Raymarine wheel pilot ST4000+MKII

[woody001]

Hi I am thinking of getting an ST4000+MKII raymarine wheel pilot.
I like the idea of them, however, do i need to by a compass as well?
Can the raymarine be used whilst sailing? Ie. if i get a windvane, can i connect them up and the boat will sail itself?

How good r they for this? How reliable?

thanks

simon

 

[aluijten]

The full kit will include a fluxgate-compass as well. If you hook it up to the windset (a compatible one, that is) , you will be able to sail either by compass course or by constant wind angle (like with a windvane steering set).
The performance is quite dependant or your boat. Better said; the interaction between the boat and the autopilot. There is a setup menu where you adjust the sensitivity of the pilot, this will lead to good results most of the times.

Arno

 

[jimi]

Agree, however it is important to get the settings right. On mine the drive type was set wrong and I had enormous trouble until it was changed.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Raymarine are a bit tardy with their details. I am considering a plotter from them, but it was only by pursuing the point that I found out that instrument data can only be displayed if it has been processed first by a dedicated instrument. So any notion of saving money by not buying the instrument and using the plotter display only is unfounded.

Navman use a gyro as well as the compass to drive the autopilot and it is included in the cost (as is the hydraulic pump if you go that way). Raymarine are a bit reluctant to admit that a gyro is useful.

Push Raymarine for details to be sure what you get for your money.

 

[jimi]

Re Gyro

I made enquiries about this when looking at Marpa and I beleive that the same fluxgate compass is used but the interface is a lot faster. FWIG this is only important on faster boats for autopilot purposes (or for MArpa when interfaced with radar).

 

[chrisc]

had one for about three years .-good bit of kit ,once you have the settings right (for your boat) this can take a bit of time but the handbook is ok.

 

[mainmarine]

You can download the instruction and installation manual from www.raymarine.com they will let you know what you need to connect to the system
regards
Malc

 

[yachtbits]

ST4000+ mkII can be upgraded to Gyro using Pathfinder Gyro Processor. This still uses the fluxgate compass which it samples at once per second. The gyro processor, which contains a solid state piezo electric gyro, then monitors variations in heading within the 1 second period, it then calculates and outputs a corrected heading 10 times a second.

All non Gyro Raymarine autopilots can use this (except ST1000 & ST2000).

Gyro heading is required for Marpa to work properly regardless of vessel type/speed.

Gyro stabilized heading also obviously improves heading control on all types of vessels.

Auto pilot Modes.

1. will follow route generated by GPS/Chartplotter
2. will hold heading generated by system compass
3. sail to wind, fixed angle to wind.

ST4000 will interface with Raymarine wind systems or other makes that have NMEA output as ST4000 has NMEA input as well as SeaTalk.

For any autopilot to work correctly, two main points should be observed,

1. set it up right in the first place, thats what the manual is supplied for!

2. help the autopilot when under sail, by trimming the sails to reduce helm loading. Don't make the pilot work harder than absolutly necessary.

regards
Kevin
http://www.yachtbits.com/raymarine/st4000_mk2_wheel_pilot.php