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  • #13663
    Anonymous

      First off I’d like to say I have had my QK-A032-AIS for almost 2yrs and have been really happy with it. Originally I had it on an Islander 28, and have now moved it over to my Cal39.

      I finally upgraded most of my electronics to N2K, the only things left N0183 are my GX2200 VHF that feeds AIS to the N2K system and my Raymarine ST6000 Autopilot. This last weekend I hooked everything up, all works except vane mode on the autopilot, which for a sailboat is important. I checked all the documentation for my devices and figured out the Autopilot requires the VWR sentence to operate, I also found Quark does not support that conversion from N2K 130306.

      So I looked into other options:
      1. The Autopilot has SeaTalk 1, so I tried using the Raymarine SeaTalk 1 to SeaTalkNG converter. It did get Vane mode and Track mode working but caused the heading to be incorrect on the N2K Chartplotter and Autopilot, basically Compass read 163*, but Chartplotter and Autopilot was reading about 90* off from actual source. Really weird to see boat on Chartplotter pointing the wrong way. As soon as I disconnected the Raymarine Converter from the N2K network both devices went back to normal. My theory is that the Raymarine ST6000 Fluxgate compass is being converted from SeaTalk 1 and fed back into the N2K network and causing issues with the GPS compass of the Chartplotter. So using SeaTalk is not an option.

      2. I have also checked into other similar devices to the A032-AIS on the market, such as the Shipmodal MiniPlex-3Wi-N2K, the IKonvert from Digital Yacht, Actisense NG1, and the Yacht Devices YDNG-03 all convert the VWR sentence from N2K data 130306. So basically all the other major competitors are doing this conversion. But that will double or triple my cost to get that one VWR sentence string.

      My Autopilot is old, but works great, so not going to spend $2-4,000 to upgrade that.

      I have searched the forum and others are also asking for this VWR conversion. I also asked a good portion of my sailing neighbors in the marina and most have older Autopilots that would also need the VWR conversion.

      Is there any way the Quark Engineers will reconsider adding the VWR sentence to the conversion, any time soon? Or should I just move over to one of the other manufacturers(I don’t want to do that as I really like the Quark)

      #14736

      Hi Mattkaine,

      Thanks for your information. I will pass your information to our engineering team. If you can provide an email(you can send an email to us) so we can keep you updated.

      —updated on 22/09/2020

      I am pleased to tell you that VWR will be supported on the next version A032 firmware, which is scheduled to be released in next couple of weeks.

      #14737
      Anonymous

        That’s great news I will send an email so I can be notified when it is ready for testing

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