Auto Pilot What do i need

[Whitey81]

Hi,
I am hoping someone can help me. I have a 560f haines with Navman 5600 chart ploter and 6500 combo unit. I am interested in installing a auto pilot. I have a habit of doing sssss on my way to the reef in the dark of the night.
What do i need, I dont have hydraulic steering which will obviously need to be upgraded- bugger that. But what else, does anyone know who sells of a complete kit, hydraulic steering controller pump. I really dont have a clue so any help would be greatly appreaciated. I would also like to set it up so i can transfer into my haines formula when it is done. Looking at 2012 at my current pace
Cheers
Whitey

[TimiBoy]

Mate, I have autopilot, and it's barely useful, here's why;

In slightly rough water, you will always need to drive the boat, to keep the ride smooth.
You have to touch it every few minutes (safety feature on mine, anyway)
It is expensive.

I hardly ever use it, and I go a long way out.

But on top of that, and I think this is the most important point, please answer this question - you sleep at the helm with no one on watch?

If so, I think you should just get off the water forever.

If not, the other person conning the boat while you sleep must have a license (in Qld anyway), and can steer it without you spending the money.

Safety first, and boats being steered by a machine without a set of Mark 1 Eyeballs on watch is a torpedo.

Regards,

Tim

[Whitey81]

timiboy,
Thanks for the reply, they are sssss like not in a straight line, not zzzzz like snoozing. Sorry for the confusion. 3 up everyone is looking for whats happening in front and around, there are far to many d&^kheads on the water with no nav lights etc not to.

I really cant comprehend the thought of wacking on the autopilot and going below for a snooze, maybe like the person in the states who put the cruise control on and then to the back of the motor home to make a coffee.

Im not sure whether to laugh or cry at your reply, are people really that stupid out there, thanks tim loved it.

So are they no good at all, mate use to have one on his 580sf, i thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

[marco]

i would have to disagree with what timiboy has said , i find autopilot absolutely brilliant for offshore work and to get the smooth ride you just set the throttle at the correct speed and let the boat do the work . i did a lot of research and i believe it is not worth doing if you need to buy the cheapest on the market .

i went with the tr1 gladiator but you may find the tmq or raymarine ok , search on the hull truth about autopilots and you will find a lot of good reading .

[marco]

just to add a bit more you do need hydraulic steering for most of the units although tmq does have a model for cable steering . most of the autopilots come as a kit which includes pump and ecu for hydraulic steering and you only need to buy hoses for it then . i would also suggest ringing hydrive at cleveland as they can sort you out with steering , hoses and ap .

[Whitey81]

thanks marco, i would be leaning strongly toward hydraulic steering. As long as i can put it in the formula when it is done it doesnt need to be the cheapest. obviously will need longer hoses but im a hydraulic fitter by trade so will have no dramas there.

[TimiBoy]

timiboy,
Thanks for the reply, they are sssss like not in a straight line, not zzzzz like snoozing. Sorry for the confusion. 3 up everyone is looking for whats happening in front and around, there are far to many d&^kheads on the water with no nav lights etc not to.

I really cant comprehend the thought of wacking on the autopilot and going below for a snooze, maybe like the person in the states who put the cruise control on and then to the back of the motor home to make a coffee.

Im not sure whether to laugh or cry at your reply, are people really that stupid out there, thanks tim loved it.

So are they no good at all, mate use to have one on his 580sf, i thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

I'm so glad! I've seen some amazing things out there, paarticularly at night, with unlit vessels doing 25 knots or sitting, waving cigarette lighters at you, you know, dumb stuff. Hence me checking!

But seriously, now you've cleared that up, I hardly ever use my Autopilot, it doesn't take the sea conditions into account, and tends to give a pretty rough ride.

Cheers,

Tim

[TimiBoy]

Sorry, in a hurry - it's good for trolling though, as Marco says if you lower the speed it's cool, I guess. I just tend to want to get where I'm going, so I go harder...

Cheers,

Tim

[gofishin]

Hi Whitey,

I'm not sure about the other brands (Navman), but have looked at a couple & can relay some info. The price depends a lot on whether you need a heading sensor (or fluxgate compass). Raymarine make a great little unit that doesn't need a sensor as it gets its heading from the GPS, hence is cheaper (~$1500 from memory). A Furuno autopilot needs a heading sensor, hence is ~$3000!

There was a post a while back on sportfish about a guy in NT that did a report on his 800SF, and is/has just changed to a Striper (?). Anyway, he is using Navman gear & talks about their autopilot.

My autopilot will have to wait (until the good lady has forgotten what we spent ) - severly blown the budget with the new boat.


Tim, you need to get some tabs on the big girl. When i get mine i'll give you a ride & i bet you'll be straight down to the shop...
cheers

[Whitey81]

Timiboy,

Youre right the autopilot will not make cruise craft ride any better, you need to buy a haines for that and then whack the auto pilot on and just cruise through the 3 m seas and 25-30kn winds, Just kidding, forgive me.

I would assume you get a lot of side on swell where you are, In Gladstone the majority of the time you bang straight into it so would be less of an issue, I would probably still drive it with the throttle???

And i work 500km from the boat so if i come home especially to go fishing it is normally a cracker of a day. if it is not 10-15 or less with the 560F i dont bother.

[MyWay]

My mate got on his KC 24f and mane that think it is absolutely brilliant i just love to have one on my boat . his is connected to his furuno GPS and you just press two buttons ans KC go , set speed and enjoy from spot to spot or from ramp to spot i just love it .
i believe with auto pilot you will also save lot of fuel and time . when you go zig zag 30klm out in straight line it could be only 25klm

myway

[J-MAN]

First up, this will be a biased reply as I have worked for an Australian autopilot manufacturer for over ten years. In this time I have received feedback from countless skippers (trailer boats to large commercial operators) on the effectiveness and satisfaction of performance after fitting the right autopilot.
I would certainly recommend fitting the hydraulic steering system as autopilot performance via mechanical systems on trailer boats is not as good. The right autopilot will save you fighting the helm on a long rough ride home at the end of the day and is a great tool when trolling for long periods. (an extra set of hands if fishing one up.) A suitable system for your vessel (when fitted with hydraulic steering) will cost approx. $2400 + fitting. P.M me if you have any questions.

Cheers,
J-Man.

[culbara]

I have a %.7 metre offshore quintrex and i have a coursemaster CM80i auto pilot in it . At first it was a bit inaccurate but a mate of mine that installed also put a gyro underthe floor and it is magic. It steers better than io can going to a a mark and if you are trolling yo can set a course up to follow a reff dropoff. A big advantage of it at night . I live on the sunshine coast and quite often go to barwon banks so i just pl9t in the mark and press navigate and then i can turn off all lights in cabin which makes it a lot easier to watch for the idiots that have insufficient lighting or none at all

[Digby37]

Hi Culbara,In response to your CM80i auto pilot install and your mate putting a gyro in please excuse my ignorance what is it?
Regards Digby.

[TimiBoy]

I have a %.7 metre offshore quintrex and i have a coursemaster CM80i auto pilot in it . At first it was a bit inaccurate but a mate of mine that installed also put a gyro underthe floor and it is magic. It steers better than io can going to a a mark and if you are trolling yo can set a course up to follow a reff dropoff. A big advantage of it at night . I live on the sunshine coast and quite often go to barwon banks so i just pl9t in the mark and press navigate and then i can turn off all lights in cabin which makes it a lot easier to watch for the idiots that have insufficient lighting or none at all

Bung a radar in, and you're set. Some of the brain dead out there don't have enough lighting to see at more than 10 feet - too late!

Wags saw a sounder screen go past us (or rather we went past it). Outside Cape Moreton, moonless night. Cheech and I never even saw the bastard.

Cheers,

Tim