Heading Sensor/Northstar No Heading Data

Sorry to post a simple question but here goes. On my Northstar 6001, I am getting a no heading data error. The heading data is fed to the Nstar by a KVH 1000 heading sensor. I know the KVH is getting power. I have ordered a replacement for the KVH. However, it occurs to me now that it is possible that the problem could be on the port on the Nstar and not the KVH. Is there any way to tell which of the two may be at fault? Connecting the KVH to another port on the Nstar is a bit problematic so I was looking for another way of testing the NMEA output of the KVH. Not sure how to really do that with a meter and read a NMEA output sentence. Any help would be appreciated.

Shouldn't your Northstar 6001i be getting its heading from its GPS antenna?

When my Northstar 6000i quit working I sent it to Kevin Miggles at the Marine Electronics of the Outer Banks. He evaluated it and gave me a price to fix it. I have mine back but can't test it since I won't be aboard until next spring. My experience with Kevin was entirely satisfactory.

For our Bahamas trip this year I purchased a used Northstar 6001i on Ebay. It worked so well I plan to keep my repaired older unit as a spare. My Northstars are built in, so the extra costs of buying an older obsolescent, yet still beautifully functional unit made sense to me.

Jim - the COG is fed to the Nstar by the GPS antenna. The heading sensor is used primarily for the chart overlay function as well as being able to use the EBL in the magnetic rather than relative mode. With all of that said, these are not essential functions for me but I do like everything to be working perfectly on the boat, especially if it is an easy electronic drop in replacement.

Replaced the heading sensor. All fixed.

Having a similar issue. I have been given a "Hand-me-down" 6000i and I'm bench testing it before putting it on my boat. It came with a northstar auto-pilot system that has both a compass, as well as a turn indicator (Electronic gyroscope) and everything seems to be set up correctly. I'm getting a "No heading data" alarm as well and want to make sure that I get all the wiring correct before installation. I mounted the compass and gyro on a cupboard door in my shop and can make fast or slow turns just by moving it. On the auto-pilot, the turn indicator seems to work just fine but I still get a "No heading data" alarm. I put together a portable test bench and actually put it in the back of a truck and drove around my neighborhood and got a COG line on the 6000i screen when moving. Does this alarm generate because there's no "COG" line, or is the alarm more to do with not receiving a heading indication from an auto-pilot sensor? None of the manuals go into this level of detail. I don't like alarms, and you shouldn't get an alarm if you're just using your system to set up a course when you're in your slip, at anchor, etc. Please help!! :-)

Alternately, can the heading sensor be connected directly to the 6000i instead of the auto-pilot? Could the 6000i communicate the heading data from the sensor to the auto-pilot? (It's a Northstar auto-pilot. More tries from the bench, I guess.