Auto Pilot Remote Problem

[walldog]

I have just started using the Garmin GHC10 Auto Pilot Remote. After two years I find that this is a very handy gadget. Now that I have started using it, it decides to go out on me. Usually I can look down at the remote and it is following along with the GHC10 display. However now it has quit displaying. I can touch a button on the remote and the display comes up and states that there is no signal present. I have changed the batteries, no help.I have entered into the setup menu. On the remote menu option it states that the remote is disabled. I can change it to enable, but it just goes back to disabled as soon as I leave the menu.

Any help from anyone? Andrew? Kenny? I looked out my window, but do not see Kenny walking by.

 

[walldog]

I went through the manual...when all else fails.

I tried to pair the remote to the GHC10 as per the initial setup instructions. No Joy here either.

I just realized that the problem has occurred since the latest software update from Garmin. Ratz.

 

[walldog]

I went to Garmin to check the update. Well lo and behold since the 1st of June they have released a new update dated 3rd of June. What do you want to bet that fixes my problem? Two days later without documentation of what and why.

 

[baz]

Herb:

Thanks for the heads-up on this issue. I use my remote AP quite a bit. However, over past week since updating my Garmin Chart Plotter to v7.6 I've not used it. Was your latest Garmin update to v7.6 ?

Also, can you give a link reference to the June 3rd update for the remote AP.

Software updates can be a 'killer' sometimes. 🙁

When you use your remote AP where are you located on the boat most of the time ? At the helm, in the cockpit, sitting in Nav seat ?

 

[walldog]

Amazing the new latest update fixed my problem. Evidently the old latest update caused my problem.

What a great site this is....... Thank you TugNuts.

 

[abcandjrc]

Having been a software weenie for 30 years, I can tell you that many programmers do not run a full test suite when making a change to a program. Egos get in the way and they are sure that the upgrade or "fix" they just made did not "break" something else. I once had a quite talented "cell mate" at GM who rarely even tested his fixes, let alone the whole program. We got a lot of phone calls. He got a lot of attention from management before he realized he was not quite as good as he thought he was.

You can almost be sure when you see a software upgrade dated a few days, or even a couple weeks, after a previous one that something went "bang". Generally you will see another '.some-digit' hung on the end, or the last digit of the update changed entirely depending on the numbering protocol the developer uses. (v9.6.12 > v9.6.12a or v9.6.12 > v9.6.13)

To tell the truth, Garmin does a darned good job, and no matter how hard the software guys work, sometimes things will just break and not have been detected by previous test suites if they had run them. You can tell the conscientious developers when the thing doesn't recur in another week or two. They probably either ran the full test suite this time or even fixed the test suite to test whatever gotcha showed up the last time.

Outside the software world, think Vega, or worse, Corvair. GM put hundreds of thousands of miles on them on test tracks and in the hands of professionals, but customers found other ways of using them. It took about 5 years before either had all the problems solved, and by then they were almost at the end of their product cycle.

 

[baz]

I had to go to our boat to offload stuff from our recent trip out.

I turned on my Garmin Chart plotter v7.6 and AP and used my remote AP. I had previously paired it some time ago and it worked without issues pressing the STBY/ENGAGE several times and saw no issues with this at all.

I used the left and right arrows to change headings several times without issues.

I used the left and right double arrows to change heading in 5 deg increments and no issues.

When the remote AP is in STBY mode and left in this state the remote will turn itself off after 20 seconds.

 

[baz]

Herb: The Garmin update I found dated June 3rd is file name "Garmin Marine Network Update with SD Card software version 2013.0603". Is this one you are referring to that resolved your issue ?

A week or so back I had downloaded and installed the previous update file named "Garmin Marine Network Update with SD Card software version 2013.0516" on my 5212 Garmin Chart Plotter.

 

[walldog]

516 killed my remote, 603 brought it back

 

[Brian B]

I recently updated my unit with an original Garmin card v7.6
When I had the boat out today I noticed that when using the G2Vision card and selecting the Guide To option all is fine until I put the autopilot on standby and take the helm. When I tell it to recalculate auto guidance the 5212 recalculates, asks to engage AP, say OK and the autopilot does not engage. I had to stop navigation and go through the whole process again, each time it would work fine until I put the AP on standby.
This has only occurred since I updated the unit.
Looks like I might have to do another update again also.

 

[baz]

Brian: I experienced the same issue this past weekend and had to get the system to recalculate my safe course. Bummer... I'm taking Herb's advice and updating using the "603" June 3rd file even though my remote AP seems to be working AOK and not having same issues as Herb explained above.

I really do think Garmin should be 'pushing' updates to us (especially with bugs like this, and done easily if one is registered with Garmin). As it stands today, we have to 'pull' updates and collaborate among ourselves to get things right. This is not the way to do things IMO.

In this case we need to thank Herb for giving us a heads-up.

 

[Brian B]

I recently updated my unit with an original Garmin card v7.6
When I had the boat out today I noticed that when using the G2Vision card and selecting the Guide To option all is fine until I put the autopilot on standby and take the helm. When I tell it to recalculate auto guidance the 5212 recalculates, asks to engage AP, say OK and the autopilot does not engage. I had to stop navigation and go through the whole process again, each time it would work fine until I put the AP on standby.
This has only occurred since I updated the unit.
Looks like I might have to do another update again also.

I just I came across this on the Garmin site
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download ... 9#Instruct
#5 says all connected devices must be turned on when doing the update. My AP was off when I initially did the update, I'll try it again with AP turned on.

 

[Brian B]

Brian: I experienced the same issue this past weekend and had to get the system to recalculate my safe course. Bummer... I'm taking Herb's advice and updating using the "603" June 3rd file even though my remote AP seems to be working AOK and not having same issues as Herb explained above.

I really do think Garmin should be 'pushing' updates to us (especially with bugs like this, and done easily if one is registered with Garmin). As it stands today, we have to 'pull' updates and collaborate among ourselves to get things right. This is not the way to do things IMO.

In this case we need to thank Herb for giving us a heads-up.

Yes a big thanks to Herb for bringing this to our attention.

 

[baz]

I recently updated my unit with an original Garmin card v7.6
When I had the boat out today I noticed that when using the G2Vision card and selecting the Guide To option all is fine until I put the autopilot on standby and take the helm. When I tell it to recalculate auto guidance the 5212 recalculates, asks to engage AP, say OK and the autopilot does not engage. I had to stop navigation and go through the whole process again, each time it would work fine until I put the AP on standby.
This has only occurred since I updated the unit.
Looks like I might have to do another update again also.

I just I came across this on the Garmin site
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download ... 9#Instruct
#5 says all connected devices must be turned on when doing the update. My AP was off when I initially did the update, I'll try it again with AP turned on.

Ah ah... that would explain why my remote AP does not have same problem as Herb's with the 503 update as I also failed to power on my AP when doing the 503 update. 😳 I knew I should have and turned it on as the 503 update was underway... but I'm assuming that was too late to capture having the AP updated correctly. Will be sure next time to have AP power up as Garmin instructs. 😉

 

[walldog]

Yes, ALL your equipment should be ON and running during ALL software updates. I noticed on the 0603 update that as soon as the update started, my GHC10 rebooted.

Do not forget to turn on your VHF radio and AIS if installed. I even turn on the engine ignition key as the Yanmar display is listed on the Nema 2K networked devices.

Do not believe Garmin when they state that this release does not cover a particular product, as they may be fixing something messed up on an earlier release.

I believe that the 0516 release had other bugs also. My 5212 crashed shortly after startup on Saturday morning just as we were leaving Oak Harbor while transiting the very narrow harbor channel. I have never had it crash so soon after startup.

 

[abcandjrc]

Herb: The Garmin update I found dated June 3rd is file name "Garmin Marine Network Update with SD Card software version 2013.0603". Is this one you are referring to that resolved your issue ?

A week or so back I had downloaded and installed the previous update file named "Garmin Marine Network Update with SD Card software version 2013.0516" on my 5212 Garmin Chart Plotter.

From this I surmise, with Holmesian ability, that Garmin uses Year.MonthDay as their software version identification. These were about 18 days apart. What think you, Watson?

(see my previous apologetic concerning Garmin, above)

 

[baz]

Garmin's updates need to be 'smarter' and more user-friendly IMO. If their software update applies to a device that is discoverable and not powered up then it should display a message etc. However, I'm guessing if some devices aren't powered up they also aren't discoverable on the network.

In my case, when I installed 2013.0503 I did not have my AP powered up initially but it was powered up during the 2013.0503 update when part way through. As I did not see any AP updating I waited until the 2013.0503 update finished and then redid the 2013.0503 install with the AP powered up. This did not seem to undo my initial mistake though... presumably because the 2nd update performed detected that my 5212 was already updated to v7.6. 🙁

I agree, the Garmin nomenclature for the updates follows the yyyy.mmdd syntax.

 

[Brian B]

I recently updated my unit with an original Garmin card v7.6
When I had the boat out today I noticed that when using the G2Vision card and selecting the Guide To option all is fine until I put the autopilot on standby and take the helm. When I tell it to recalculate auto guidance the 5212 recalculates, asks to engage AP, say OK and the autopilot does not engage. I had to stop navigation and go through the whole process again, each time it would work fine until I put the AP on standby.
This has only occurred since I updated the unit.
Looks like I might have to do another update again also.

I just I came across this on the Garmin site
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download ... 9#Instruct
#5 says all connected devices must be turned on when doing the update. My AP was off when I initially did the update, I'll try it again with AP turned on.

I downloaded and updated the system with version 7.60 dated 6/3/2013. I still have the same problem with the auto guidance not engaging the AP as I stated above.
I called Garmin while out on the boat today I was on the phone with different levels of support, went through system checks on the 5212 and AP to make sure everything was communicating which it was. The bottom line is they have no idea what's wrong and a software engineer will contact me.
I should have left the system alone as it worked fine before the update, I don't have a lot of luck with this stuff .

 

[baz]

Hmmm…. I have not re-tested my AP re-engaging after updating with the 2013.603 version, so will do so ASAP. If you get any satisfaction from Garmin software guru please post back.

I needed to go to boat yesterday after having spent my last few dollars of my West Marine eCard given to me by my son for my birthday. I had ordered two nice big Taylor fenders [Super Gard Fender, 8.5" x 26" (Large), Black] for my midship location and a brass hose barb as a spare for the stuffing box if ever I happen to step on it in the engine bay and break it off (as some other TugNut did recently) -- http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...95_-1____ProductDisplayErrorView#.UcBskvy9P4M. The fenders were expensive totaling some $185. 🙁 :roll: So I looked around while in the Everett WM store here and to my delight I found a Value pack having the exact same two fenders for $99… (a savings of around $75) 😀 If you're in the market for some nice sized fenders check with your local WM store for the Taylor Value pack today. The Everett WM store had at least 2 more Value Packs when I left there. 😉

I ran out of time so did not take the boat out to check the AP not re-engaging… weather is good today so will hopefully get out and check this issue out.

 

[baz]

Brian: Who did you call at Garmin. My Garmin tech help trouble-shooter person I've dealt with in the past was Roger Archer. He helped me solve a troubling AP issue back in 2010 with a very successful outcome… see http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=556&p=4367&hilit=Shadow+drive#p4367.

I've placed a call to Roger today at 541-207-6233 to alert him and will hopefully be talking with him when on the boat if my AP is found to be doing the same thing as yours.

Will post back later…. 🙂

[EDIT] As an aside, I have noticed over past few months when taking control away from the AP (shadow drive feature) the wheel feels a little wobbly. From my experience with Roger helping me back in 2010 (see above URL ref) this wobbly feel is due to there being some air in the hydraulic line. Thus I will figure out whether to call Ranger Tugs or Garmin (Roger Archer) to have this dealt with. Ranger Tugs does have the Garmin equipment for bleeding air out of the AP's hydraulic line(s). I will ask Roger if this is a typical maintenance item that should be addressed periodically regardless of wheel wobble being apparent/present… kind of like replacing the raw water impeller even though all seems well for engine cooling. :roll: