Auto pilot question

lanerboy

lanerboy

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Hi All

If a boat has the following

Raymarie 240E VHF.
Raymarine SL70C radar/plotter/GPS.
Raymarine ST60 speed,depth and log.

could auto pilot be fitted to this set up and what would be an estimate cost to fit

cheers

shawn
 
lanerboy said:
Hi All

If a boat has the following

Raymarie 240E VHF.
Raymarine SL70C radar/plotter/GPS.
Raymarine ST60 speed,depth and log.

could auto pilot be fitted to this set up and what would be an estimate cost to fit

cheers

shawn
Click to expand...

Any suitable autopilot could be fitted and interfaced with what you have either by seatalk or nmea, cost will vary on what you have fitted already, is there a pump as that will help keep cost down.
 
aquapower said:
Any suitable autopilot could be fitted and interfaced with what you have either by seatalk or nmea, cost will vary on what you have fitted already, is there a pump as that will help keep cost down.
Click to expand...

+1

you need:

ECU,
sensors (compass/heading/whatever it's called, rudder, GPS)
pump
control/display to operate the thing

Then this lot connects to the other bits of kit you have via NMEA (either 0183 or 2000) That's straight forward, but not your problem. AFAIK, it's not a case "I have all that kit, what can be used by an a/p and what can I save", you basically need a full independent (to an extend) system.
Ah, and pumps come in different sizes according to boat size.

cheers

V.
 
vas said:
+1

you need:

ECU,
sensors (compass/heading/whatever it's called, rudder, GPS)
pump
control/display to operate the thing

Then this lot connects to the other bits of kit you have via NMEA (either 0183 or 2000) That's straight forward, but not your problem. AFAIK, it's not a case "I have all that kit, what can be used by an a/p and what can I save", you basically need a full independent (to an extend) system.
Ah, and pumps come in different sizes according to boat size.

cheers

V.
Click to expand...

A raymarine EV200 power kit with type 1 pump inc fitting should be around £3000
 
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Rob had a modern Raymarine fitted to his SC38, he has old style C90 and St instruments, to this day it still doesn't work properly and was fitted by a dealer who by the sounds of it has walked away from it, all because it's interfaced, it just doesn't like it , it shuts down loosing speed and depth all the time, it won't track straight either. I've been out on the boat, there is nothing wrong with it. If your to fit a pilot with the old gear make it a stand alone system or upgrade the lot to match.
 
I wouldn't condemn the equipment, rather the dealer who doesn't seem very competent. I have done many Raymarine installs and upgrades and never had a problem getting a new autopilot to talk to an existing system, Raymarine have the interfaces and connectors for just about everything. The autopilot only needs GPS data out from the chart plotter via Seatalk or NMEA or N2k and these inputs are in Raymarine Autopilots, the other data for heading it gets from its own fluxgate, what is important is installing the components in the right place and configuring the system correctly, i.e. selecting the right baud rate and which NMEA ports you are using. Then it is a case of go out and calibrate the system to the boat and spend some time dialing the system in on the 4 main compass points. Some boats are harder to get right than others, in all the dozens of installs I have done only one defeated me and that was a steel boat with a totally inadequate rudder size which once it started turning didn't want to stop, but that wasn't the equipments fault.
If it doesn't track straight that is down to fine tuning of the system, if the boat has D4/6 motors then its vital that you have the correct AP pump as the system needs a smaller pump than usual otherwise the servo steering on D4/6 will over react.
 
I'm considering an AP as well, in order to replace a wheel drive pilot (Sportpilot Plus) with an unreliable clutch (part no. Q123 - N/A or silly money). I'm going to use the NMEA2000 so out of that worry.

At first decided on next generation wheel drive Evolution Autopilot EV-200 Sport (#T70159), but that has been discontinued.
Using Raymarine's model guide either an Evolution Autopilot EV-100 Power Hydraulic (#T70154) at £ 1069 or the Evolution Autopilot EV-200 Power Hydraulic (#T70157) at £ 1880 is right.

Both come complete, including pump and cabling.

If any of these fit your requirements you have a price indication.

Garmins offering in this segment seems more expensive.
 
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Spi D said:
I'm considering an AP as well, in order to replace a wheel drive pilot (Sportpilot Plus) with an unreliable clutch (part no. Q123 - N/A or silly money). I'm going to use the NMEA2000 so out of that worry.

At first decided on next generation wheel drive Evolution Autopilot EV-200 Sport (#T70159), but that has been discontinued.
Using Raymarine's model guide either an Evolution Autopilot EV-100 Power Hydraulic (#T70154) at £ 1069 or the Evolution Autopilot EV-200 Power Hydraulic (#T70157) at £ 1880 is right.

Both come complete, including pump and cabling.

If any of these fit your requirements you have a price indication.

Garmins offering in this segment seems more expensive.
Click to expand...

I'm going through the same loop for my S37 with KAD43's
I have cable helm going to hydraulic steering and the guy at Hudson's marine explained that the EV-100 wouldn't work for me because it has no clutch output.
Sounds like you have a hydraulic helm so it may not apply but worth asking the question lanerboy and Spi D.

ps I'm not managing to excite the "missis" about spending £2-3k. I feel failure presenting itself. How do you do it guys? We have a trip to the Balearic's coming up and it would be lovely.
 
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My boat has hydraulic steering and would use the reversing pump. No need for clutch control, but thanks for the heads up.

SWMBO is aware of it but hasn't commented on neither the £1070 nor the £1880 price tags :cool:
 
Spi D said:
My boat has hydraulic steering and would use the reversing pump. No need for clutch control, but thanks for the heads up.

SWMBO is aware of it but hasn't commented on neither the £1070 nor the £1880 price tags :cool:
Click to expand...

You could explain the saving because you have a hydraulic helm. Because I will need a Stern Drive Drive unit my DIY bill will be £2200 plus. For me I'm doomed!
 
DavidJ said:
I'm going through the same loop for my S37 with KAD43's
I have cable helm going to hydraulic steering and the guy at Hudson's marine explained that the EV-100 wouldn't work for me because it has no clutch output.
Sounds like you have a hydraulic helm so it may not apply but worth asking the question lanerboy and Spi D.

ps I'm not managing to excite the "missis" about spending £2-3k. I feel failure presenting itself. How do you do it guys? We have a trip to the Balearic's coming up and it would be lovely.
Click to expand...

My EV-100 pack arrives this week (twin D6-350's on DPH drives). The answer to your ps question is deflectionary spend - it's a bit like buying offset carbon credits every time you fly: what you need to do for boat spend is buy some offsetting handbag or shoe credits, then you should be ok... :D
 
Not a pro on this, but have gathered some info along the way:

Over time AP systems apparently have been composed by a number of devices, from a fluxgate compass over a rudder position sender to a headunit, controlling some sort of driving device that actually manage the rudder or drive.

Modern systems like Raymarine Evolution integrate more funtions in fewer devices to have a head unit with display and buttons, a 9 sensor unit to detect all sorts of movement, and a computing device. This computer will manage the driving unit which, according to the sort of work needed, can be either an electric hyradulic pump (incoprated into the exisiting hyd. steering and will do the same as the steering wheel by running either one or the other direction), a constant running pump (directing hydraulic pressure by controlling valves) or, if no hydraulic steering is fitted (eg. cable steering) a linear actuator (to push/pull the steering rod can be fitted, in cooperation with a traditional power steering if fitted).

Most AP's can be interfaced to talk to chartplotters etc. on board, to enable route steering etc. More features on modern systems - eg. trolling patterns etc. In some cases a multi function display can be used instead of the AP head unit.

The need for the AP computer to talk other devices and/or supply power to these can be deciding factors on which computer to use. The Raymarine ACU-100 has less fancy funtions than the ACU-200 and so forth, pushing the budget.

The Raymarine guide isn't very clear on sugggestions for my boat (could be A, could be B). Annoyingly no Raymarine dealer anywhere (UK, DK, US) has been able to advice on details.
 
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Just as an aside. The very helpful guy from Hudsons (Dave) suggested because I was DIY'ing in Spain then an extra long backbone cable may be useful in siteing some of the components where you want them to be rather than be constrained by cable length.
His recommendation: 3 meters backbone cable A06035 £32
 
spannerman said:
I wouldn't condemn the equipment, rather the dealer who doesn't seem very competent. I have done many Raymarine installs and upgrades and never had a problem getting a new autopilot to talk to an existing system, Raymarine have the interfaces and connectors for just about everything. The autopilot only needs GPS data out from the chart plotter via Seatalk or NMEA or N2k and these inputs are in Raymarine Autopilots, the other data for heading it gets from its own fluxgate, what is important is installing the components in the right place and configuring the system correctly, i.e. selecting the right baud rate and which NMEA ports you are using. Then it is a case of go out and calibrate the system to the boat and spend some time dialing the system in on the 4 main compass points. Some boats are harder to get right than others, in all the dozens of installs I have done only one defeated me and that was a steel boat with a totally inadequate rudder size which once it started turning didn't want to stop, but that wasn't the equipments fault.
If it doesn't track straight that is down to fine tuning of the system, if the boat has D4/6 motors then its vital that you have the correct AP pump as the system needs a smaller pump than usual otherwise the servo steering on D4/6 will over react.
Click to expand...

Thanks SM, the dealer gave up I think, 3 sea trials and every time the speed and depth dropped out, boat wanders all over the place, has D4 300, the workmanship was that poor he lost his steering first time out, they didn't even do a sea trial to calibrate it, they just fitted and asked for the cheque. The first time out he lost steering, turned out they didn't top up the helm after fitting the pump!! That's simple ABC stuff. I'm not sure on the outcome.
 
Poor bloke, it makes me mad that people in the trade can get away with such appalling workmanship if you can call it that and then expect payment, it gets the trade a bad name. Also downright dangerous to deliver a boat after major work involving vital controls with out testing it and signing it off, name and shame! If they are an authorised dealer they should not be recognised by Raymarine any longer as it reflects badly on their products also.
 
volvopaul said:
I won't state the name but there based in a large marina village in Portsmouth.
Click to expand...

That sounds about right, I lost a few installs to them as they were so cheap I could never see how they could do it for the money, they even travelled to the Thames to work with no travel charges.
 
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