Raymarine ST7000 autopilot core w/ ST600 R Handheld

[Steve]

My ST5000 autopilot control head has failed and I'm back to using my 'ole'
back up AH3000 unit. (no complaints with the old model, it faithfully steer
for the last 793 miles this summer. )

I'm now considering a NOS ST7000 A/P Course Computer but it doesn't come
with the a control head. It appears to be the predecessor to the current
Type 100/300 Course Computer. (Actually I don't know what the definition of
Type 100/300 is.)

I still have a new ST600R handheld control unit which Raymarine claim will
work with any ST unit and will serve as a 'stand-alone' Control Unit for the
Type 100/300 course computer.

I'm still waiting for a reply from Raymarine regarding this.

Anyone have any idea if the ST7000 course computer is a "Type 100/300
course computer". Or if the ST7000 will function with the ST600R as the
stand alone control??

Thanks,

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

 

[Matti Raustia]

Anyone have any idea if the ST7000 course computer is a "Type 100/300
course computer". Or if the ST7000 will function with the ST600R as the
stand alone control??

I have a ST7000 control head and course computer (about 15 years old) and to
me it seems like the course computer is not the current 100/300 model.

matti

 

[Steve]

Thanks,

I know that the 7000 being a ST system, this ST600R handheld will work as a
remote, since it is on the SeaTalk bus.
However, I'm not sure it the ST7000 control head is just a SeaTalk device as
well. IMHO, the ST600R could replace the control head since it is able to
provide all control functions over the SeaTalk bus.

In fact, when I was using the ST600R with my much older ST5000 AP, I didn't
need access to the control head at all since all control function, plus
SeaTalk display function could be replicated on this handheld.

I would be interested in your comments on the overall performance and
experiences with your ST7000.

Thanks
Steve
s/v Good Intentions

 

[Matti Raustia]

Thanks,

I know that the 7000 being a ST system, this ST600R handheld will work as a
remote, since it is on the SeaTalk bus.
However, I'm not sure it the ST7000 control head is just a SeaTalk device as
well. IMHO, the ST600R could replace the control head since it is able to
provide all control functions over the SeaTalk bus.

To me it seems like it is a "plain" ST device, as there are three round (old
style) ST connectors back of it. Two are for ST bus and third one is a NMEA
input.

There is a ST7000 manual available at Raymarine website, here's the
installation manual: http://tinyurl.com/b7op7

Take a look on page 27 (or 32 on Acrobat Reader).

In fact, when I was using the ST600R with my much older ST5000 AP, I didn't
need access to the control head at all since all control function, plus
SeaTalk display function could be replicated on this handheld.

I would be interested in your comments on the overall performance and
experiences with your ST7000.

My experiences with ST7000 are good. The system is installed in a 39 ft
sailing boat. This old AP does not have all those fancy auto learn features
etc. but for my use it has been good enough. When sailing singlehanded a
wireless remote control would be a must, hence I'm going to purchase on next
summer.

The only complaints I have are that when using AP in "track" mode
(on which it should steer towards a waypoint got from the GPS) it first
tries to get there using its own fluxgate compass as steering compass. This
means that if the fluxgate is not very carefully aligned it will not steer
very well to the waypoint. In my opinion it would make much more sense to
keep an eye on the XTE info from the GPS and try to minimize that.

Other thing is that when using the wind vane mode (in which the AP keeps the
apparent wind angle) the reaction speed to the wind shifts is too slow in
light airs. Other bug in the mode is that it uses the apparent wind angle
and not the true wind angle.

matti