Waypoint Progression with Elite-7

Casual Grady · Post by **Casual Grady** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 5:16 pm

Hello, I have an Elite-7 HDI on my Grady White 19 that I am really enjoying EXCEPT for navigating a route. I can configure waypoints correctly and the route is as I want it. The issue comes in where, if I miss a waypoint on my travels, the Elite-7 will not progress to the next waypoint even after I "pass the perpendicular". That is, I would have to circle back and hit the waypoint (within the minimum distance) in order for the screen to show me directions to the next waypoint.

This is not very desired behavior. I cannot start a route if I'm already some distance away from the starting point...the system will simply not figure out that I'm already past the beginning waypoints and pick up the route from there.

My really old handheld Lowrance does this just fine. Is there a setting in the Elite 7 that can fix this? I wasn't able to find anyone else running into this issue.

Thanks for the help!

Edd · Post by **Edd** » Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:11 pm

Which A/P are you using?

Casual Grady · Post by **Casual Grady** » Mon Sep 12, 2016 4:36 pm

Hi Edd, new to the forum so assuming you meant auto pilot

No auto pilot onboard, just manually steering the route I select.

For example, Edmonds, WA to Poulsbo, WA and back again.

Edd · Post by **Edd** » Mon Sep 12, 2016 5:15 pm

All you need to do is highlight your desired route from the Routes page and select SHOW at the bottom of the page. This will show the route on the chart and you can follow it in any fashion you like. Do not try to NAVIGATE a route without an A/P.

Casual Grady · Post by **Casual Grady** » Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:44 pm

Ok, I hear what you're saying, but having an autopilot for a 19 foot boat seems not worth it. That said, in foggy or low light conditions I'll definitely want to "navigate" the route and will need to know cross-track error, distance to go, etc. Just displaying the route won't give me the information I need very well. Of course, in those cases, I won't want to miss the waypoint generally speaking. But what I'm hearing is that this unit does not allow me to advance the progression (manually or automatically) from one waypoint to the next. That is kind of disappointing to learn given that our old Lowrance GlobalNav 12 did just want I need minus the charts and colors and HDI

Edd · Post by **Edd** » Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:16 am

So when you have tried to 'navigate route' in the past, did you get something like a 'no auto-pilot found' message? I have never tried to navigate a route without an A/P, but everytime I do, it confirms "activate A/P YES NO".

Casual Grady · Post by **Casual Grady** » Tue Sep 13, 2016 6:15 am

Hmm, no not at all. I just go to the routes section, hit menu and select start. It asks me if I want to run the route forward or reverse and that's it.

Edd · Post by **Edd** » Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:21 am

You are doing it right, I just can't understand why, (if you are even in the middle of that route), it won't start the navigation from that point. I will try this next time out and see if I can start a route in the middle with HDS. I know 'while navigating a route' I can hit the Stand-By button, go around a hazzard, then restart the navigation and the A/P picks up from the point of my correction.
Have you tried putting the cursor on the route, press enter, and see if you can start the navigation from that point?
Pretty busy right now with installs but might get on the water this weekend....if I do I will try this with my HDS and see what happens.

Casual Grady · Post by **Casual Grady** » Tue Sep 13, 2016 12:53 pm

Ok interesting! I agree, seems like it should work fine. I'll take a look next time I'm out too and try some things with the cursors and other menu options. It looks to be a decent weekend here!

Casual Grady · Post by **Casual Grady** » Sun Sep 18, 2016 8:18 pm

Ok! I have an update after playing on the water for 2 hours today (winds were down from 20kts yesterday). It turns out that waypoint progression is "mostly" working correctly. I built a 4 point route today and started at the beginning. If I purposely skipped a waypoint by >100 ft, the Elite 7 figures out that I passed that point and automatically progresses to the next.

The issue I'm running into appears to mainly stem from my current position with respect to the first waypoint in the list when starting the route. When I start a route, the GPS plots a path from current location to the first waypoint. If I'm already past that starting point (heading toward the next waypoint), the GPS does not figure out that I'm past the start already. I cannot figure out how to tell it I'm past the point already.

I'll post a couple of fine art sketches to show what I mean...

: Elite 7 HDI route does automatically progress as expected.

: Elite 7 HDI route does not automatically progress as expected.

This is a hassle if I forget to start the route or if I want to pick up a route mid-way along the way (changing plans, or due to unexpected inclement weather).