Autopilots
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
Edgar wrote:

You need an autopilot where you can alter the amount of response to a
given course deviation.
At trolling speeds you need much more rudder angle to correct a
deviation than you would at higher speed.
However, if you are trolling rather than maintaining course to a
destination you ought to be able to accept a greater amount of yawing
about the set course anyway.

Frankly, I knew that - can you suggest one? Thanks.
--

Larry

Sorry, Larry-I did hesitate a bit before posting that in view of your
electrical
expertise.
Cannot suggest a make of pilot that would assist you as my last one was a
wind vane.
Now however I have got a Simrad wheel pilot which was very good when I used
it last season to steer compass courses.
However I am now on the point of hooking it into the output from the chart
plotter so it can steer me to a waypoint but have just seen your later post
about the uselessness of GPS based pilots at low speeds and since I have a
sailboat it looks as if this will not help me in light winds, so maybe I
will leave things as they are. It has a good fluxgate compass which you
calibrate by steering in slow circles a couple of times and, best of all,.no
belts or control lines across the cockpit. You can control the sensitivity
to yawing to minimise battery drain.

Autopilots
 

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:27:23 -0400, Larry wrote:

snip
LOL
what a putz!

would you please just get over yourself

Autopilots
 

(Richard Casady) wrote in
:

Since when is brass magnetic?

Casady



http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/genera...2_6/2_6_6.html

Autopilots
 

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:44:36 +0000, Larry wrote:

(Richard Casady) wrote in
:

Since when is brass magnetic?

Casady

*****

http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/genera...2_6/2_6_6.html

This helpful table compilation from NPL confirms that brass is
essentially non magnetic, as it happens.

Brian W

Autopilots
 

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:06:41 -0500, Brian Whatcott
wrote:

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:44:36 +0000, Larry wrote:

(Richard Casady) wrote in
t:

Since when is brass magnetic?

Casady

*****

http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/genera...2_6/2_6_6.html

This helpful table compilation from NPL confirms that brass is
essentially non magnetic, as it happens.

I tried to follow the link and got the runaround. Thank you for
getting there and giving us a report. Maybe there is somthing wrong
with the SSSW [Suck****SoftWare].

Casady

Autopilots
 

Roger Long wrote:
"Edgar" wrote

Sorry, Larry-I did hesitate a bit before posting that in view of your
electrical expertise.

I think this is a different "Larry" than our regular poster from Charleston
SC.

Larry (#2), it would help avoid confusion if you added an initial or
something to you posting name.

--
Roger Long



Sorry. There is another Larry who posts fairly regularly in
rec.boats.electronics. I am not him! Hows's this?

I know I'm going to forget. I've been using this name since 1985 - yes,
I'm older than dirt! I'm from NH, btw, originally from Long Island, New
York.
--

Larry R
rapp at lmr dot com

Autopilots
 

Capt. JG wrote:
"Larry" wrote in message
...
Gregory Hall wrote:
Just what the world needs - another autopilot jetboat jerk who hasn't a
clue as to how to safely operate a boat blasting around the water
becoming a big nuisance and even larger menace to all concerned.

Take your autopilot, and overgrown Jetski for that matter, and shove it
up your ass!

--
Gregory Hall
Gregory,

Why don't you come tell me that personally. I live at 1 Indian Trail,
Colebrook, New Hampshire and we can talk about this face to face.

Lets see if your courage extends that far.
--

Larry
rapp at lmr dot com


You're joking. He and his companions are cowards and liar. Maybe you're just
being mean, since I'm sure that it's obvious who and what they are. Shame on
you Larry!

You're right, Cap'n. Normally, I just ignore children going through
puberty, but this morning he just pushed the right buttons and I felt he
needed to be taught a physical lesson if he had the stomach for it. As
you surmised, he didn't. I'll go back to ignoring!
--

Larry R
rapp at lmr dot com

Autopilots
 

Roger Long wrote:
"Edgar" wrote

Sorry, Larry-I did hesitate a bit before posting that in view of your
electrical expertise.

I think this is a different "Larry" than our regular poster from Charleston
SC.

Larry (#2), it would help avoid confusion if you added an initial or
something to you posting name.

--
Roger Long



Actually, Roger, I'm a retired electrical engineer so I do have a bit of
a background in electronics.

The autopilot I used had no sensor for speed. Does any? It would seem
to me that there needs to be one because response to the wheel is
proportional to your speed underway.

--

Larry
rapp at lmr dot com

Autopilots
 

Bigfoote wrote:
"Larry" wrote in message
...
Time for a yearly update. I had a Bombardier Utopia - an 18' jet-powered
runabout that I added an autopilot to, but while it did work at higher
speeds, it failed miserably for trolling and fishing in general. Last
year I sold it and bought a center console Cobia, a 21' with a 150 hp
Yamaha outboard. I added a 15 hp (smallest I could get without ordering)
Suzuki outboard to use as a trolling motor. It is tied, mechanically, to
the larger Yamaha and sips fuel from the same large tank. It works pretty
well, and steers a straight course with no hands on the wheel.

Still, I'd like to add an autopilot IF (and only if) it can operate at
trolling speeds (about 1 knot or 1.5 mph). ComNav makes a few units which
look like they'd work, but I'd like to hear that from someone other than
the manufacturer or salesman, preferably someone who owns one. The boat
is equipped with a Garmin 540 combination fishfinder/GPS chartplotter
which issues NMEA sentences.
--

Larry
rapp at lmr dot com

Raymarine Sportpilot. It is a wheel mount unit and may not fit but I have
had one on an old Slickcraft for 13 years and it is still doing the job
trolling for salmon on lake Michigan about 200 hours a year. Did have to
replace the electronic compass module once but at a very reasonable price.
Even accepts waypoint data from my old Garmin GPS/Plotter. Biggest problem
if it fits the wheel is where to mount the compass at lest 3 feet from any
large metal mass (i.e. engine). Ideal is low and to the rear to minimize
roll and pitch effects on compass but not easy in a small boat.

Wow, that is really interesting. I think that is what I used on the
Utopia. Perhaps it was because it was a jet boat and very slow to
respond at trolling speeds. Interesting. Btw, the reason for getting a
jet boat was to eliminate the propeller. It could navigate in very
shallow water (so long as there were no weeds and not a lot of mud) but
it made an awful boat for fishing.

Did you have any kind of rudder sensor? I realize you probably have an
outboard, but trolling is really slow - the fact that it works is really
significant to me. Also, you put the compass in the rear - I tried it
up by the bow and amidships, I could not have put it in the stern as
that's where the engine was.
--

Larry R
rapp at lmr dot com

Autopilots
 

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:44:36 +0000, Larry wrote:

(Richard Casady) wrote in
:

Since when is brass magnetic?

Casady



http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/genera...2_6/2_6_6.html

That website has nothing to say. It lists magnetism in a table of
contents but when you click on it, it goes back to a previous table of
contents. There seems to be nothing there.

Casady