Axius Premiere Auto Pilot and MFDs

[Exoset]

Hello Crew,

I just purchased a 2014 Sea Ray Sundancer and will have it next week (can't wait ).
My current boat is a Chaparral 290 Signature with Garmin Chartplotter and Auto Pilot and I am enjoying all the features like Auto Guidance and automatic Auto Pilot engaging from my Garmin setup.

Unfortunately (or not) the Sea Ray have Axius Premiere which includes the Merc Auto Pilot. I wanted to take my Garmin with me but I read that I will lose the Autoguidance feature on the way. Since the recent partnership between Navico and Merc I was wondering if going with the new Simrad Go12 xse could be the solution ? I mean they have their own autoguidance named easy Route or Automatic Route (which seems not available in North America but we can make it works by using Navionics App). Any idea if this is compatible with Merc Auto Pilot ?

May I ask what MFD those amongst you have with Axius Premiere (and the others too) It is not too late to deal the Simrad with the new boat.

Thanks

P.S : Sorry for the crappy English but this is not my first language

 

[Chris Benwell]

Exoset, I'm looking at a very similar purchase; hopefully for a Thanksgiving Day project. I was planning to do a phased approach by getting the Simrad Go12 XSE MFD and then adding radar before summer. My boat is a 2012 SD 370 and I have a similar setup but with SmartCraft Vessel View and of course the Axius setup. I've read that the Simrad requires a digital compass in order to overlay radar and chart plotter. Lots more questions than answers but I will repost after I speak with Simrad. My local WestMarine knew less about Simrad than I do, so I'm going to try Simrad directly. Let me know what you learn.

 

[MonacoMike]

View attachment 62031 Exoset, I'm looking at a very similar purchase; hopefully for a Thanksgiving Day project. I was planning to do a phased approach by getting the Simrad Go12 XSE MFD and then adding radar before summer. My boat is a 2012 SD 370 and I have a similar setup but with SmartCraft Vessel View and of course the Axius setup. I've read that the Simrad requires a digital compass in order to overlay radar and chart plotter. Lots more questions than answers but I will repost after I speak with Simrad. My local WestMarine knew less about Simrad than I do, so I'm going to try Simrad directly. Let me know what you learn.

I called them recently and they were very helpful. Good luck.

MM

 

[Exoset]

Exoset, I'm looking at a very similar purchase; hopefully for a Thanksgiving Day project. I was planning to do a phased approach by getting the Simrad Go12 XSE MFD and then adding radar before summer. My boat is a 2012 SD 370 and I have a similar setup but with SmartCraft Vessel View and of course the Axius setup. I've read that the Simrad requires a digital compass in order to overlay radar and chart plotter. Lots more questions than answers but I will repost after I speak with Simrad. My local WestMarine knew less about Simrad than I do, so I'm going to try Simrad directly. Let me know what you learn.

Thanks Chris, on my side, here is what I learned so far :

- Garmin is out of the scope since only a Garmin AP can read the autoguidance sent by the Chartplotter (Confirmed by Garmin).
- Here is an answer from Navico :

Hi,
Happy to say the NSS Evo3 will work with the Mercury Axius. Just noticed it looks like their bottom image seems to be showing three Simrad NSO's.
https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/gauges-and-controls/steering/axius-joystick-piloting-for-sterndrives/
Thank you for choosing Navico products!
Navico Technical Support
USA Lowrance (800) 628-4487 | lowrance.tech@navico.com
USA B&G & Simrad (800) 628-4487 | bg.tech@navico.com | simrad.tech@navico.com
Accessories Website: http://store.navico.com

Not the answer I expected though…
- The Sundancer 320 have 2 Go12 Xse, if you look at the video below (5:00) you can see they have no other gauges than the Simrad and probably a vessel link somewhere behind the dash.

- Worst case scenario, I will have to connect the Go12 to the vesselview through NMEA 0183, here is a link from Garmin but it should be similar with Simrad : http://static.garmin.com/pumac/Merc_Zeus-Axius_GPSMAP_Config.pdf

- I have read on several other forums that some guys don't see the autopilot feature popup on the Vesselview page in the Simrad. I still wonder why but I guess I will have to figure it out by myself when I will do it next Spring.

So far Simrad Go12 or NSS Evo 3 seems to be the most compatible with what we have, I will give it a try. With other brands like Raymarine you should be able to send a route to the Axius but you won't have the vesselview page losing eco mode etc...

I will keep posting what I find here.

 

[Chris Benwell]

Thanks for the info! That's a nice console setup on that new SeaRay Sundancer. That flush mount Fusion stereo is nice. Also, the commentator in the video said that the Go12s were using the vessel view; however I wonder if the Vessel View link (separate part) will convert the older SmartCraft/Vessel View which I assume is NMEA 0183 to NMEA2000. The other challenge is the transducer. I'm assuming I have to install a new transducer to get all of the side and forward scan features of the Go12XSE. More and more questions and I haven't even touched the radar topic...I'm gonna spend some time on it this weekend.

 

[Exoset]

I just ordered my Go12 xse I have been able to get a pretty good deal at citimarine. 1975$ for the cheapest model. There is also a good deal with C-Map until the 31th of December. If you purchase either a Go or Nss model, you can get a coastal N+ or lake for free.

Should have it next week, will let you know if interested.

 

[MonacoMike]

I just ordered my Go12 xse I have been able to get a pretty good deal at citimarine. 1975$ for the cheapest model. There is also a good deal with C-Map until the 31th of December. If you purchase either a Go or Nss model, you can get a coastal N+ or lake for free.

Should have it next week, will let you know if interested.

Hopefully you at least checked with our host BOE Marine before ordering from some website?

MM

 

[Exoset]

Hopefully you at least checked with our host BOE Marine before ordering from some website?

MM

On BOE Website, the same Simrad was at 2149 instead of 1975 at Citimarine, I haven't been able to find the Lewmar DTX anchor I was looking for, neither the Smart Touch Cabin for Cruisair and bezel. Which is why I went with Citimarine.

 

[MonacoMike]

On BOE Website, the same Simrad was at 2149 instead of 1975 at Citimarine, I haven't been able to find the Lewmar DTX anchor I was looking for, neither the Smart Touch Cabin for Cruisair and bezel. Which is why I went with Citimarine.

Good luck,

MM

 

[Chris Benwell]

I just ordered my Go12 xse I have been able to get a pretty good deal at citimarine. 1975$ for the cheapest model. There is also a good deal with C-Map until the 31th of December. If you purchase either a Go or Nss model, you can get a coastal N+ or lake for free.

Should have it next week, will let you know if interested.

 

[Exoset]

Not sure what you meant Chris

 

[Chris Benwell]

Thanks! Are you installing yourself? Im a little nervous about cutting the dash cover.

 

[Exoset]

Yeah I think I will do it myself, I like those acrylic dash with flush mount Chartplotter. You also can unscrew the cover and take it to a shop with the SIMRAD and ask them to do it for you. I guess you already checked that the Go12 will fit ?

On my side, I will probably just remove the Raymarine Axiom and enlarge the hole with a dremel.
If it goes well, I would like to add a second Go12 on the right side, but I will have to move all the switches.
Perhaps removing the VV4 and put the switches in the center and a Vesselview link behind the dash. Not sure yet but it could be really cool.

 

[Chris Benwell]

It will fit but there won’t be much left of the inlay. BTW, I looked online at citimarine and I don’t see the $1975 offer??? I need to order the 3G radar as well. Did you use a promo code?

 

[Exoset]

You have to ask them on the chat. They gave me a deal on what's coming for the black friday. Ask them to do the same for you. I talked with a guy named Carlos, he was very helpful.

 

[Exoset]

Hi Chris, as boating season is coming fast I was wondering if you made any discovery on the matter.

On my side, I have all the required hardware :
- SIMRAD GO 12xse
- SIMRAD GO 9xse
- FUSION Apollo RA-770
- FUSION NRX-300
- CMAP with Auto-routing
- VESSELVIEW LINK Multi-Engine
- Active Trim module

As you can guess, I read a lot during the winter and I found something. It seems Axius system needs to be plugged through NMEA183 to the MFD. Unfortunately, there is no NMEA0183 output on the SIMRAD GO series.

It is a Garmin document but there is no reason it should be any different for Simrad : http://static.garmin.com/pumac/Merc_Zeus-Axius_GPSMAP_Config.pdf

There is still hope though through Nmea0183 to Nmea2k converter, at least I hope so.

Unless the new VESSELVIEW link is able to pass the routes through Nmea2k but there is nothing about that anywhere.

I just wanted to let you know (and everyone else) that despite all we said above, perhaps Simrad wasn’t the smartest choice after all.

What we saw on the video posted above with the 2 Simrad Go MFDs in the SDA320 seems to be working but is it because it is with the Joystick v2 (the one with the integrated pad) ?

With all the hardware bought I have no other choice but to keep moving forward... if you are not in the hurry, let me figure it out before your purchase if you haven’t bought it yet. Otherwise, keep me posted, there is very few informations on Internet for this particular subject.

 

[Chris Benwell]

Exoset, I was under the impression that the sole purpose of the gateway was to convert 0183 to 2000. All of my current gear is 0183. That will suck if you can't use the axius and the MFD. I have not purchased anything yet but do have a couple of quotes from my marine electronics guy for MFD and radar which includes a gateway. I've been busy this winter getting the boat hauled out, bottom job, 2 replacement speakers and engine maintenance. I'm going to use my ipad in the short term for navigation at night. Keep me updated on your progress.

 

[Exoset]

The purpose is more to convert the Smartcraft/CAN to NMEA2K , but I agree with you if this don't work I will be really disappointed. I am going to get the boat in the beginning of May, this when the real fun will begin but I will keep you updated for sure.

 

[Exoset]

Just to keep you updated, I asked to the CSR partner Tecnografic to make me a new dashboard with flat mounted MFDs (12 and 9) + Fusion NRX 300 Remote.

Here is what it will looks like :

I should receive everything by the end of April, I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Chris Benwell]

Just to keep you updated, I asked to the CSR partner Tecnografic to make me a new dashboard with flat mounted MFDs (12 and 9) + Fusion NRX 300 Remote.

Here is what it will looks like :

I should receive everything by the end of April, I will let you know how it goes.

That's gonna look great! I've seen quite a few sales/rebates from West Marine for Simrad in my inbox, but I've not pulled the trigger yet. Do you have a sub-woofer in your boat? My system sounds descent but there's no Bluetooth and no sound that reaches the bow area without blasting out everyone in the cockpit.