Simrad TP10 tiller pilot strange behaviour

[ProDave]

Our boat has a TP10, it came with the boat and needed repair (already discussed at the time)

While it notionally works, it does have some strange behaviours that I can;t find documented. In particular sometimes when you engage it, it does not just hold the course you are on when you press the red button, it wants to veer off somewhere else.

It did it again today but I think I have come just a little closer to discovering an undocumented "feature"

So we had been sailing and the TP had been steering well. We came to a bit where we needed manual steering to navigate around a point, so I pressed the red button to put the TP in standby, disconnected it from the tiller and steered around the point. Then ready to continue on a new course, I just re attached the TP to the tiller and pressed the red button, expecting it to continue on the new course. No it did not, it wanted to veer off and in hindsight (though I did not give it time to prove that) I think it might have been trying to revert to the previous course.

No I thought that whenever you went from standby to on, it would maintain the course you were on when you pressed the red button.

Now I have developed this theory. If you put the unit into standby, and then later put it back to on, without pressing any other buttons in between, it will revert to the previous heading. But if after putting it to standby you use the left and right buttons to manually move the actuator, and then put it on again, this time it maintains the heading when you turn it on.

Can anyone else confirm this behaviour, as if true it might answer many questions about why sometimes it does not behave as you expect.

 

[greeny]

I thought that when switched from standby to auto mine keeps the course you're on at that time. Now you've sown the seed of doubt for me. I'll have a play with it tomorrow.

 

[zulloboy]

When you press the button to select "Auto" mode, it should steer to the course at that time. It has no capability of remembering the course during the previous "Auto" session.

Cheers, Graeme

 

[Daydream believer]

..

 

[Refueler]

I don't have TP .. but AH (later Raymarine) .... the AH800 and AH1000 are similar units to the TP10 and TP20 ...

If I press STBY button after its been keeping course on Auto ... I can lift off the TP and steer manually .. as expected. On new course - I place TP back on tiller and press Auto ... initially the boat will veer either way depending on seas and wind effects as it re-assesses sea state .. at times it can be significant ... as long as I have sea-room .. I grit teeth and let it settle ... if not - then I lift TP of tiller. Start again. If you start pressing + / - buttons - it can make it worse.

There is a trick I used to use .... if the TP veers hard when press Auto ... I would see if it steadies ... if not - then I would lift off the TP from tiller, lay it down aligned if still steering boat .. I would manually steer for a bit - then put TP back on tiller .... basically I had taken the boat and TP through its steadying phase ... it would still take time to assess and steer clean course .. but it helped.

Last : OP says "when you engage it, it does not just hold the course you are on when you press the red button, it wants to veer off somewhere else." .... this can happen if you have metal objects that come anywhere near at time of pressing auto ... they cause the magnetic compass inside the TP to swing ...

 

[Plum]

Our boat has a TP10, it came with the boat and needed repair (already discussed at the time)

While it notionally works, it does have some strange behaviours that I can;t find documented. In particular sometimes when you engage it, it does not just hold the course you are on when you press the red button, it wants to veer off somewhere else.

It did it again today but I think I have come just a little closer to discovering an undocumented "feature"

So we had been sailing and the TP had been steering well. We came to a bit where we needed manual steering to navigate around a point, so I pressed the red button to put the TP in standby, disconnected it from the tiller and steered around the point. Then ready to continue on a new course, I just re attached the TP to the tiller and pressed the red button, expecting it to continue on the new course. No it did not, it wanted to veer off and in hindsight (though I did not give it time to prove that) I think it might have been trying to revert to the previous course.

No I thought that whenever you went from standby to on, it would maintain the course you were on when you pressed the red button.

Now I have developed this theory. If you put the unit into standby, and then later put it back to on, without pressing any other buttons in between, it will revert to the previous heading. But if after putting it to standby you use the left and right buttons to manually move the actuator, and then put it on again, this time it maintains the heading when you turn it on.

Can anyone else confirm this behaviour, as if true it might answer many questions about why sometimes it does not behave as you expect.

The TP10 does have a memory, it remembers the last course used and is recalled if you press the Auto button for a secend or two so if you do not want that last course you must do a very quick press of Auto so it holds your new course. This is what the manual says:-

To lock the pilot onto the desired course,
either steer the correct course and then engage the autopi-
lot, or engage the autopilot and then adjust the heading
until the correct course is being sailed (see section 2.3). If
the STBY AUTO key is pressed and held, the pilot will
beep a second time and lock onto the previously used
heading (this feature will not be available if the unit has
just been switched on).

 

[greeny]

The TP10 does have a memory, it remembers the last course used and is recalled if you press the Auto button for a secend or two so if you do not want that last course you must do a very quick press of Auto so it holds your new course. This is what the manual says:-

To lock the pilot onto the desired course,
either steer the correct course and then engage the autopi-
lot, or engage the autopilot and then adjust the heading
until the correct course is being sailed (see section 2.3). If
the STBY AUTO key is pressed and held, the pilot will
beep a second time and lock onto the previously used
heading (this feature will not be available if the unit has
just been switched on).

So it sounds like the difference between a short press and a long press. I'll experiment with mine. I also need to play and learn the self tack facility.

 

[Refueler]

The TP10 does have a memory, it remembers the last course used and is recalled if you press the Auto button for a secend or two so if you do not want that last course you must do a very quick press of Auto so it holds your new course. This is what the manual says:-

To lock the pilot onto the desired course,
either steer the correct course and then engage the autopi-
lot, or engage the autopilot and then adjust the heading
until the correct course is being sailed (see section 2.3). If
the STBY AUTO key is pressed and held, the pilot will
beep a second time and lock onto the previously used
heading (this feature will not be available if the unit has
just been switched on).

mmmmm not exactly clear ... is that STBY - then AUTO separately .. or together ?

 

[Plum]

mmmmm not exactly clear ... is that STBY - then AUTO separately .. or together ?

No. The button is marked "STBY AUTO". Just one button does both. The buttons are different from the Raymarine ones.

 

[Refueler]

No. The button is marked "STBY AUTO". Just one button does both.

Arrrrrrrr OK ... tks ...

 

[ProDave]

It might be a short / long press thing but I did not think I pressed it that long and it only beeped once.

Next still day when there is no wind to sail i will play around more. I just thought I had hit on why, sometimes it veers off to a wrong course rather than engaging autopilot on the heading you are on at the time.

 

[Plum]

It might be a short / long press thing but I did not think I pressed it that long and it only beeped once.

Next still day when there is no wind to sail i will play around more. I just thought I had hit on why, sometimes it veers off to a wrong course rather than engaging autopilot on the heading you are on at the time.

Also, I have read that Apple Watches (maybe others too?) can affect compasses so if you are wearing one on the wrist of the hand used to press the Auto button???

 

[greeny]

It might be a short / long press thing but I did not think I pressed it that long and it only beeped once.

Next still day when there is no wind to sail i will play around more. I just thought I had hit on why, sometimes it veers off to a wrong course rather than engaging autopilot on the heading you are on at the time.

Sorry, I didn't make the boat today, a morning coffee with friends turned into lunch and an excess of vinho. C'est la vie. Tomorrow I'll go and play on the boat.

 

[yoda]

I used to find that the unit needed a few seconds to settle down before engaging auto after bringing the unit round ready to engage on the tiller pin. Also watch out for your mobile phone - too close and it can affect the tiller pilot compass.

 

[ProDave]

We had one short last outing on the boat on Monday, and as there was no wind we used it to have a play with the TP under motor.

Sadly to say it behaved impeccably. Set a course and it steered well. Switch to standby, unclip TP from tiller, change course by about 90 degrees, clip tp back onto tiller and without pressing any other buttons switch to on. And it held the new course without issue. We repeated several times and could not replicate the previous noted behaviour of going off onto a different course.

So I will just have to wait until next season and see how "George" behaves.

 

[Habebty]

We had one short last outing on the boat on Monday, and as there was no wind we used it to have a play with the TP under motor.

Sadly to say it behaved impeccably. Set a course and it steered well. Switch to standby, unclip TP from tiller, change course by about 90 degrees, clip tp back onto tiller and without pressing any other buttons switch to on. And it held the new course without issue. We repeated several times and could not replicate the previous noted behaviour of going off onto a different course.

So I will just have to wait until next season and see how "George" behaves.

I have 2 TP20s. One is 20 years old and has exhibited the same behaviour as yours on occasion. The other is 3 years old and does the same thing on occasion???!!! The only conclusion is that despite motoring around in circles trying to follow the correct button pushing sequence in the manual to check whether the respective TP is setup for port or starboard mounting, or seastate setting, or gain or whatever none of which is easy to comprehend from the instructions I have resigned to the fact that sometimes they just both throw a wobbly. Each time I have checked for any magnetic interference or metallic influence and drawn a blank. I can only think that it is possible to press the wrong buttons in the wrong order or for too long thus implementing a change the default settings particularly if not paying attention to what I am pressing. In short, crap instuctions and over complicated setup button sequence getting too few buttons to do too many things.