Interesting idea. I was also an IT guy (retired), but prefer to keep things simple and manageable.
I'm not familiar with the WP30 (is there an earlier thread on this?), but I also have an older autopilot controller, a ComNav 1420, currently driving a Raymarine wheel pilot motor. I don't have any other electronics (have used Navionics so far), but will need to get radar and a chartplotter soon for a planned trip to Haida Gwai and around Vancouver Island. I don't use the AP much, usually in calm weather motoring only, as the drive motor/belt system is pretty weak. The ComNav 1420 does support NEMA 0183, so it might be worth keeping. What I'd really like to find is a more open system like Maretron with a SI-Tex TCP/IP radar, but I understand those radomes are no longer made. I'm not a fan of spending $$$ on vendor locked in electronics with a limited lifespan. This SV Delos video on YT shows a very nice system that allows for managing all functions from a tablet or PC, which appeals to me, but I haven't located a source for a network radar at a reasonable cost yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUSrbKS1-A -- Shawn Wright shawngwri...@gmail.com S/V Callisto, 1974 C&C 35 https://www.facebook.com/SVCallisto On Fri, Oct 4, 2019 at 9:16 PM Francois Rivard via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hi Bill, > > There are a few ways to skin that cat. I'm also an IT guy, we live for > workarounds :-) > > Skin the cat #1 To Navico's point: It would probably be somewhat of a > feat to get the Zeus2 to recognize a 20 + year old WP 30 as a bonafide > NMEA2000 modern day autopilot. Someone could spend months researching > , write some fancy code to fool the Zeus, build that into an Arduino board, > plug it in between, spend quite a few $$$ on ancillary stuff, and fool with > it for untold hours to make it work. --- > not my speed. > > Skin the cat #2: Spend about $2,800 - $3,200 to get a proper controller > CPU / hydraulic or $$ mechanical under the deck steering quadrant driving > system, build the fiberglass mounts needed, drop the rudder to fit, etc, > etc. For all that you get to use the cool Zeus autopilot functions / > screens and have a robust blue water ready autopilot system. Most likely > the thing to do for serious offshore work / not necessary for land locked > Lake Lanier Georgia. > > Skin the cat # 3: Play it safe and spend 200 bucks / buy the Actisense > NMEA Buffer SBF-3-BAS to make sure you don't fry your 1,000 bucks + > chartplotter, ( > http://www.allgadgets.co.uk/marine/pc/Actisense-NMEA-Buffer-NBF-3-BAS-p532.htm) > and hook-up the Autopilot to use it's own Steer to wind function or follow > waypoints dictated by your routes in Zeus. > > You don't necessarily have to use the Zeus autopilot functions. Using the > video / NMEA0183 cable connected to Zeus and running it as designed it will > broadcast all the necessary wind / depth / speed / heading / cross track > / waypoint information to NMEA0183. The old WP30 is actually designed to > listen to that broadcast info and react accordingly (It's supposed to do it > quite well). You just make sure your Zeus is on and configured to > broadcast then you hold the "Standby" WP30 button for a few seconds, and > click both left and right arrows (On the WP 30 controller) at the same > time. Done! Now the WP30 is a slave tho whatever Zeus is broadcasting and > everything is working as designed by Navico 20+ years ago. > > Option #3 Works for me. > > Best of luck with the project. > > Francois Rivard > 1990 34+ "Take Five" > Lake Lanier, GA > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each > and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - > use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > >
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