vetting

Its an a77 - a series MFD. I really like it so far. I've still getting use to adjusting it but its pretty easy to set up. Best part is they now give you free charts with the Lighthouse II update. They are pretty detailed charts that are based off of the NOAA vector charts. So no paying $200 for a navionics chip with less detail than the vector charts. I wasnt sold on the chirp/down vision deal so I went with the a77 instead of the a78. I got a screaming good deal on it at $766 + $95 for the ducer. It was a model number (E70165) that I think they are trying to get rid of - its the one without WIFI and without Navionics maps - both of which I didnt need. I think they are going to having wifi on all units. Thats why when you look at pricing online for the A77 its usually $1000 w/o a ducer - its the wifi and charts that drives the price up. Also, the a77 makes it a snap to update the ACU, EV compass, and P70R units. I had to do them one at a time and it did take some time, but its the only way to update these units without sending them in.

Here is my install - it's just tapped in place for now to make sure it's the best place.

I let mine with the Hand Over Time and Rudder Limits as is. If you dont have the rudder sensor installed (not sure if its even possible with a mercruiser) only the Hand Over Time prevents the wheel from getting cranked to its end stop. Im not really even sure how it would even work because how does it even really know when the drive is straight anyways? I think I might have hit the limit once on my first time out when i was in the process of doing turn and turned the knob a little too far all at once and got a blast of wind at the same time. I suppose I could just lower the Hand Over Time setting. Does that also impact how often it corrects back and forth? My corrects like crazy when trolling but it does keep it on a perfect line and it was in 2 to 3 footers.

On a side note - I could have stayed out there 10+ hours if I had the time to. You have no idea how much more relaxing it is to actually just fish rather than fiddle with the wheel the entire time. Wont have to take a 3 hour nap anymore after early fishing before a evening trip.

I think that was the first fishing trip that I didn't have to cuss at anyone

Turns out I dont think the compass calibration is even needed. It figures out all of that stuff on its own and I think that was just an override setting. For the slop in the wheel, what brand of steering do you have? I have a morse unit which isnt as common. Does there appear to b some slop as to when the brass inner wheel of the Sport Pilot catches? If eventhing is bolted tight, that would lead me to think that the slop is where the unit slides on the woodruff key on your steering shaft. I know with mine I had to use my original small woodruff key instead of the large one they say to use in the directions. Granted they are the same thickness, but there still may be a small gap. I even had to trim my small woodruff key because it was sliding out of place and the back corner was rubbing on the back plastic of the Sport Pilot. The small key didnt fit perfect in the first place because the tappered collar that they give you in the kit didnt go back far enough. A way to test it would be to remove the wheel and everything but the sport drive. Then spin the shaft by hand (or with a padded pliers) and look to see if the slop is in the drive unit itself or between the brass inner ring and the actual streeing shaft.

Took my boat out for the first trolling trip of the season. There is a small amount of slop in the wheel but I think that might because of a little bit of slop on the woodruff keys. If there is the smallest of gaps between the key and where it catches, then that because a huge about of slop when you expand that out to the size of the wheel. Either that or there is some slop in the unit itself. Really doesnt matter to me because once I left the gas dock, we motored 7 miles away, trolled for 5 hours, did a bunch of circles going after coho and I touched the wheel 3 times then entire day. Doing turns whas a breeze - just turned the nob a few degrees, let stuff settle, turn a few degrees more - made for a really smooth circle with no tangles. We had conditions from somewhat calm with 1 footers to windy with 3 foot rollers. The pilot went a little nuts when we were in the trough for a few minutes in 3-4 footers - but then again stuff was being flung all over the boat and my passenger was getting a little nuts too Without being able to fine tune the amount of response there is besides the 3 levels, the little noisy bastard does crank away constantly. However, you soon tune out the noise and it keeps a almost perfect track at 2mph. Overall its a great unit and makes fishing so much more enjoyable. Being one who owns the boat, a lot of you probably sutferfrom the same situation I have - always taking so many different friends/family out, you end up being like an unpaid charter. You drive the entire way to the spot. You try to get someone to steer straight while you set all of the lines, then you man the wheel the entire day because no one else knows how to drive a boat at 2mph without doing zigzags. With the autopilot, it removes about 90% of that "work" so you can enjoy your time on the water. And who know, you might feel the need to reel in a fish or two on your own boat

Finished the install today and took it out for a spin. It linked up just fine with my A77 chartplotter. I couldnt get it to do the compass calibration under speed - it kept on failing even though I going as straight as possible. It holds a track pretty well at 2.2 mph but it steers back and forth like crazy. I went into the menu and the only response modes are Cruise Leisure Performance. I thought there was supposed to be a bunch of individual response settings.

Yeh it's all tight and lined up. Does it make a difference when you have the power going to it? As in everything all installed and powered up but steering manually.

I just coupled it with the normal ground wire. My a77 chart plotter has the same setup.

Thx for the write up. Where did you get your extra cables from? Thought it was bad enough leanring how to maintain everything on the boat, then how to run 12 rod spreads, then pile on itegrating electronics - lot to all keep rolling around at once in the old nog'n. With the new sensor core - where is the best place to put it? Was thinking of mounting it my cuddy somewhere. Forgot if its better to mount it as high as posible or as low as possible.

Easy once you get the hang of it. Click on "More Reply Options" to the bottom right of the Reply to this Topic Box Then Attach Files - Choose Files Transfer the picture to your PC and then selected it after clicking choose files It should then begin to upload Then after its done uploading, all you have to do is put the cursor where you want the picture to be inserted in your post (just like you were typing in the reply box) and click on add to post.

All of the cabling should be included but not 100% sure with the hookup for the chartplotted. However, some of them are short so depending on your setup, you may need a longer one. The kit comes with a hub and everything just gets hooked to that from what I can tell. Im doing the final install on mine this week and also hooking it up to my new chartplotter/fishfinder. Im new to the whole networking deal and it seems like all greek to me.

Take it from a guy who has bought/sold 40+ transactions on here - just take a picture with your cell phone and post it to your for sale thread. Offer to ship same/next day as payment and your items will be sold within 24 hours.

Yeah looks like you are going to have make a bracket. There is a lot of swing to it, but then more you swing it out I would assume there is more torque on the mount.

Can you post some pictures of where u need to mount it?

The drive unit is the same one that comes in the eV 200 package.

...would have to get my boat in the water first