With the cold weather and bad feet keeping me off the water lately, I got bored. So, here is what I am doing. I bought a HDS 12 gen 2 touch to take the place of the HDS 9 gen 2 touch that I had on the console. I moved he HDS 9 up front to replace the Elite HDI 7 that I had up there (which I will be posting soon to sell ) I had the Xi5 gateway connected via the NEMA 2000 network connecting the console unit (the 9) so that I could control the trolling motor from the console. NOW since I have the HDS 9 up front, I am running another NEMA 2000 cable to it and also a yellow network cable to connect the HDS 9 to the HDS 12 so they can share waypoints, maps and be able to use or share the front transducer at the console. Here is a trick kicker, I am using a transducer post to mount a DI/SI transducer on instead of the 2D transducer. SO here is the question, with the console HDS 12 and the bow HDS 9 networked together and both being connected to the NEMA 2000 backbone, will I be able to use the HDS 9 to see something that I want to go to and just touch the object and engage the Xi5 autopilot to just go to it or is the Xi5 autopilot only accessible from one unit. I would like to be able to able to slow troll around up front and watch the SI and DI views on the HDS 9 and be able to see a brush pile and just able to tap it and go to it. Also by having the HDS 12 use the front DI transducer, when I see something on the screen, then that would put it right under my seat when I drop a bouy. I would really love to hear what you guys think. I know this sounds really elaborate but hey, I already had most everything except the cables so what the heck. Good Fishing to ALL

Quick answer is no. NMEA will need to be connected to both units you want to use your Motorguide controls on. Ethernet and NMEA don't "talk" to each other. You'll need an additional NMEA drop to your 9.

t1

Yes, I have an HDS-9 up front and a HDS-12 at the center console. I have both on the NEMA 2000 and use a gateway. You can use the gateway "Go To" feature on both units. However, you need to make sure your front unit GPS is set to "this unit"" instead of your console. Mine constantly switches on me so the waypoint on the bow is actually 9ft behind me because my front unit is set to the console unit. The one issue I have with this setup is trolling motor interference on my front unit. I'm running a totalscan transducer on the front so I can run side and downscan. As for the brush pile, it will take you to within a few feet of the brush pile and automatically anchor but it will not be right on top...you will still have to move around to locate it. Also, you have to program your unit to go to the desired waypoint and stop/anchor....or else your trolling motor will keep going once you reach the waypoint...this drove me nuts the first time it happened.

Thanks j791....... I think there was some confusion above. I will have BOTH units connected to the NEMA 2000 backbone. AND have a yellow network cable connecting the two together. That was an excellent point about the setting the GPS to this unit. I use a point1 gps that is connected to the NEMA 2000 and the ant is actually at the back of the boat so if the front unit picked it up to use, my waypoint would be 18' away. WOW..... Do you think that adding an additional point1 to the bow would make it significantly more accurate or would it be a waste of time and money. Also, yea I did the same thing until I figured out about setting the arrival to anchor instead of heading lock. LOL. Well, now that brings up another interesting question. Could you even connect 2 Point1 GPS antennas on one backbone or would that confuse the heck out of the NEMA 2000. Also, j791, do you have your transducer attached to the trolling motor. Mine is not going to be attached to the trolling motor so I am hoping I will avoid the interference problem.

I have a point 1 connected at the console. Some guys use two point 1's but they say they only do it so they know which way their boat is facing at all times. My understanding is that you can use the Point 1 for boat direction on both HDS units but still use "This Unit" for the GPS setting. The GPS on the HDS units is really good.

My transducer is attached directly to the trolling motor using a transducer shield saver. My interference is coming from the speed control module which is evident due to the fact at full speed I get no interference...speed control shuts off automatically at full trolling motor speed. Seperating the transducer from the trolling motor is a good idea and should greatly reduce interference.

I didn't see it answered but yes, you can have multiple Point-1s, although I think it is overkill. Here's why and let me know if I am wrong. G3 internal GPS hits (refreshes) 10x sec, same as a Point-1. However, I'm told the PT-1 is more accurate as it is dedicated, not internal and tied to other components. But as j791 says, the G3s are quite accurate in their on right. So, given that the bow unit GPS is more than adequate, AND the bow unit GPS is set to this unit, why would there be a need for another Pt-1 because as I understand, the Xi5 has it's own GPS, it would travel to whichever wpt you told it to whether it be from the console or bow (wpts being shared by Ethernet, right?).

So if I am at the bow, bow unit set to this unit (which, in reality, doesn't matter but keep reading), and Xi5 instructed to go to xx.xxx.xxxx it will go to xx.xxx.xxxx. Since the same wpt at the console would be xx.xxx.xxxx, wouldn't the Xi5 go to the same wpt spot - where the TM is - even if the original wpt (which is still xx.xxx.xxxx) was set using the stern's ducer, if using the console's unit?

If you understand my jibberish, is what I have outlined true? Then the concern would be the accuracy of the Xi5's GPS readings, wouldn't it?

If your were to disconnect all communications from the Xi5 to HDSs, then you generally have my setup with the Terrova. If I want to mark a wpt on the Terrova, I physically have to have the boat bow over it and press a save this location button. If I want to return to that spot, assuming I am in reasonable distance from it, I press the saved location and the TM takes off towards it and stops when reached. This is why I am asking if my understanding is correct.

What you are saying makes sense. The one thing about the Point 1 gps that "I think" you missed is that it actually has two gps antennas inside of it. That is how it knows heading at all times. I could be really wrong on that. That is one of the things I liked best about it is that the you can always get a reference to where to cast to a waypoint by looking at where the waypoint is in reference to where the boat is pointed on the screen.

The reason I didn't mention the heading, is I have Gen 1s right now. Gen 1 does not have the 'heading' capability. G2/3/New does, but it is because these units have upgraded GPSes to interact with Point-1, including the heading. The Point-1 does not have two antennas, but has 'heading' in the Point-1. 'Heading' is the big difference. How do I know this. I just talked with an expert at Lowrance.

And here's an easy way (per my discussion with Lowr) on how the Xi5 operates with wpts (excludes G1 because they don't talk). The Xi5 goes to whatever lat/long it is directed to go to, regardless of what unit the wpt is saved. It is that simple. So if you marked a wpt from the stern and moved 100 yds. away, and then directed the Xi5 to go to that 'stern' wpt, the TM would be sitting on top of that wpt and the stern 18-? ft. away depending on boat length.

UJC....... U DA MAN Thanks a lot, that pretty much sums it up. So, to make sure that I have this correct, if I add a Point-1 to bow and tell the HDS-9 to use that Point-1, then the 9 would use the Lat/Lon for waypoints and reflect the heading of that Point-1 ant. And, if I were trolling around using the 12 on the console and marked a waypoint using the stern Point-1, and told the Xi5 to go-to it, the troll motor would receive the Lat/Lon from the HDS-12 waypoint information and would got to the Lat/Lon and anchor (since that is what I have it set to do) Clear as mud LOL thanks for all your input.

If I am reading this correctly, I should place a point one at the stearn, over the transducer to mark what I see on the console unit. When I use the console unit to mark a new waypoint, the xi5 will position the bow over the new pile .?
Thanks Mo