more folks to help...

If you do this, or if you are setting the anchor alarm as you drop the anchor, the ideal is to do this when the GPS aerial centered over the anchor, not the bow. As the GPS aerial is often near the stern it makes quite a difference, especially as any error is doubled if the wind changes 180°. So if you are going to motor forward, continue until you estimate the GPS aerial is over the anchor. If you stop when the chain is vertical the centre of the alarm radius will be wrong and you will have more false alarms especially if the boat swings to other side of the swing circle.

It is a pity that B&G can have such cool software for displaying the relevant sailing information, but have an anchor alarm that is just about unusable, at least without a lot of fussing around.

The Vesper anchor alarm is very good. If your NMEA bus has heading information it will even automatically compensate for the issue I have outlined above. The Vesper will move the center of the alarm point forward to allow for distance between the bow and GPS aerial. Smart.

[SVRapture40]

We use iNavX on our iPad - works GREAT! Uses almost no electrons and I place it right next to my bunk. Can't miss the alarm should it go off. We have an anchor alarm on our Raymarine chartplotter but I never use it because the iPad is so much more useful.

[carlylelk]

My Zeus3 has a blue "alarm wire" on the power chord.

So you can buy an external alarm of your choice (many are 85db-about as loud as a shop vac), and connect it to the blue wire. To bad I can't just plug one into the NMEA2000 backbone.

Duane

[Boots and Socks]

I have been wondering the same thing. I just upgraded from an tablet to a B&G Zues 3 and have been looking for the anchor alarm. I am shocked that there is not that feature on it (that I can find at least). I installed a Vesper AIS when I got the boat and LOVE the anchor alarm on it. I wonder if B&G will be doing an update to fix that.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Boots and Socks

I have been wondering the same thing. I just upgraded from an tablet to a B&G Zues 3 and have been looking for the anchor alarm. I am shocked that there is not that feature on it (that I can find at least). I installed a Vesper AIS when I got the boat and LOVE the anchor alarm on it. I wonder if B&G will be doing an update to fix that.

Look at the alarm setup page…

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by GALAWA

There is no way to program a usefull alarm on the full NAVICO - LOWRANCE range of HDS chart plotters.
You can program any kind of alarm condition : Approaching way point, depth, wind speed, boat speed, anchor drift, radar detection of intruder... anything.
But the alarm output is a weak sound which cannot be heard beyond 3' from the chart plotter .
There is no way to hear the alarm outside if there is any wind, and it will certainly not wake you up if your anchor drifts while you are asleep below.

You cannot increase the volume of the alarm sound.
And contrary to most chart plotters by GARMIN, SIMRAD or others, there is no dry contact output which you could connect to the siren of you choice.

I bought my LOWRANCE HDS plotter in 2013, and LOWRANCE-NAVICO had not cared to correct this design blunder in 2017.
Unless NAVICO -LOWRANCE adds a dry contact alarm output, LOWRANCE HDS chart plotters should be avoided by serious cruisers.

You are running into a market segregation issue. In the Navico world B&G is aimed at the sailing market, racing and cruising, Simrad is the high end motorboat market, and Lawrance is the low-end small fishing boat market.

To keep them cheap, features like and external alarm relay that ARE included on other lines from Navico are not included on Lawrance chart plotters. These chart plotters are not aimed at “serious cruisers”, but at weekend fishermen.

It is not a design blunder, it is a way of saving money on the cheapest products to deliver them at a lower price point that is important to their target market.

You get what you pay for.