Urgent Help Needed: Testing Off-Course Alarm on Gyro-compass TG-8000/8500

Engineering Marine Engineering
1

Hello fellow maritime professionals,

I hope this message finds you all well. I am currently facing a pressing issue and would greatly appreciate your guidance and expertise.

I am responsible for testing the “off-course alarm” on a Gyro-compass TG-8000/8500, and I’m seeking advice on the proper procedure. It’s critical to ensure the safety and accuracy of our navigation system, and I want to make sure I’m conducting the test correctly.

If anyone has experience with this specific system or has knowledge about testing off-course alarms on gyro-compasses in general, I would be immensely grateful for your insights. Any step-by-step instructions, tips, or best practices you can share would be invaluable to me.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Best regards,
Markus
Sweden

2

When at anchor or moored, switch to autopilot and set the course more than 20 degrees from current heading. This will result in a “pilot watch” alarm or similar on the autopilot, probably also a “low speed caution” alarm. The HDM/OCA-110 will sound the off-course alarm after a few minutes delay, displaying “o. ERR”

You can also test the HDM alarm on the HDM/OCA-110 by setting the magnetic variation to manual and then deliberately adjusting variation to a value some 20 degrees off the actual variation. Do make sure to set it back to automatic/GPS after testing!