D
dboyd
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Greetings:
I'm trying to kluge together a few Raymarine/Autohelm components and am seeking
insight. I've a fairly stout motorsailor of 32 ft LOA and 17K lbs displacement. She came
equipped with a recent Raymarine 4000+ MkII autopilot, nicely fed by a simple NMEA
connection to a Garmin 48 GPS.
I've since upgraded with a radar/chartplotter/GPS by Raymarine, and added a rudder
position sensor in hopes it'd permit the AP to be more responsive and precise. It did
improve performance, yet not enough. I kept my eyes peeled, talked to Raymarine
techs (helpful so far), accumulated wind sensor, ST40 Speed/Depth/Temp (all
uninstalled as yet), and a robust good used ST5000 linear drive unit. Oh--I also found a
SmartHeading unit deal I couldn't refuse.
I've heard I can reset the Control head to operate in tiller mode, vice "wheel", and am
curious about how best to accomplish this. The secondand linear drive has a heavy
power lead pair to drive the motor, and a 7-pin (DIN?) connector also. Best I can tell
from a pretty lengthy web search of Raymarine lore is that only two of those pins are
functional, and they operate the internal clutch. There are output connectors with
corresponding labels for all on the back of the existing control head.
Now--I'm concerned that I'm missing something in my understanding of the
requirements. Hard to imagine enough power can come directly from the control head
to drive the linear actuator via 20 feet of wire. . . so I wonder if there's supposed to be a
relay incorporated in the system. If not, wouldn't it be prudent to employ one anyway?
I'd love some clue on the pinouts too, though I expect I'll be able to sort that out with
my trusty multimeter.
THEN--my next phase will be to install all the accessories listed above, with the ultimate
goal of integrating all to a simple laptop-based monitor/control arrangement. I'm
buoyed along by all the expertise I've encountered here--thanks for all the knowledge
and knowhow you all you generously share..
Cheers-
Boyd
S/V Eentje
Baltimore
I'm trying to kluge together a few Raymarine/Autohelm components and am seeking
insight. I've a fairly stout motorsailor of 32 ft LOA and 17K lbs displacement. She came
equipped with a recent Raymarine 4000+ MkII autopilot, nicely fed by a simple NMEA
connection to a Garmin 48 GPS.
I've since upgraded with a radar/chartplotter/GPS by Raymarine, and added a rudder
position sensor in hopes it'd permit the AP to be more responsive and precise. It did
improve performance, yet not enough. I kept my eyes peeled, talked to Raymarine
techs (helpful so far), accumulated wind sensor, ST40 Speed/Depth/Temp (all
uninstalled as yet), and a robust good used ST5000 linear drive unit. Oh--I also found a
SmartHeading unit deal I couldn't refuse.
I've heard I can reset the Control head to operate in tiller mode, vice "wheel", and am
curious about how best to accomplish this. The secondand linear drive has a heavy
power lead pair to drive the motor, and a 7-pin (DIN?) connector also. Best I can tell
from a pretty lengthy web search of Raymarine lore is that only two of those pins are
functional, and they operate the internal clutch. There are output connectors with
corresponding labels for all on the back of the existing control head.
Now--I'm concerned that I'm missing something in my understanding of the
requirements. Hard to imagine enough power can come directly from the control head
to drive the linear actuator via 20 feet of wire. . . so I wonder if there's supposed to be a
relay incorporated in the system. If not, wouldn't it be prudent to employ one anyway?
I'd love some clue on the pinouts too, though I expect I'll be able to sort that out with
my trusty multimeter.
THEN--my next phase will be to install all the accessories listed above, with the ultimate
goal of integrating all to a simple laptop-based monitor/control arrangement. I'm
buoyed along by all the expertise I've encountered here--thanks for all the knowledge
and knowhow you all you generously share..
Cheers-
Boyd
S/V Eentje
Baltimore
