Sport Pilot

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Looks like I have the opportunity to pick up a sport pilot before our trip next week.

Any reason not to? Do I need the Plus version or is the standard good enough. In one place I read that the plus had a bigger motor, yet the specs show the exact same features, thrust, and hard over time for both. What am I really getting for the extra $100?

Any installation hitches? Looks straight forward from the manual.

Anybody hooked theirs up to NEMA data to follow a route made of waypoints?

What is the consensus on the best place to mount the compass?

Thanks for your quick responses.

[Billy]

My standard model has revisted the factory 3 times--clutches, belt, motor. The last time the rep asked if I was trolling. They installed the plus motor and have stood behind their product. My failure could have been due to the weight of my engine. I leave the motor connected since I solo and I use the autopilot a lot. If I were starting fresh, I would probably order the Plus model.

I have connected to the NEMA data and it seemed to work fine. Even if the boat drifted off the rhumb line, it still targeted the destination. Have not used multiple waypoints yet.

I mounted the compass under the aft dinette bench in the recessed corner area-low and center of the boat. I felt here it would be easy to remove if I ever needed and there's nothing in the way.

Installation is fairly straight forward.

(The unit comes shipped with wheel wooble.)

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Anybody know how to split NEMA data wiring? I currently have the output of my GPS going to my Pocket PC chartplotter. Can I just 'Y' the send and receive wires to get the same data to the autopilot, or do I have to have some sort of repeater box?

[mike]

Anybody hooked theirs up to NEMA data to follow a route made of waypoints?

Yes... this is a neat feature. You do have to tell the AP to head towards the next waypoint when each one is reached (at least on the 4000+mkII you do)... so, no sleeping while the AP takes you to your destination. Just kidding!

What is the consensus on the best place to mount the compass?

I put mine in the rear berth... see the mod here for a photo...

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/cgi-bin ... record=227

--Mike

[mike]

Anybody know how to split NEMA data wiring? I currently have the output of my GPS going to my Pocket PC chartplotter. Can I just 'Y' the send and receive wires to get the same data to the autopilot, or do I have to have some sort of repeater box?

You can have multiple "listeners" but only one "talker." The NMEA output from my GPS goes both to the VHF and to the AP with a simple Y, and works just fine.

--Mike

[Tony D-26X_SusieQ]

Mine was installed by the dealer. One problem I'm having is the control wand ended up directly in front of my throttle. This I don't recommend. The end of the wand is very fragel and will come off if it is bumped to many times. Try to get some space arround the wand when you install. I was thinking about turning the unit sideways. This would get the wand away from the throttle and maybe keep the unit on the boat more and out of the repare shop.

[Rich Plumb]

I checked with Todd at BWY before purchasing my Sport Pilot Plus a couple of years ago. He suggested the Plus. As I single hand, I would not be without an autopilot. If it broke, I'd go out and get another immediately.

Installation: Be ready for a fight getting the steering wheel off of the existing tapered shaft.

Rich Plumb "Plumb Crazy"
Covington, WA

[mike]

Installation: Be ready for a fight getting the steering wheel off of the existing tapered shaft.

Yeah, no kidding. I ended up having to buy a $25 gear puller from Sears to get it off.

--Mike

[LCB]

Hello,

Anyone know the Max. useable lenth of the small wire NEMA output from a Garmin 48 GPS? Perhaps 20'??? Such as pedestal to laptop on dine. table.

Russ

[mike]

Anyone know the Max. useable lenth of the small wire NEMA output from a Garmin 48 GPS? Perhaps 20'??? Such as pedestal to laptop on dine. table.

I'm not sure what the technical limit is, but 20' sounds reasonable. Mine goes from the GPS at the pedestal, down the "tube," to the transom on the port side, then forward to the "traditional" VHF mounting area above the entry to the rear berth... I think it's about 15 - 20 feet. Works fine. Slightly heavier wire might help reduce voltage loss (I used 16 gauge, I think).

--Mike

[Jack O'Brien]

Raymarine recommends the "Plus" model for trolling and slow speed operation. To me that means Mac 26X. My regular SportPilot gave up when the wheel was real hard to turn because of the Detmar cable going bad. Raymarine fixed it and put in a "Plus" motor at no charge. I'm going to reinstall it tomorrow.

The control stalk is a bit delicate. When I bought my boat it had sat uncovered in Florida sun for a year or more and the stalk rotted off.

I mounted the fluxgate compass under the sink in the head as low and as close to center as possible. It must face forward. I have a battery under the cooler bin and didn't want it near those wires.

[mike]

I mounted the fluxgate compass under the sink in the head as low and as close to center as possible. It must face forward.

Are you sure about this? The ST4000 manual states it can face in any direction, as long as it's on a vertical surface with the cord exiting downward, and you then calibrate the unit so the compass knows which way N is... perhaps the SportPilot is different.

--Mike

[Jack O'Brien]

I don't recall anything about calibrating either the compass or the SportPilot but seem to remember that the compass must face forward. Perhaps the more expensive one is capable of calibration.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I had an ST-4000 on my previous boat and the compass faced sideways to the port side, seemed to work fine. My Mac had the compass installed by the dealer and it is facing forward mounted right behind the companionway ladder...where there is a flange sticking down to mount it on. I think these electronic compasses all use the same technology and periodically need to be calibrated...even the one in my watch. There is some procedure in the sportpilot manual about how to calibrate it.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I have mine now, will get it all installed tomorrow.

To answer some questions. I ran into Todd from Bluewater at the west marine store and he gave me some good advice.

He said to skip the wheel puller. He had me unscrew the nut a few turns but leave it on so it still covered all the thread at the end. The get a good pull going top and bottom (not twisting, brace your feet on the pedestal so you are not pulling on it's mounting on the floor. Give a few good raps with a hammer on the nut/shaft end, and bingo, poped right off.

I also asked about compass location. He suggested back on the footwell contour in the aft berth, or on older boats like mine, the back face of the step hump. I said, aren't they suppose to face forward? He says it really doesn't matter which way it faces as long as it is vertical. Makes sense, who cares which way it thinks is north. You point it where you want to go and it holds that course, what internal heading it is doesn't matter. He also says that when you tell it to navigate to a waypoint it doesn't even use the compass. Is steers exclusively by the cross track error information in the NEMA data stream.

The instructions do however recommend it face forward, but if you can't do that there is a teaching/calibarating procedure in which you do two large circles under 3 mph each one taking at least 2 minutes to complete. It beeps to tell you if it is within the acceptable deviation and how much the deviation is. There is also a procedure for letting it know which way is north.

I think I'm going to go with the under the cooler liner spot. Easy to cable from the transom, low, and right behind the centerboard trunk so it's centered both side to side and front to back. Should be one of the most stable locations in the whole boat with the least pitch, roll, and yaw motion.

I bought mine at West Marine. They want $899 for the Sport Pilot Plus Mechanical Steering in their catalog. Boaters World has it in their catolog for $799. The moaned and groaned, said it couldn't be the same thing, but when they called around to get the exact Raymarine part numbers to check they found it was and matched the Boaters World price.