Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Today while fishing my HDS Live 9 alarm went off telling me "Auto pilot computer not connected" or something to that effect. Alarm showed on console too. Then the Ghost Motor shut down and wouldn't operate. Turned boat completely off (after turning both HDS units off), waited 5 min and powered back up again. Ghost motor would not turn on. Question, Should the ghost motor show up on the devices screen on either bow or console unit? (mine does not) Anybody experience this autopilot message? What does the auto pilot message mean? I didn't think I had auto pilot. Checked NIEMA sp? and display was correct.

Put the boat back on the trailer, and parked it. Tried one more time, after plugging in, and the ghost turned on. Lithium battery charger lit 1 red light indicating almost full charge.
Any help appreciated.
TL
FE
Haven't posted this much in years. Guess I'm behind the curve.

If you have the NEMA cable hooked to Ghost and HDS units you will see the trolling motor icon on the left side of HDS units.

You can disable the auto pilot feature. I’m pretty sure. You can call me at FW Sacramento Friday thru Monday and I’ll explain it more.

Plus HDS need to be at 20.3 software and Ghost needs to be updated also.

I do the updates at FW at no charge, if you can bring it in to the Sac store. I will do it for you.

Give me a call if you want to talk more.

Alan Fong
Fisherman's Warehouse Sacramento
(916) 362-1200

Your HDS Live has autopilot capabilities which you have to enable in your advanced features. The Ghost motor will use autopilot to guide your boat on programmed routes, to a waypoint, and more; and lets you choose what happens once you arrive. I use autopilot all the time with my Ghost. Just yesterday I would touch my screen on a waypoint I want to fish, and then I press the "go to" button on the bottom of my screen, and then the Ghost would turn on and drive me to my chosen waypoint, and then automatically anchor my Ghost directly on the waypoint. Great feature.

When your Ghost loses adequate power, the autopilot alarm goes off, and you will find your Ghost is not powering. Anytime the Ghost power is lost, the autopilot alarm lets you know because you are no longer piloting where you intended, which could be dangerous if you are busy rigging rods or not paying attention and you are no longer on your intended course.

So I would be looking at your batteries, or connections in your Ghost wiring. What batteries are you using (type and size) and is your Ghost hard wired or do you use a plug? Do you have a breaker on the trolling motor circuit that has auto or manual reset?

Check your voltage not just at the battery, but at the connection point to your Ghost wiring.

There is some good information here..I get the same fault/code only when load my boat at the ramp..maybe it is because I turn off the power to my trolling motor so I don't get shredded hooking to the winch..I'll also have to check to make sure I'm up to date on software.

Turning off your Ghost will instantly set off the autopilot fault/alarm on your Lowrance screen.

Thanks for the replies. I knew I could count on you guys. Took the boat to Alan at Fisherman's wearhouse, and got some quick tutoring. (Thanks Alan). The batteries are lithium 100's, and the motor is hard wired. It appears the problem may have been a one time anomaly. Still get used to the bellks and whistles which is why I post the questions.
Thanks again you were all right on.
Much appreciation.
TL
FE