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View Poll Results: TELL US ABOUT YOUR AUTOPILOT, CHECK MORE THAN ONE ANSWER IF APPLICABLE
I OWN A B&G AUTOPILOT 15 8.02%
My B&G pilot has been very reliable 11 5.88%
My B&G pilot has been unreliable 2 1.07%
My B&G performs well even in a rough sea state 5 2.67%
I OWN A RAYMARINE AUTOPILOT 91 48.66%
My Raymarine pilot has been very reliable 70 37.43%
My Ramarine pilot has been unreliable 16 8.56%
My Raymarine performs well even in a rough sea state 39 20.86%
I OWN A SIMRAD AUTOPILOT 30 16.04%
My Simrad Pilot has been reliable 25 13.37%
My Simrad Pilot has been unreliable 3 1.60%
My Simrad performs well even in a rough sea state 19 10.16%
I OWN A WH AUTOPILOT 7 3.74%
My WH autopilot is very reliable 6 3.21%
My WH autopilot has been unreliable 1 0.53%
My WH pilot performs well even in a rough sea state 5 2.67%
I OWN A FURUNO AUTOPILOT 4 2.14%
My Furuno Pilot has been reliable 5 2.67%
My Furuno Pilot has been unreliable 0 0%
My Furuno Pilot performs well even in a rough sea state 4 2.14%
MY PILOT HAS A GYRO COMPASS AS WELL AS A FLUXGATE 13 6.95%
MY PILOT USES HYDRAULICS 39 20.86%
MY PILOT IS MECHANICAL 29 15.51%
MY BRAND OF PILOT IS NOT LISTED ABOVE AND I WILL DESCRIBE IT IN A POST BELOW 25 13.37%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 187. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 15-03-2017, 22:52   #61
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

NKE all the way. I stuck one on our boat a couple of years ago, and it's fantastic. I'd imagine that the H5000 is also very good, there seems to be an even split on the solo racers these days, but we find the NKE to really do a nice job, even at high speeds in rough conditions.

For the detail-oriented, we're using the NKE Regatta compass, a Whitlock electric drive, and it's interfaced with our rather ancient H2000 instruments. We have the true wind angle option, which does a very nice job compared to AWA steering.

TJ
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Old 16-03-2017, 02:57   #62
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

Quote:
Originally Posted by TJ D View Post
NKE all the way. I stuck one on our boat a couple of years ago, and it's fantastic. I'd imagine that the H5000 is also very good, there seems to be an even split on the solo racers these days, but we find the NKE to really do a nice job, even at high speeds in rough conditions.

For the detail-oriented, we're using the NKE Regatta compass, a Whitlock electric drive, and it's interfaced with our rather ancient H2000 instruments. We have the true wind angle option, which does a very nice job compared to AWA steering.

TJ
I'm confused. You state that you have an NKE, but then list components from several different makers. And no mention of what brand of (AP) brain/computer, & what make & generation of software said brain uses (in order to drive your boat splendidly). Ditto on how the components are linked together; NMEA, USB, proprietary of some sort, or ???

Not trying to put you on the spot, just learn what it is that you're using, & the how & why behind it's functioning.

PS: Is it self learning? Does it steer to polars? Etc. And I ask given that your is definitely a performance boat. One where an intelligent AP is needed much more than on say a Westsail, or other cruiser which doesn't self-generate rapid, & large changes in AWS & AWA.
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Old 16-03-2017, 03:30   #63
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

When I bought my boat, I installed a Cetek autopilot but replaced it with a Simrad just before we started our circumnavigation. The Simrad has been excellent, especially since we had the software upgraded when we got to
Australia - prior to the upgrade, about once every 24 hours, it would shut off - not a great thing to happen when you're surfing down large trade wind waves. We spent hours trying to figure if it was the refrigeration compressors cycling, a voltage drop of some sort but we couldn't pin point a problem. However, since the software upgrade, the system has performed flawlessly in the last 30,000 miles.

Our ketch-rigged boat displaces about 40,000 pounds. We have a Whitlock Mamba steering systems so the autopilot drive motor is part of the steering system and comes from Whitlock. It's a massive thing and when I bought a spare almost 20 years ago, it set me back US$2,300.

Our Simrad autopilot steers our boat better than I can. It steers a straight course with very little rudder movement and can handle a rough seaway with ease. It integrated with our Garmin chart plotter using N2K effortlessly and 99% of the time we use the 'Nav' function so the autopilot steers to the waypoint on the chart plotter.

We don't have a wind vane installed.

Fair winds and calm seas.
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Old 16-03-2017, 06:40   #64
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

Quote:
Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED View Post
I'm confused. You state that you have an NKE, but then list components from several different makers. And no mention of what brand of (AP) brain/computer, & what make & generation of software said brain uses (in order to drive your boat splendidly). Ditto on how the components are linked together; NMEA, USB, proprietary of some sort, or ???

Not trying to put you on the spot, just learn what it is that you're using, & the how & why behind it's functioning.

PS: Is it self learning? Does it steer to polars? Etc. And I ask given that your is definitely a performance boat. One where an intelligent AP is needed much more than on say a Westsail, or other cruiser which doesn't self-generate rapid, & large changes in AWS & AWA.

Ok, here's some more detail.

The pilot is NKE, meaning we are using the gyropilot computer and 1 NKE MFD. The compass was also provided by NKE.

Instrumentation is B&G Hydra 2000. NKE recognizes NMEA 0183, so this is where the pilot receives the info from. It's just a simple data cable from the H2000 into the topline bus on the pilot computer.

In time, we will go to a full NKE instrument suite. But, the H2000 is still working, and we have enough MFD's that I don't want to write the check for the new stuff before I have to.

The drive is an older Whitlock setup. It also still works very well, so we did not replace it. When it dies, we will go to a hydraulic drive, most likely.

Mostly, we are doing our upgrading in stages. It's awfully expensive to rip out gear which is still working well to harmonize brands, particularly if everything's playing nicely anyway.

I'm not sure what the software version is on the pilot. Whatever was current last summer. We had Euromarine do an update while we were in Newport.

It is self-learning in the conventional pilot sense, meaning that it does learn the steering of the boat over several minutes, and optimizes rudder inputs. Not unlike other pilots. I think that one reason that the unit excels is due to NKE's really good yaw sensor. It just gets ahead of things better than the last pilot. I'm not aware of the ability to input polars on this pilot setup.

Now, we've only had 2 pilots on here, so I can only compare it to the last one, (Simrad AP20), and the difference is night and day, especially when we start surfing.

The 'true wind' option is a big plus when we have big swings in apparent wind.

TJ
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Old 17-03-2017, 07:29   #65
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

I've been doing some research quite while since I will install one soon and decided to go NKE gyropilot 2 with basic compass mode to start with Pelagic actuator which will fit to my boat set up, and soon update speedo and dearth sensor.
I looked others but coming back to NKE, can't think others.
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Old 17-03-2017, 16:33   #66
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

TJ, thanks for that excellent explanation. And BTW, your toys do cause a fella' to suffer from one of those Deadly Sins: Envy
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Old 17-03-2017, 17:00   #67
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Location: Bumping around the Caribbean
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

Alpha 3000, standalone, with linear drive. 31 years old and was bulletproof until...this past winter. Has a remote on a cord, sips power relatively speaking. Am probably going to replace with B&G unit while the boat is being refit.
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Old 21-06-2021, 15:46   #68
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Re: AUTOPILOT SURVEY

Very helpful. Back to the top.
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