I've a
Simrad / Robertson hydralic below decks now. My neighbor also has the exact same unit on his 37 ft
Trawler. They
work very well. Robertson is now part of
Simrad. All these companies eat each other these days. Not sure what Raymarine is up to on decent auto pilots but you have to think they want a part of the business. The
wheel based units do a job for the small
price you pay, but they don't hold up in heavy
weather or for very long.
Mine has an interesting story. The PO before the last PO actually installed the unit. What she did not know was that the hydralic piston was defective and so she never got it to
work. The last PO tried to get it to work too so eventually boxed it all up and sent it across the pond to the factory. They of course dicovered the problem. They replaced the whole unit and sent it all back for free. The unit has been fine since. So at least they stand behind it even when the original owner is long gone.