Where to Put the Autopilot Remote / Display ?

[Bright Eyes]

So we just bought a Raymarine SPX-5 and the directions for placement of the remote.display piece is written in IKEA (no words, all pictures)

Ill try to scan the page on here tomorrow, but one picture shows a template to drill holes, so i would guess it belongs on the wall beside my hatch below my other instruments like the speedometer.

Then a second picture shows the helsmen being able to reach the display while at the wheel. So those two pictures are contradictory.

Then it also says the display has to be 2 ft 6 inches away from the compass. My compass is right at the helm, isn't that where most compasses are? (this is also gonna be a problem when we want to mount a garmin gps)


So where do I put this thing? We are mounting the computer and the compass under the nav station.

Thanks!

[Lost Horizons]

Mine is right next to the compass at the helm binnacle. It would be very inconvenient to have it at a remote location, unless your GPS at the helm has a function to control the autopilot.

[Bright Eyes]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

Mine is right next to the compass at the helm binnacle.

Do you have any problems with the compass? The instructions state it must be 2 ft 6 inches from the compass. But it seems most ppl do it that way anyway...

[Seahunter]

Ours is connected through Seatalk mounted on the binnacle below the compass. The GPS/chart-plotter is mounted above. All are inter connected. Install the GPS ant. away from compass. After install have compass checked and calibrated.

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Bright Eyes

Do you have any problems with the compass?

Now that I think of it, I possibly do. On some headings the compass is in alignment with the AP reported course and a GPS reported course over ground, but on some other headings the compass is off by as much as 20 degrees, which seems a bit excessive. I am not sure what is the reason, I don't think there is a correlation with the deviation and AP state (ON or OFF), it just depends on the heading, as far as I can tell.

BTW, I don't think the instrument itself can cause a problem, the driving motor is more likely to do it due to its inherent electromagnetism.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I bought one of those last year


Haven't got around to fitting it yet though

FWIW from my recollection of reading the manual / fitting instructions it's simply a matter of fitting it where it works for you / on your boat (bearing in mind the caution on near the compass - which at 2' 6" on a 30 foot boat with a small centre cockpit may be a struggle for me - I might do some trial and error on that with a temporary fix).......my thinking is to locate somewhere I can see from both the helm position - and when lounging away from the wheel, given that the advantage of an autopilot is not having to sit at the helm 24/7...........but that's another puzzle I have yet to surmount

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Bright Eyes

Then it also says the display has to be 2 ft 6 inches away from the compass.

They may refer to the autopilot's compass sensor, not the ship's steering compass. On my boat the compass sensor is about 10 feet away from the helm in an aft cabin locker.

[Eleven]

My old kit has a separate flux gate compass for the AutoHelm mounted just inside the cabin door, and therefore away from working electricals. The button pushing part is by the nav station which is useless for coastal work when eyeball is more important than waypoints.
The 'set heading' bit is at the helm, it's just a small panel and some 200mm from the ships compass. The motor is in the wheel mounting.
It seems to me you need a separate fluxgate compass as it's affecting your main compass badly, and vice verse of course. This is unlikely to affect the position it reports, but will affect course intended, made good, and dead reckoning, which ever way you extract them.

[Randyonr3]

I mounted ours on the coming beside the wheel.easy enough to reach over and push buttons.. the flux gate compas should be mounted as low in the boat as possable and along the center line..
If you are using a "smart pilot" with the auto helm, the compas will pick up the lift in the boat in following seas and correct the action almost befor it happens to keep it on course.........

[barnakiel]

The meaning is: from the steering compass, (not the rate compass). But, somehow, on all boatyard outfitted boats it ends up right next to the steering compass ... I believe the message is the Ray instrument (cables, electricity) may cause compass errors.

In real life, have seen dozens of such installations and no problems ever. If worried, place the instrument where you can see it, and use the remote at the helm.

b.

[Roy M]

FWIW, I am a certified Raymarine installer/tech. Power up the control unit and relevant other autopilot components and temporarily strung out cables. Place the control unit in the desired location (and have someone hold the drive motor near its position if using a wheel drive). Does the compass move? Note how much, and on what courses. Most likely, you will see no effect. Install permanently. Move on to other issues.