HPORT

I have done some research on the Simrad installation and does this sound correct to those of you who have installed them? My current rack & pinion steering system has a Morse # 304411 cable, according to the Simrad installation manual for the AP14R it should thread right onto the SRD12 helm unit. Their compatibility chart is not clear, but in the text it says if your cable is not compatible with the SRD12 steering unit, to then order the Morse 304411 cable. So from the sounds of it I should be good to go with my original cable. Now that I'm looking to purchase a AP14R, everyone is out of stock...

Tim, That explains it... Where do you get the rotary cable to work with the boats drive? Does it have to be a certain size for the AP unit? I'm leaning towards cutting a hole in the bulkhead to use a Simrad, but want to make sure I can get everything I need before tearing down the steering, as I have the boat pretty well sorted out with the exception of the AP. Thanks again, John

Dave, I was hoping to find someone with a picture of under the dash showing the install. Does Simrad have you remove the rear plate on the steering rack and fit their control head that way? Also will I need some type of adapter to fit the control head to my rack? The Raymarine unit we currently have mounts up very nice, shame it's nothing more then a worthless spacer between the wheel and dash at the moment. Does anyone know if the new Raymarine X-5 controller uses the same mounting as the sportpilot ? Thanks for offering the photos, John

Clyde, Make sure its a VHF antenna you are hooking your VHF radio to, CB, SSB and Loran all came in 8' sizes. The antenna is by far the most important and most over looked part of the marine radio system. If the antenna is questionable, replace it with the best you can afford. Digital makes a nice 8' VHF and Shakspeare makes a nice heavy duty SS folding mount, both for a reasonable price. Hooking the two antennas together is not a good idea.... Phase matched antenna systems work very well, but are directional. AM/FM is 75ohm and the antenna is most likely a 59ohm, but for purposes of reception it should work fine. I have a Digital AM/FM 4' antenna on our hardtop and I'm not impressed with it. I'm thinking of going with a FM amplifier to help. Were in the fingerlakes and fishing between mountain top is a challenge for radio reception. My 2 cents... John

Does anyone have photos showing the installation behind the dash? I would love to put a Simrad AP on my boat but I only have 7.5 - 8.0" of room from the dash to bulkhead. The boat is a 1998 Penn Yan 225. How much room exactly does it take to install the AP12? I have heard 10", and was wondering what the unit looks like that would take up 10" behind the dash. We current have a Raymarine sportpilot plus that needs to go........ Thanks, John

Andy, Sounds like the clutch or the drive belt is worn in your unit since it still wanting to steer. Funny, between your unit and mine we could build one working unit. My wheel has some play in it as well and the unit is new, so I would say it's normal. Our 225 has power steering and wanders before it gets on plane, have been told by many that it's normal. John

Here's the story, Last Saturday we were out testing the AP for the 1st time after installing. The Compass is installed facing forward and to the roll center as best possible, as Raymarine calls for in there installation instructions, so calibration wasn't needed...so says the instructions. We held a course for a minute or so and turned the AP to the 2nd gain setting and the unit beeped once and took over steering. We set the DR's and enjoyed an hour troll up the lake. That was the most enjoyable troll we have ever had without catching fish... (we weren't trying very hard as we didn't expect to be out more then 1/2 hour) Swung the boat around to reset the AP for the return leg, and the headwind was at least 20+mph and we were now in 2 footers, the boat is a 98 225 Penn Yan so we have a fair amount above the waterline for 2.5mph headway. The AP had trouble holding course at times and slowly got worse, then my son turned it off and steered manually. I asked why he was steering and it was due to off course beeping. We then noticed both lights were lit and the AP would not work, no beeping at this point. Pulled the fuse to see if that would help, when I pluged the fuse back in the AP now has a constant tone (beep) not beep, beep, beep, etc... just steady beep. The noise that makes you what to throw the black box overboard. Waited 1/2 hour and tried again to see if it was an overheating issue, same thing... Back in the shop, I pulled the connections and check the pins all tight and where they should be, all wiring is as it was when we put out. Took the AP motor unit apart to see what was up, nothing noted and no burnt electronics smell, etc... Reassembled and tested again, same beeeeeeeep..... Called Raymarine, got absolutly no where with them as everyone at the technical end had the same anwser, we don't support that unit anymore. I wish the Simrad would fit, I only have 8" under the dash panel and I understand you need a good 10" to mount it. Anywho....Anyone have insight to what maybe going on or have a Sportpilot plus parts they would be willing to sell to see if I can salvage my AP This may need to be moved to another board, don't know why she put it here.

Hello, Hopefully someone can shed some light on our problem.. We have a raymarine sport pilot plus on a 22' penn yan. Worked great until this past weekend. It makes a loud alarm sound and will not do anything else. Raymarine is NO help at all and neither are the places they have on their website who are repair centers.. We would like to know if it is worth fixing or what is even wrong with it.. Thanks!

"Lubing the wheel studs"would not be the proper term, as there is no such service. Having 25+ years in the industry, we always make sure the fasteners have some type of lube ( anti-seize / oil) before torquing them down. The lube gives you repeatable torque on each stud and on the up side allows for easy customer removal in the event of a flat on the road. Lube will not cause the nuts to loosen, improper torque will... If you have rusted fasteners, you will have a likelyhood of over torquing the studs which eventually leads to failure.

If you have radial tires I would suggest rotating them front to back on the same side. Its always good to remove the wheels and inspect / lube the studs and hubs every year, so I always look at it as a good time to rotate the tires at the same time. If you do have a flat on the road, its nice to know it will come off easily....

Does anyone have / used one of the new Lowrance HDS units? What is the advantage over last years HD units? Lowrance's website is more visual then informative about their new HDS units. We are thinking about the HDS-8

Do you guys have pictures of these releases and sources to get parts etc...? My son and I are new to planer board and downrigger fishing, we have used SG and dipsy's here in the Fingerlakes. We have a pair of Big Jon planars and 4 Cannon DR to learn on this season. We are trying to figure out how to rig the different setups,should be fun...as long as the fish are going in the box.

I'm looking for a unit as well, and would be interested in knowing what you guys found. I'm looking to purchase in the the next week or two. My LCX-17 is now just a nice sonar, the GPS quit.

113 would make a nice unit, price is a little high for us right now, but you never know. We need a combo sonar / GPS and we don't have allot of room under the hardtop. I'm trying to keep everything mount above the helm so to keep it out of direct sun.

Well, as we were sorting our new to us boat out, we found the GPS antenna / cable? on the Lowrance LCX 17M was not operational. Being that the display is hard to see in sunlight anyway, we were hoping to get at least a season out of it so we could get a better idea of what to upgrade to. Do we bite the bullet and get a new TFT color unit or do we spend $2-300 and fix this unit to get us by for the season. Its not a charter so it's not an issue of loss income. What new combo unit do you recommend? We were thinking at least an 8" display Suggestions?

Thanks for the information, We finally purchased a 1998 225 Penn Yan Outrage. Just needs a good cleaning and sorting out. Hope to be on the water before the end of the month.

Thanks for the replies, We saw the 94 Thompson on the Great Lakes site and gave it a very good inspection, not a bad boat. Comes with gear and a steel trailer in good condition. We have about 100 photos of the boat ( still shrink wrapped) It's not a Penn Yan, we looked at a 245 PY on the way back from seeing this boat and we really want a 245 or 255 Penn Yan. We couldn't get the Thompson as it was just out of our budget, and the owner will not move on price. The search continues...

Modern LCD display's can operate as low as -5 degrees F and can be stored at temperatures even lower. Electronic response times and contacts are usually another story. If an modern LCD display fails due to cold temperatures, it may have had moisture between the panels or in the circuitry, or it may have been a marginal display to start with. I have seen many older LCD display's fail due to freezing, so I would do like everyone else and store it in a warm dry place. Compasses use oil for dampening.

Thanks for the replies, We inspect our boats throughly, hundreds of photos, documenting services and history, rapping and testing, taking 2-3 hours. Have restored old boats from 12 - 36' over the years we have learned to measure twice cut once, same goes for buying boats... We are currently negotiating a deal on a 255 Penn Yan. This boat fits our needs well and if we can strike a deal and a good survey, it will be back on it's home pond next month.

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Interlux Trilux 33 for the bottom and Interlux brightside of above the waterline. Just prime bare spots and your good to apply any good marine paint above the waterline. We have a 16' Starcraft open layout with a 50 merc, we sanded the hull, primed the bare spots and brush painted Rustoleum (spelling?), been on there for 6 years, we have put that hull thru hell with beaching, docking without fenders, trailering, etc... It cost us $30 to paint it. I don't recommend doing this, just that the old Starcrafts were tanks.

I maybe a little late, but you need to conceder the outdrive fully extended height when mounting a full transom platform. You also need to figure out if you want to mount a cooler on it, it will need to be a little higher ( usually) to make it easy to access the lid. If you plan on putting over 250lbs on it, I would also think about SS plates on the mounts to help spread the load on the gel-coat. I use 3M 5200 for sealing above and below the waterline. 2 cents, John

We are looking at 1990's 22-25' hardtops, Thompson's and Penn Yan's. We are looking for input on both, which one is preferred, faults, short comings, etc... A hardtop with at least 5' 11" height is a must. We are looking to posibly purchase a 1994 240 hardtop and not having fished off one, would really like to hear what those who have think about them. What to look for when inspecting one that may not be obvious. Has anyone had both Thompson and Penn Yan's, which one did you prefer and what are the good and bad between them? Thanks, John

We have looked at most of the general boat searches including iboats, and Penn Yan hardtops in the year and size we are looking for are hard to come by. We may put an offer in on a 1985 Thompson 240 hardtop, good clean boat with no fishing gear, only if we can get it cheap with the knowledge we are selling it when we find the PY we want. I hear this is how it starts...

Forgot completely about that one, thanks for jogging the brain. It's been for sale for along time, wonder if there is something really wrong with it? Do you know anything about this boat? I will send hime a reply and see what the deal is. We also sent a reply to the Outrage in MD.