Auto pilot opinions

[Saratoga]

So I just picked up my auto pilot. It was described to me as plug and play. Not exactly...does anyone have a good electronics guy they want to tell me about? It's a bit complex for a carpenter.

There’s 3 aspects to the install .. electrical, network, and hydraulic. While none of them are all that difficult once everything is planned out, it’s certainly not plug and play as you have discovered. If you spend the time to read through the instructions carefully and multiple times until you can visualize how it all goes together, you should be able to plan it out and install it. I laid out all of the parts and essentially mocked the assembly up on a table as a starting point. There are several good YouTube videos of guys installing different brands of autopilots. I watched quite a few of them and the best ones multiple times. There are also good posts of installations where guys have documented with photos how they have assembled them. It took some time obviously, but it gives you great context to plan the correct locations of the gear for your particular boat and visualize how it all goes together and functions. I know the local marine service shops are crazy busy currently with sales from the virtual boat show - I’ve heard things like 6-8 weeks for them to even perform routine engine maintenance so it might be a challenge to get a marine shop to do the install. And honestly, you’ll almost certainly do a more thorough and quality job yourself rather than a marine shop that is trying to get you in and out as quickly as possible so they can get on to the next sale. And you’ll know where every fuse and wire is located for troubleshooting purposes. The hydraulics are probably the most challenging ... not because it‘s difficult, but because you will likely need to source “non-seastar” hose and fittings in order to complete the hyrdraulic connections properly. You’ll see this referenced in earlier posts ... seastar hoses and fittings are exorbitantly priced and only available in fixed lengths which are almost guaranteed to be far too long for a proper installation of an autopilot. There are much higher quality, less expensive, custom length options available at local hose and fitting shops that will allow you to complete a very clean installation that can be easily bled of air. Hope it goes well ... you will appreciate it once it’s done!

 

[dmurph]

Goddamn it. Now I want one.

Same, I’ve been thinking that for years though

 

[dmurph]

So if I buy AP I guess I need to get rid of my Intellisteer? Seems with a remote device and AP I can can do anything Intellisteer does.

My intelli steer type r has wiring for a auto pilot but I couldn’t find any info on how it works

 

[pescador]

My intelli steer type r has wiring for a auto pilot but I couldn’t find any info on how it works

Interesting. Because we have a pump and a computer module. That’s a start for AutoPilot. We’d need a heading sensor plus what else?

 

[dmurph]

Interesting. Because we have a pump and a computer module. That’s a start for AutoPilot. We’d need a heading sensor plus what else?

I have the type r which is the cable system not hydraulic. The receiver on my unit had wires for a auto pilot

 

[dmurph]

I have the type r which is the cable system not hydraulic. The receiver on my unit had wires for a auto pilot

 

[Brett83]

Here’s some additional info in case it’s usefull for anyone planning to do their own installation (which I would recommend if you have the time). One of the major challenges for me when doing the install was getting appropriate hydraulic hose lengths and fittings to integrate with my existing Seastar system. I had no prior experience with hydraulic steering systems so this was an intimidating exercise for me initially. But I now have a full understanding of how my steering system is installed & operates which is great. Seastar has proprietary hose connections and restrictive hose lengths that are just not practical for most autopilot installs. Their hoses are far too long and cannot tolerate a tight bend radius so, depending on your install, you could really end up with a mess. Not only can it make for a frustrating installation experience but they also charge a lot of money for their hoses. You really need to have custom hose lengths so you end up with a clean install and hoses tracking up toward the helm so you can bleed the system afterward. Despite the warnings from Seastar to only use their hose, it turns out that having custom hose lengths made up is very easy to do. The specs on the custom hoses I had made were far in excess of any Seastar hose and allowed for much more practical radius bends to facilitate a clean install. They were also a small fraction of the cost of seastar hoses...despite being customized to the precise lengths I needed. You’ll also likely need to convert the existing proprietary seastar hose fittings (3/8" compression fittings which utilize a 9/16" - 24 extra fine thread) to standard fittings depending on your layout so they integrate with your custom hoses. Through discussions with the hose distributor (several in Richmond that were very helpful), I decided to get the connectors that converted them to JIC-4 connections. It all worked extremely well. Quite the learning curve and it certainly made me aware of how restrictive Seastar is. You could easily end up with a mess of hoses that cost you a fortune and can never be properly bled of air if you aren’t aware of other options that are available.

I'm wondering, was it difficult to convert the seastar fitting jic-4 connection, and what shop did you purchase your hoses at

 

[redman210]

I'm wondering, was it difficult to convert the seastar fitting jic-4 connection, and what shop did you purchase your hoses at

I may have some extra fittings... they were a nightmare to get..... the jic-4 connection does not sound quite correct.... send me a pic of exactly what you want to do.. I ordered some out of the states as I just installed a full Garmin Reactor 40 Autopilot on my new Hewescraft with dual helm and single cylinder seastar set up. all in all.. not that hard.... install turned out great and I can run the boat from any of the 3 screens plus I installed the GHC20 screen... very cool setup.. works amazing... biggest job is to make sure you bleed your system. I bought a pile of fittings for that as well. There is not a shop anywhere that stocks those hoses. Trick is to convert the 5ORB to NPT. You most likely need a compression 3/8 9/16th by 32 thread to 1/4"NPT to get anywhere... which I also happen to have.

 

[profisher]

I've had the Com/Nav 1420 since about 1995 and still using the same unit...made in Vancouver. It's a true auto pilot that steers both the main and kicker when connected to each other. I only use it for holding a straight line in challenging sea and wind conditions while I check gear. I never turn it on to steer while I'm up on plane...in my mind way to risky and you are asking for trouble. It doesn't turn off instantly there is a second or two power down lag time. If you see a deadhead or anything that you need to dodge quickly that lag time may mean you hit it rather than miss it. Also electronic gadgets are known to malfunction from time to time....I wouldn't want the pilot to have a glitch, go hard over at speed and put me out of control unexpectedly. The rudder follower is now called a Smart Stick and determines the motors position by a fixed receiver and a magnet attached to your hydraulic ram. It works flawlessly. The first outboard followers were a linear tube that was APOS as it had an inner tube that moved in and out like a downrigger boom but the seals would fail and they would suck water inside and take out the electronics...usually in under a year. The follower sends a signal to a processor which also gets a signal from (in my case) a class 1 compass which tells the processor which way the bow is facing. Some pumps are noisier than others so make sure you ask the dealer how loud your pump will be as you will want to mount it where it won't be annoying when its running.

 

[Saratoga]

I'm wondering, was it difficult to convert the seastar fitting jic-4 connection, and what shop did you purchase your hoses at

It’s not that difficult once you have the right fittings and hose. The difficult part is determining what those fittings & hose should be. I got my fittings and hose from PSI Fluid Power Ltd in Richmond. I spoke with Christian and he was extremely helpful.

 

[blueugl]

Reactor™ 40 Kicker Autopilot​

With GHC™ 20 Autopilot Display​

Garmin Reactor™ 40 Kicker Autopilot | Small Gas Boats

Reactor™ 40 Kicker Autopilot is designed for small gasoline outboard monitors and helps maintain heading hold and route to keep you on course.

buy.garmin.com

I inslalled this on my 9.9 Yamaha high thrust remote motor mounted on a double scissor kicker bracket complete with rigging tube. Real happy with the install took a ton of trial and error but rigging turned out very good. It is mostly plug and play with usual positioning of the CCU(compass) and setting up a NMEA2000 network I also added a new chartplotter so I can take advantage all the autopilot options like routes and GPS waypoints GPS speed source and that kind of thing. After the completing dock side wizard and the sea trail things worked as they should except for my throttle activator there is remote that allows you to speed up the engine and set cruise control and drop it to an idle and reset it back to same speed. The remote allows you to steer by gesture or degrees set buttons for pattern steering and routes also standby and engage the autopilot. These all work except it seems I have no communication with the throttle activator nothing no tach no throttle I have switched my speed source from tach NMEA200 to GPS to stop the error messages and that enabled me to use all the other functions. I have been in contact with Garmin support for month now thruog email and with pictures and have tried all there fixes still nothing. Garmin very slow to respond one email a week now they looking deeper into my problem so I am waiting. I will keep you posted how this turns out if anyone can help diagnose this problem please help me.

 

[blueugl]

Reactor™ 40 Kicker Autopilot​

With GHC™ 20 Autopilot Display​

Garmin Reactor™ 40 Kicker Autopilot | Small Gas Boats

Reactor™ 40 Kicker Autopilot is designed for small gasoline outboard monitors and helps maintain heading hold and route to keep you on course.

buy.garmin.com

I inslalled this on my 9.9 Yamaha high thrust remote motor mounted on a double scissor kicker bracket complete with rigging tube. Real happy with the install took a ton of trial and error but rigging turned out very good. It is mostly plug and play with usual positioning of the CCU(compass) and setting up a NMEA2000 network I also added a new chartplotter so I can take advantage all the autopilot options like routes and GPS waypoints GPS speed source and that kind of thing. After the completing dock side wizard and the sea trail things worked as they should except for my throttle activator there is remote that allows you to speed up the engine and set cruise control and drop it to an idle and reset it back to same speed. The remote allows you to steer by gesture or degrees set buttons for pattern steering and routes also standby and engage the autopilot. These all work except it seems I have no communication with the throttle activator nothing no tach no throttle I have switched my speed source from tach NMEA200 to GPS to stop the error messages and that enabled me to use all the other functions. I have been in contact with Garmin support for month now thruog email and with pictures and have tried all there fixes still nothing. Garmin very slow to respond one email a week now they looking deeper into my problem so I am waiting. I will keep you posted how this turns out if anyone can help diagnose this problem please help me.

Got this thing working today with Garmin support they noticed in a picture of my setup the the orientation of my tach pickup wire was away from the sparkplug boot so I turned it around so the tip of the wire was at the base of the boot and now I have tach which now gives me throttle control plus the tach also woks as a speed source. 6000rmp = 6mph good to have when your going backwards in a strong current or river at slow or trolling speeds.

 

[Ringo]

I don't want to restart the whole discussion on this thread again, there's already a lot of good information here. I'm planning to install a new system to get myself ready for more solo-fishing next season. I've arrived at two options; TR1 or Garmin Reactor. I noticed the big price difference between the two options and I wonder if there's another alternative that I'm just not aware of. I already talked to Intellisteer and they seem to have a great sales numbers for TR1 so it's obviously working for a lot of folks. Garmin is darn expensive but it looks very functional.

I have a Suzuiki 9.9 kicker which is currently linked to my main with a tie bar. It's a relatively smaller deck (Campion 542) and there's easy access to the kicker's throttle on the back. Where I have the most challenge is the wheel access, especially when the canvas is wide open and I have a fish on. It's a PITA to say the least, esp during the winter time. I have a Garmin 942 and a cable steering system (not hydraulic). what option would make more sense for my need? I don't want to break the bank just b/c I want to fish solo a dozen times/season but in the meantime, I like this to be as viable as possible.

 

[sly_karma]

Question for the autopilot users: does it function with kicker in reverse? Thinking about back trolling while jigging.

 

[CBsqrd]

Question for the autopilot users: does it function with kicker in reverse? Thinking about back trolling while jigging.

Furuno NavPilot is the only one I know with that feature which they call "Sabiki Mode".

 

[Fisher_dude]

Furuno NavPilot is the only one I know have with that feature which they call "Sabiki Mode".

That reminds me. Time to fire off an email to Lowrance. I need this feature.

 

[blueugl]

Been using the Reactor 40 now for a few weeks it would

I don't want to restart the whole discussion on this thread again, there's already a lot of good information here. I'm planning to install a new system to get myself ready for more solo-fishing next season. I've arrived at two options; TR1 or Garmin Reactor. I noticed the big price difference between the two options and I wonder if there's another alternative that I'm just not aware of. I already talked to Intellisteer and they seem to have a great sales numbers for TR1 so it's obviously working for a lot of folks. Garmin is darn expensive but it looks very functional.

I have a Suzuiki 9.9 kicker which is currently linked to my main with a tie bar. It's a relatively smaller deck (Campion 542) and there's easy access to the kicker's throttle on the back. Where I have the most challenge is the wheel access, especially when the canvas is wide open and I have a fish on. It's a PITA to say the least, esp during the winter time. I have a Garmin 942 and a cable steering system (not hydraulic). what option would make more sense for my need? I don't want to break the bank just b/c I want to fish solo a dozen times/season but in the meantime, I like this to be as viable as possible.

Been using the Reactor 40 now for a few weeks it would recommend it because you don't have hydraulic that would be $1800 the reactor on your kicker would give throttle and steering from the remote. Works good at low speed 2 miles a hour trolling in wind and current off Cape Mudge and heavy chop and wind at Kitty. If your have the Garmin 942 you can get away without the GHC 20 helm control that would save you $400 so you could get it for $3100. And yes I believe you can use it in reverse but for back trolling it would be a pain you would still have to kick it in and out of gear and put into standby when on the spot it may work for you but I don't think it easy. The throttle actuator has failed on mine from the start working with Garrmin support I got it to work one day but it failed the next it was so nice to have speed and cruise control . Garmin after 2 months now has agreed to replace it but the are on back order from Taiwan and it wont be here the October. I have it on a 17 foot boat with 9.9 yam high thrust.

Garmin Reactor 40 Kicker Autopilot – GPS Central

Designed for small gasoline boats, this Reactor 40 kicker autopilot gives you the extra hand you need, so you can fish and explore paradise worry-free. GHC Autodisplay is NOT included.

www.gpscentral.ca

 

[Hot-Streak]

This thread is a good read and info on AP.

I am looking at going a different way. I own a welded aluminum and A lot of guys in the US go with a bow mounted trolling motor.

I will still need to run the kicker for trolling but the bow mounted motor will move/turn to maintain the heading.

The advanced ones have GPS and chartplotter interfaces.

I'm looking at going this route as it will let me steer/autopilot with a remote.

Other advantage is I can also use the spot lock "anchor" feature for holding in a GPS location and hover for jigging or even Hali fishing without needing an anchor setup.

I think this set up will cost less then a traditional AP but give me more versatile fishing options

 

[Aces]

This thread is a good read and info on AP.

I am looking at going a different way. I own a welded aluminum and A lot of guys in the US go with a bow mounted trolling motor.

I will still need to run the kicker for trolling but the bow mounted motor will move/turn to maintain the heading.

The advanced ones have GPS and chartplotter interfaces.

I'm looking at going this route as it will let me steer/autopilot with a remote.

Other advantage is I can also use the spot lock "anchor" feature for holding in a GPS location and hover for jigging or even Hali fishing without needing an anchor setup.

I think this set up will cost less then a traditional AP but give me more versatile fishing options

Just wondering….if you’re hovering in the same spot won’t your lines get taken away with the current? I suggest that would increase the possibility of snagging bottom

 

[Fisher_dude]

Just wondering….if you’re hovering in the same spot won’t your lines get taken away with the current? I suggest that would increase the possibility of snagging bottom

just depends on the current. I have a buddy that has a bow mount and he runs his kicker and steers with the bow mount. He likes it.