Simrad NAC-3 Autopilot won't read Airmar WX220 Wind Data

[FlyingScot]

Keeping this thread alive. The WX220 still doesn't work as configured at purchase with the NAC-3. Similar issues as above:
Triton-2 and Pilot Controller with NAC-3, Zeus3 and WS310. Choosing sources on the Triton-2, if the WX220 is on the N2K it will not let you select anything other than WX220.
Remove the WX220 and the it goes into Wind Mode just fine.

Now that has been determined I need to modify the settings inside the Airmar WX220.

WeatherCaster software does not work on Windows11. Supposedly works on Win10 and older to XP.

I have exactly one Windows machine, Win11 of course.

I'll report back when I'm able to change it.

I'm using Maretron USB100 to interface from PC to N2K. Maretron software accesses the system fine but of course you can't change the necessary settings on the Airmar WX220.

[torrmundi]

Currently the 220WX is putting out two types of 130306 messages, differing in the content of the Field 4 (Wind reference).

Alloy on Cruisers Forum wrote that NAC-3 worked properly with 1,3,4 enabled (0x00, 0x02, 0x03).
0x00 1. “wind speed and direction relative to true north”,
0x01 2. “wind speed and direction relative to magnetic north”,
0x02 3. “apparent wind speed and direction”,
0x03 4. “true wind speed and direction relative to ground referenced to bow of vessel”, and
0x04 5. “true wind speed and direction relative to the water referenced to bow of vessel”.

Zack Floyd, Gemeco, stated:
Wind data using reference values 0x00, 0x01, and 0x03 will only be available once a GPS fix has been achieved.
Wind data using reference value 0x04 will only be available if a PGN 128259 Speed Water Reference is available on the NMEA 2000 bus from a device, or from a water speed sensor providing the VHW sentence on the WX Series WeatherStation Sensor NMEA 0183 input.

My tests showed the following.
modes 0, 2, 3 are required. Modes 1 and 4 are not required.

[FlyingScot]

I tried with a Windows 10 computer today and I was not able to login to the WX220 using NMEA2000 on the Weathercaster software. I could see some data connecting with the 0183. I'm not sure what to do now.

Maybe it's the Maretron gateway but I don't want to buy the Actisense due to price and trying to get it delivered to Bonaire.

Maybe that is my only option at this point...

[FlyingScot]

I emailed Airmar today to see if the problem is compatibility with the Maretron USB100. I suspect this is the issue. I ordered an Actisense NGT-1 USB - N2K as this looks like it is more universally accepted. But it will take a while to reeach me.

Oh, Airmar autoreply to my email says "Dear customer,
We would like to inform our valued customers that we will be CLOSED on Wednesday November 1st for a Bank holiday.
We will resume normal business hours on Thursday November 2nd."

Who knew Airmar support works Banker's hours. Unbelievable.

[stevead]

Does the Airmar Weathercaster software support any NMEA 2000 USB converter or does it only work with the Airmar U200 NMEA 2000 USB converter?

Nonetheless, the fundamental problem is that the default settings for both the WX220 and NAC-3 Wind Modes don't align.

The NAC-3 has 3 settings for Wind Mode:

• Auto
  If True Wind Angle (TWA) is <70º: Wind mode will steer towards Apparent Wind Angle (AWA)
  If TWA is ≥70º: Wind mode will steer towards TWA
• Apparent
  Steers towards AWA
• True
  Steers towards TWA

The default setting for the NAC-3 is Auto

PGN 130306 (Wind Data) has 5 options for the Wind Reference field:

• 0x00: True (ground referenced to North)
• 0x01: Magnetic (ground referenced to Magnetic North)
• 0x02: Apparent
• 0x03: True (boat referenced)
• 0x04: True (water referenced)

The defaults for an Airmar PB200 are 0x02 (Apparent) and 0x00 (True referenced to North). I'm assuming the same holds for the WX220.

And as has already been mentioned before, options 0x00, 0x01 and 0x03 are only transmitted when a GPS Fix has been obtained and option 0x04 can only be sent when either PGN 128259 (Speed, Water Referenced) or a NMEA 183 VHW sentence has been received.

It's important to note that Wind Reference options 0x00 and 0x01 are True Wind Directions referenced to True or Magnetic North. Generally, Autopilots when steering in Wind mode, steer towards a Wind Angle, either True or Apparent referenced to the boat, not to a Wind Direction.

So the problem is that the two sets of defaults do not match and although there is a PGN 130306 message with an Apparent Wind Angle reference transmitted, the lack of a PGN 130306 message with a True Wind Angle reference, prevents the NAC-3 supporting Wind Mode using its default Auto setting.

The NAC-3 Wind Mode setting can be changed during the commissioning option, although the Auto option is desirable for steering both up and down wind.

The Airmar settings are changed by transmitting a correctly constructed PGN 129208 message with the appropriate settings for the Wind Reference field.
Presumably this is how the WeatherCaster app is used to configure the WX220.

If you are familiar with CAN bus network programming you could construct and transmit the correct PGN 129208 message to modify the WX220 independent of the WeatherCaster app.

Good luck.

[FlyingScot]

Apparently the NGT-1 or Airmar U200 work according to the email from tech support I received this morning.

[stevead]

That's good news.

Hopefully you can get it all sorted.

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by torrmundi

I've replicated Alloy's results in my system (Navico NAC-3 autopilot computer, Airmar 220WX Weatherstation, Lowrance transom paddlewheel and Zeus 2 multifunction display).

I had three issues:
- NAC-3 would not allow me to use Wind mode of the autopilot (steering to maintain a constant apparent wind angle)
- Zeus 2 MFD would not allow me to switch the source for True Wind data between'This Display' (Zeus2) and 'WX Series WeatherStation Sensor'.
- null data report were generated by the Zeus 2 MFD for PGN 128259 (speed referenced to water, using the BSM-1 as a source. The BSM-1 (Broadband Sounder Module) on my boat uses an Airmar B164 sounder that does not have any speed function, only temperature and depth.

All issues are solved as follows:

Requirements:
- a speed over water sensor sending PGN 128259 Speed Water Reference on the N2K bus
- the Airmar 220WX must have three types of PGN 130306 Wind reports enabled:

• 0x00 “wind speed and direction relative to true north”,
• 0x02 “apparent wind speed and direction”,
• 0x03 “true wind speed and direction relative to ground referenced to bow of vessel”

The Airmar 220WX can be programmed with Airmar's Weathercaster app running on a Windows PC. However, this app is old and slow and cannot deal with much in the way of bus loads, not even 15-20%. So the solution is to setup a minimal bus with a single joiner, a single termination (the other is in the 220WX's cable), a USB Gateway e.g. Actisense NGT-1, a +12Vdc power plug and the 220WX.

• Start the app - it auto detects the COM port in use by the USB Gateway.
• Select Advanced Setup. Verify Source Sensor is "Weather".
• After the Weatherstation is identified by the app, Enable/Disable Functionality button will be enabled.
• Select Enable/Disable Functionality and scroll down to find PGN 130306. There are five rows for this PGN.
• Enable the first, third and fourth rows by setting the Interval to 0.5. Disable the second and fifth rows by setting the Interval to 0.0.
• Save, Close, and Exit the app.

An added benefit is that calculated current indications become available with the SOW sensor.

Just to follow-up: I did exactly as above. The software would not work unless the NMEA2000 was very simple. I made it just the terminantors, power, TLM100 and the WX220. Software was slow but worked as expected. Now we can do Wind Mode which is very important to me.

The NGT-1 was the secret. Also the software worked on my Win11 Home machine so no need to seek out Win10.