Do you have the 4502? you said 1402? Assuming you have the 4502 , that is the smart stick that I have hooked up to my AP12. The 4502 is the generic smart stick and you were correct in buying that one instead of the Simrad compatable smart stick. THe ap12 is actually an old Navico design and Simrad bought Navico some years back so the ap12 is different from most all Simrads. THe generic smartstick requires 5VDC and the AP12 supplies 12VDC to the rudder feedback unit. So what you have to do is make or buy some type of converter to convert 12VDC to 5VDC.
I didn't try to send 12v to it and I just assumed since the teleflex literature said supply voltage should be 5V , that's what I would use. The Teleflex "smart stick" their part number AR 4502 has an output of 0.5VDC - 4.5VDC. and that is close enough to the 1V -4V signal that Simrad says the AP12 needs. Sometimes when setting up the smart stick you need to not turn the helm hard over in P and S directions and stop and set the limits a little less than full over. No big deal. Anyway, about the 5VDC, I looked on the net ,googled, and found a design that used a cheap little chip. A 7805CT , google that part and see the data sheet which gives you diagrams of typical applications. All was needed was adding a couple of capacitors, a .15uf and a .33uf. I also bought a little plastic enclosue box which I mounted this stuff in. I installed the litttle box with it's guts near the AP12 brain and ran the feedback supply wire (red, I think it was) from the AP12 brain that used to feed the feed back unit to the little voltage regulator and connected it's output to the Smart Stick. I actually added a small terminal strip that handles the connections at the little regulator box. Now my AP12 brain gets the signal it needs and works at least if not better than the orginal piece of junk the Navico supplied with the unit orginally.
I am no eclectonics guru, so this all was easy and only cost maybe 10-15 bucks, I even got 4-5 7805CT's as I think that's the way they come packaged.
However, if I understand your post, you are getting the correct signal voltage even though you are using 12VDC rather than the 5VDC that teleflex calls for? If that is the case then you have got it? no need for this bs that I did. Please post your results as I for one would be interested to see if it works of 12VDC.
PS , sorry, just re-read your post and you already have a regulator. So what is the problem? I could not under stand exactly what it was. It might help you, it did me, to relalize that the way Simrad calls for troubleshhoting or testing the feedback unit is not the way your ap12 brain sees it. Just hook it up to the brain and see what happens.
__________________
Knotreel aka Hammer
Last edited by knotreel; 07-04-2009 at 08:17 AM.
|
