Autopilot Recommendations

[86Hat41]

Hi Guys.

I’m in the market for a new Autopilot.

I currently have the one original to the boat from 1986, a Robertson 200DL that works perfectly fine but it won’t talk to my Raymarine plotter.

I’m looking for recommendations for a replacement or of course if anyone knows of any way that I can Navigate with my current Robertson unit.

I’m looking for ease of use and I’m looking for one that the boat handles nicely when on plane.

I’d love to be able to use the Robertson’s existing electric pump.

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

TJ

 

[Bob Bradley]

I put in a Simrad unit. Hooked up to my old Roberson pump no problem.

 

[Pascal]

Unless you really have a few thousand dollars to burn, ask yourself if you really need to link your AP with th plotter... in all thes years and tens of thousand miles, i can count on the finger on my hand how many times i ve set the AP to proceed to a WP. I always just set a heading, even on open water legs of 100 nm

But if you really csnt leave without it, i think Simrad is hard to beat when it comes to APs

 

[bobk]

Unless you really have a few thousand dollars to burn, ask yourself if you really need to link your AP with th plotter... in all thes years and tens of thousand miles, i can count on the finger on my hand how many times i ve set the AP to proceed to a WP. I always just set a heading, even on open water legs of 100 nm

But if you really csnt leave without it, i think Simrad is hard to beat when it comes to APs

XX2. You could run over a ATON if you use the plotter to drive the boat. I've run about 8000 hours in boats with autopilots and never wanted to link it to the plotter.

Bobk

 

[Boatsb]

Just to be clear.

An autopilot is a great tool and if your offshore on long trips it's a godsend. Anyone not using the tools available should not deter others from doing so.

It's possible to safely navigate with an integrated system if you know how.

I sell and install simrad, raymarine and garmin on boats all the time. The differences are .

Garmin has a smart pump that's a bit expensive but is a great unit. If you need a new pump anyway it's a great unit. It's got great software and is easy to use. It can be adapted to existing pumps but sometimes if a pump is not perfect it can be a pita.

Simrad is solid and reliable. It's possible the old pump can be used if it's up to the task. It's also a very well tested product. Most people find it easy to use but it can be a bear to program.

Raymarine has a great product that also can use the old pumps. It's not well know but raymarine was the first to bring out the newer technology that all them use today. I'd not count this out as they make a good product

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

XX2. You could run over a ATON if you use the plotter to drive the boat. I've run about 8000 hours in boats with autopilots and never wanted to link it to the plotter.Bobk

Hell you can do that at the helm texting or looking through your binocs or just generally not paying attention. I do like driving a straight line even for short legs, and really like watching the cross track error staying under 12 feet on a hundred mile leg—after I plot a reasonable distance around ATONS.

 

[Tim Powell]

I used the auto pilot almost regular. It is so easy it is a garman with the smart pump, It is commected to radar and chart ploter .

i would reckomend to anyone it lets you mingle with the people on board. As for off shore running to a way point it sure makes it easy

go right to a wreck or ledge.

 

[GJH]

Your Raymarine doesn't accept a Nmea 0183 input?

I never saw the need to have the plotter and AP interlinked and I almost always used the AP to steer the boat.
If anything, by not linking to the plotter, it forced me to keep a proper watch, adjusting as we went for set and drift.

 

[krush]

Buy furuno.... /end of thread. Boatsb, sell more furuno. It has a cult following for good reason.

Autopilot is very important for fishermen...maybe not so much for the booze cruise.

 

[Pascal]

Buy furuno.... /end of thread. Boatsb, sell more furuno. It has a cult following for good reason.

Autopilot is very important for fishermen...maybe not so much for the booze cruise.

Can you explain your last sentence? An AP is great to steer and maintain a heading but why would a fisherman blindly need to go to a waypoint without putting a heading?

 

[Boatsb]

Or why would a fisherman want to hold position over a spot or troll a pattern or follow a shelf?

I guess if you ask the question you dont fish.

Furuno has skyhook to hold a vessel on a spot for fishing an area effectively. Others also have integration with newer engines and systems to safely control the boat while fishing.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Isn't the Garmin AP the Gladiator or something like that? I remember they bought the company to get the design of the AP. From all I've heard, they work very well indeed.

 

[Tim Powell]

Isn't the Garmin AP the Gladiator or something like that? I remember they bought the company to get the design of the AP. From all I've heard, they work very well indeed.

mine is Garmin It is plug and play we installed it and set it up on sea trile and have never touched it

it holds a straight corse in both bad and good weather......

 

[Boatsb]

Garmin bought tr-1. Their latest version is the reactor and it's a major improvement.

All the major autopilot use new gyro technology that's far beyond the old technology.

 

[Boatsb]

Simrad bought robertson. New is so far past the capabilities of the old

And Raymarine bought autohelm but their evolution is completely new technology.

 

[krush]

Can you explain your last sentence? An AP is great to steer and maintain a heading but why would a fisherman blindly need to go to a waypoint without putting a heading?

Many fisherman use sounders and do a search pattern and the MFD records the info and waypoints. The AP makes this process efficient and allows the fisherman to concentrate on other tasks.

 

[Boatsb]

And dont forget that you can update your charts with current information as you record the depth and other data in an area .


Garmin Quickdraw™ Contours | Garmin

Simrad has a similar feature I just need more coffee to remember the name

 

[86Hat41]

Thanks for the responses guys.

While reading the reply’s on this thread I opened my autopilot manual to verify the pilot is not NMEA 0183. The book states it is 0180.
Then in an embarrassing turn of events I noticed a minor discrepancy in the shape of one of the knobs in a photo. The manual is for a Robertson AP100DL and NOT the AP200DL. Both units are virtually identical and I had no reason to suspect the incorrect manual has been onboard for the past 13 seasons that I owned the boat. Both units function the exact same and look virtually identical.

I just downloaded the correct manual for the AP200DL and indeed it does communicate by 0183 so I’m starting from scratch and will figure out how to interface these units. Any pointers would be appreciated and thank you for all of your input.

 

[Boatsb]

Interface to what screen?

 

[GJH]

The manuals for the Raymarine and the AP will tell you how to do it.