Although the navigation features work when using the hand held remote, most of the
'neat' features like navigating a saved route from the Humminbird do not.
I am using a 898C HD with 6.640 software and i-pilot Link version 1.160 with a Powerdrive V2.
Some of the of the navigation features (as advertised) do not work at all through the Humminbird unit.
1. AutoPilot navigation from the Humminbird:
When trying to adjust the autopilot from the Humminbird after selecting
"AutoPilot Adjust" from the X-Press menu with the left right cursor keys.
The purple course line moves when the cursor keys are pressed but as soon as you press
the "Info" key to confirm the new course line, the purple course line reverts back to the original course
heading).
The only way to adjust the course line is through the hand held remote. Unfortunately the hand held remote
only makes very coarse adjustments. It would be wonderful to be able to adjust it through the
Humminbird (as per the manual) as it gives you much finer adjustments than the remote does.
2. Route navigation from the Humminbird:
This is really the feature that sold me on the i-Pilot Link but that does not work at all.
After selecting 'Waypoints Routes and Tracks" from the navigation tab and selecting the appropriate route
to travel (forward or backward),
the Humminbird unit displays a prompt telling you that 'Navigation has begun along the selected route.
The route is then highlighted in yellow on the chart and the i-Pilot begins to navigate towards the first
waypoint of the selected route.
As soon as the first waypoint of the route is reached, the Minn Kota propeller turns off and the navigation
is cancelled.
At this point, the previously highlighted track is no longer highlighted. Please note that I do not have any
Spot Locks in any of my waypoints.
I have also tried to create a route manually by moving the cursor to new positions on the chart and then
navigating to those waypoints.
Each time that a new waypoint is added, a message that the waypoint has been added to the current route
appears. But as soon as the first waypoint is reached navigation is cancelled (motor turns off) and the
previously highlighted route is no longer highlighted.
The last technical support representative I spoke with about these issues told me that they "didn't make the product".
This was not the answer I was hoping to hear.