Raymarine SPX-5

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Mr Cassandra

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Is the SPX-5 any good I have had a Simrad WP 33? in the past and it was nothing but trouble. I do not want to go to the expence of fitting one below the deck at 2800 euro

So I am looking at the SPX-5 is this the best model on sale under £800-£1000.I know it will be undersize for the size of my yacht . I will only be using it for short passages in calm conditions not in a blow with big seas

Cheers bobt
 
More of a question to consider is whether Raymarine (or some form of successor) will be around to support the product long-term. Raymarine itself is tottering on the edge of bankruptcy, and negotiation with a buyer (rumoured to be FLIR) seem to be grinding on for an inordinately long time.
 
The SPX5 is a course computer or Core Pack with fluxgate compass - you need a drive with it. SPX5 is suitable for a wheel of tiller drive - so if you can use either of those on our boat should not be a problem.
 
steve6367 said:
The SPX5 is a course computer or Core Pack with fluxgate compass - you need a drive with it. SPX5 is suitable for a wheel of tiller drive - so if you can use either of those on our boat should not be a problem.
Click to expand...

I dont know is I am asking the right question ?

I need a wheel pilot for my boat. "Forget about the fact that my boat is 44ft long and 11tons "
I need it for passages in calm weather and when I am alone .I will not be relying on it in a blow
Can anyone recommend a good Auto pilot, as the compass on my Simrad w30 keeps packing in ,this unit was adequate for my need just a unreliable flux gate compass.
 
Is there any way you can replace the fluxgate compass or is it built into the w30, is it an individual item like the raymarine one...

download the spx info off the raymarine site, which should give you an idea of what you might be looking for..
 
Last season I fitted a SPX5 wheelpilot. Mixed feelings. It does work much better than my former Simrad wheelpilot and is also surprisingly economic in amperes.
But: since fitting it my compass has a considerable deviation. I'm sure that's due to the pilot (if I remove it, the deviation is gone), but have no idea what to do about it. And in a rough sea it will 'seesaw' (to and fro) with the movement of the ship. I usually have it on the lowest setting - but even then it keeps moving. But my Simrad was much worse.
Raymarine had mingled the feeding cable( wrong plus and min), and that gave a funny effect at first - easily put right through changing them.
Apart from the above, a nice autopilot. Time will learn if it is sturdy enough.
Chris
 
I am having problems with my VERY old Autohelm 2000 (predates Raymarine). Will this be ok? The current "Autohelm 2000" won't fit my boat. What is the basic bog standard fit? Your experience with this kit would be most welcome.
 
Topcat47 said:
I am having problems with my VERY old Autohelm 2000 (predates Raymarine). Will this be ok? The current "Autohelm 2000" won't fit my boat. What is the basic bog standard fit? Your experience with this kit would be most welcome.
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SPX 5 is a wheel drive so not suitable for your tiller steered boat, although there is a larger tiller steer unit in the latest Evo range, equivalent to the old ST 4000. Pretty unusual not being able to fit an ST 2000 where the old 2000 went. Essentially the same thing apart from the more sophisticated electronics.
 
The SPX 5 has now been discontinued and I could not find any in stock anywhere online. So I have just bought a Raymarine Evo 100 tiller for my Fulmar to replace a 35 year old Autohelm 2000, but have not had time to fit it. I chose this as a replacement as the electronics are going to be inside the boat, rather than completely exposed. Also the 2000 is only rated for 4000 kgs, total weight and my boat weighs about 5500 kgs according to when she was last lifted, so it was classified as being under powered.

The only other choice would be the Simrad, but the model would depend on the boat weight. The larger the model, the more powerful the ram is. However I found it only has a NMEA 0083 output, so the internal electronics appear to be a bit long in the tooth now.

Hope this helps.
 
I fitted a SPX 5 tiller pilot to my Fulmar about 3 years ago to replace the old Autohelm 2000. Apart from me initially mounting the fluxgate compass too close and between my bilge keels on the saloon table leg, which caused massive errors, and some issues with the Raymarine plug and socket that the tiller ram is connected with, it completely out performs the old Autohelm 2000 which use to give up if pushed too hard.

Earlier this year I got caught out on a channel crossing when the weather turned bad 12hrs earlier than forecast. 30kts of wind and huge waves. The tiller pilot steered us through it while we sheltered from the spray behind the spray hood.
 
SPX5 wheel pilot gave no discernible improvement on the previous ST4000 (weheelpilots, by the way) and was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on a boat.
As mentioned the magnets in the motor are much more powerful and will cause uncorrectable deviations in your binnacle compass, unless mounted in the second option position with motor at the bottom.
The boot on the cable to the motor quickly degrades in sunlight and covers everything that touches it in chalky black dust.
The EVO range are supposedly a whole lot better.
Ray has its own networking protocol = personally I'd stick with Simrad for yours
Have you tried theservicecentre.eu for a repair
 
Blue Fox said:
.....................................And in a rough sea it will 'seesaw' (to and fro) with the movement of the ship. I usually have it on the lowest setting - but even then it keeps moving..........................Chris
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem. Indeed I posted about it on here. This is what Product Support said:

"................ thanks for the video, the pilot is too active and there may be several reasons behind this,
The compass could be affected by some local deviating mass and so is overreacting to pitch and roll, or the gimballing inside the compass is stiff and so the compass sensor is not moving freely and so reacting to every movement of the boat. Check the deviation recorded by the compass as previously suggested, also open the compass sensor up and check the compass coils gimbal freely when gently shaken from side to side.
Check the rudder damping in the calibration and depending on the software version you may be able to change it, in which case increase it to 4 or 5.
Check the response level is selected to a low figure too."


I did increase the Rudder Damping (I think it is on the Dealer Calibration menu) and this has had some positive effect. I intend to increase it further when I get a chance - the menus are quite Byzantine.
 
Very useful so far, thanks. There is/was a tiller version and (NOS?) stuff is available in this USA where I am going on holiday soon. I will check out the Simrad. What do they call the models? Nothing came up on my searches for Autohelm and autopilot.
 
I often wonder about the ratings on autopilots. Brand x rated for a boat up to 4000kg unit b for boats between 4000 and 8000 ..... Funny because the bloke who turns the wheel or helms the tiller doesn't have a displacement limit. and with a balanced rudder the force required is surely the same regardless of displacement.
 
rtboss1 said:
I dont know is I am asking the right question ?

I need a wheel pilot for my boat. "Forget about the fact that my boat is 44ft long and 11tons "
I need it for passages in calm weather and when I am alone .I will not be relying on it in a blow
Can anyone recommend a good Auto pilot, as the compass on my Simrad w30 keeps packing in ,this unit was adequate for my need just a unreliable flux gate compass.
Click to expand...

We replaced a RaYmarine ST4000 + with an Evolution 100 wheel pilot package. I don't have enough miles on it yet to comment but the electronics and compass seem greatly improved. They, old and new, are not interchangeable as we found out when we first bought the wheel drive on it's own The initial configuration is all done by smart electronics and software and installation looks easy though I had paid a x-spurt for ours as he was already on the job dealing with our original and busted drive unit.

Having had a below decks pilot on our sun Legende 41 back when based in the UK I would much prefer another such but my pitiful pension would not allow this time round. our 'spurt btw had a lot of head scratching moments linking the Raymarine NMEA 183/ seatalk into our Garmin NMEA 2000 network but after many calls to Garmin and Raymarine eventually it all came good. and the new pilot will read and follow the Garmin masthead wind direction as well as follow a route from the Garmin GPS and plotter. .
 
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Topcat47 said:
Very useful so far, thanks. There is/was a tiller version and (NOS?) stuff is available in this USA where I am going on holiday soon. I will check out the Simrad. What do they call the models? Nothing came up on my searches for Autohelm and autopilot.
Click to expand...

There is a tiller version of the latest EVO - already referred to and information is on the Raymarine website. However, if it is for the Nic 26 in your profile it is really not the right thing. The ST 2000 is the correct model for such a boat and can't see any reason why you cannot fit it (or the similar size Simrad TP 22). In fact the smaller models will also work, although some find that they can be marginal in heavier weather. Both manufacturers provide guides for choosing an autopilot and offer different fittings to adapt to your specific application.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
I often wonder about the ratings on autopilots. Brand x rated for a boat up to 4000kg unit b for boats between 4000 and 8000 ..... Funny because the bloke who turns the wheel or helms the tiller doesn't have a displacement limit. and with a balanced rudder the force required is surely the same regardless of displacement.
Click to expand...

I assume it's about mass and inertia. A 20kg weight and a 100kg weight sitting on an ice rink are equally weightless wrt being pushed laterally but the 100kg weight is a lot more difficult to get moving or alter its direction once it is moving
 
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