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Random Quote: I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks than in the drink with my boat on the rocks!
After finally thawing out and dodging the rain drops, I was finally able to complete my SIMRAD AP12 install. The last thing I needed to do was to calibrate the compass. That was just about as easy as the rest of the install, press a couple of buttons, put the boat in a starboard 3 degree or so turn per minute and wait for the beeps, you are done!
Sea trialing the unit, simply put, it's hard to believe I hadn't thought about installing an AP sooner! The boat in GPS or NAV mode deviates a maximum of 5 degrees before correcting itself back to center line at cruise. At a slow 2.5-3.0 mph troll, using either the fluxgate compass (standard AP mode) or GPS NAV mode, the pilot holds a true course going directly into the wind or with a tailwind, making it an extremely valuble asset when setting or retieving lines by yourself.
Great I think they are an improvement equal to trim tabs in a boat. I am so pleased that your install went well.
This weekend when you get at it again start playing with the Gain. Just a couple little button punches and you can get it to go dead straight with no wondering at all most of the time.
I will probably install an autopilot on my Parker due to arrive in a few weeks.
Has anyone documented how this is done with photos? I see all the components you need to hook up but have no idea where it all goes?
Specifically, advice from Parker owners would be the best.
BTW, comparing the price of the AP12 to the Raymarine Smartpilot shows they are pretty close, so why is the Smartpilot to heavily touted and anticipated?
Thom, which way should I go with the gain, more or less?
John, my boat is a CHawk 25', very similar to the Parker. A couple of reasons I decided on the SIMRAD were it was available then, the ST1000 from what I have heard will not be available before next month. And two, SIMRAD is proven, Thom and Mark and a few others have them and from conversation with them and others on THT sold me. I have pictures of the install if interested let me know, I can either post them or send them to you.
John--
Another thing to consider is that Simrad has just released software that allows its AP-16, 25, and 26 units to operate without a rudder feedback sensor (like the Tr-1 autopilots). This is a truly great thing because the linear feedback on outboards is a weak link. I had three fail over five years and get replaced under warranty. This also accomodates Mercury Verado engines.
I would spend the extra dough for an AP-16 if you are doing the install yourself. It is a much more sophisticated unit that will do a better job steering under the most challenging conditions such as trolling with wind and waves or running in big seas -- exactly when the autopilot can help you the most in avoiding fatigue.
Also, if you have a radar/plotter that is capable of radar overlay, the AP-16 can supply the necessary heading data if it has the AC20 processor. An AP-14 can't.
Unless Raymarine has made vast strides, their autopilots are not in the same league as Simrad or the new Furuno units.
Another new entry is the "Coursemaster", which is also less expensive than a Simrad AP-16 and also does not require a feedback sensor. I know someone who installed on last season and says it works great -- but they just started selling them in the US, so there isn't a lot of experience with them.
I find myself turning the gain down more often than up. Anytime I look back at our wake and it does the old ~~~~~ I start bring the gain down until its more like a ------------. As the gain goes up the rapidity and severity of response go up too. So if you were into something like a hard quartering wind or current that would tend to continously and rapidly pull you off course you might want to turn it up for fast correction. In more gentle conditions the default seems to be a bit high, at least for our hull, and so down seems to work best for me.
N3NFX: Sure, I would love to see your pics. If you would like to post them here to share with all that would be great, otherwise, you can email them to me at :
Yes; they said it was a bad control box. They must have been right because i used it over 2 hours a couple weeks ago with no problem. An "out of the box failure" is what they called it.
John, I installed the Ray S1G on my Parker. It works great. I use it all the time.
The install was fairly easy. You mount the control head somewhere at the helm, the steering pump as close to the wheel as you can find a convenient location, and the rudder sensor unit to the steering ram (someone has reported that tehre will be an update to the S1G's to allow operation without a feedback unit - also provide figure 8's and other patterns). After that just wire everything together and hook up the steering lines.
The only tricky part is installing the new hydraulic lines, but if you are handy it should be no problem. They all support a second steering station, but you may want either a second control head or a remote controll unit for the cockpit station.
I ended up running a new power buss feed up from the batteries to add new circuits (I also added a windlass and a DSM 250), but you should be able to get away with your main power buss unless you have a lot of load on it already.
Hopefully the boat will splash in a little over a week.
Gerg: I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I learn well by seeing. I just have to see your boat one of these days. The Windlass is another project.
Here's a big thanks to this group for your help several months ago!* I finally installed the AP12H this week on my Parker and your tips were a great help.*
Here are my tips from my experience this week.Simrad 12H Autopilot install lessons learned….. for the novice like me
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1.* The supplied instructions were actually very good.* Read them about six times before starting.* The following were things not covered in the instructions.
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2.* For draining the fluid from the bleeder valves at the motor, buy appropriate-sized clear plastic flexible tubing to slip over the valves and reach down to a clean jug on the ground.* The clear lets you see the bubbles coming/not coming out, the clean jug enables you to reuse the fluid (and you will need it) and the arrangement avoids a potential mess of spilled fluid.* Use elec tape around the valve to snug-up the fit.* Less than one turn on the bleeder valve opened it to allow the fluid to flow out the end of the valve.* In my case I used five feet of 3/8 inch inside diameter tubing.3.* If the new hydraulic pump is located close to the helm, I found it hard to estimate the length of the new hoses needed (3).* If I had gotten them made up in advance I would have gotten the wrong lengths.* By using the Teleflex/SeaStar kit with plastic hose and fittings, I was able to modify the length on the spot.* It sometimes took 3-4 trys to get the length just right.* I used small pruning snips to cut the hose easily.* Also note that the fittings kit was apparently designed with insufficient end fittings (short 2) so round them up before you start.4.* The plastic hose is very stiff!* Don’t count on small radius twists and turns.* Also, the fittings cannot be taken off the end of the hose once they are tightened.* You can loosen them and remove the hose, but the fitting remains on the hose end forever.* So don’t tighten either end fitting until you have tried it and are satisfied with the length.5.** The pump is noisy and vibrates so I mounted it on a rubber base (cut from a mouse pad) and used rubber grommets under the metal washers to dampen the vibration.6.* To test the site of the compass, use a hand compass to test for magnetic interference.7.* Don’t wire up the pump until after you’ve completed the hydraulic purge, because you must momentarily connect it directly to a battery for purging.8.* When gradually adding fluid to the helm reservoir, I found it easier to place a funnel at the end of the supplied clear plastic hose than to use the “bottle and pin” approach suggested.9.* If you have the Teleflex centered Cylinder no. HC5345, be sure to order the special adapter for the rudder position indicator because the cylinder rotates about 30 degrees as well as moving side-to-side.10.* When purging the pump by running it first one way then the other, be sure the outboard motor is centered so you don’t try to force it beyond the side stops with the pump.* If you try that it makes a godawful racket!11.* When you mount the rudder position sensor, make sure you check its position when the motor is raised as well as down.* If you don’t you might crush it the first time you raise the motor.
Good luck!* dburbage
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DBurbage
Skipper of Skyuka of Deale,MD
Parker 2530 DVEC
SIMRAD AP12 Install follow-up
I think they are an improvement equal to trim tabs in a boat. I am so pleased that your install went well.
