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Autopilot

wonderboy

wonderboy
in This Old Boat

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Don Supon

Don Supon

Posted
Posted

Wonderboy Auto-pilots are useful for fishermen. A 150 outboard could be outfitted with many different brands. I will not try to influence your choice.

Examine why you want one. Will it's purpose mainly be to get you from point A to point B? Will it's main purpose be to control a fishing presentation?

150 HP is a lot for trolling. That's why many employ a small kicker. It runs better longer at trolling speeds and costs less in fuel to operate. It also will enable you to troll at slower speeds.

Different fish species prefer/require different trolling speeds. In addition to an auto-pilot to steer your boat, you will also need a means to monitor your speed and a way to controll the engine RPMs to control that speed. A GPS and many fish-finders will give you surface speed only. That helps, but the fish only care at what speed the LURE is moving. That usually is very different from surface speed and requires a probe.

An auto-pilot is only one piece to the puzzle. You will need to examine the type of steering your boat has, and make sure the selected auto-pilot can work with that system. Then you will need other equipment (as mentioned) to be able to use it effectively. Also, different lures work best at different speeds so you can't just run anything you want at the same time.

This sight has a lot of discussion, over time, pertaining to the parts of the puzzle that I have mentioned. Recommendations and debate have occurred with most of them. Check them out after you have made a choice on the auto-pilot. None of the parts, nor all of them together, will influence your success unless you use them properly.

Success will improve over time for the average person. There are many types of fishermen: Lucky/unlucky, occasional/avid/professional/tournament etc. Dedication, practice, knowledge, experience, equipment, and choices, all taken together are what matters most for success. Determine what level you seek, reach the level, there are no shortcuts.

Frisco

Frisco

Posted
Posted

Just installed a Garmin GHP 10 so far so good. I've had a Simrad AP12, Ramarine Sport Pilot, & X5. This unit is far superior, if you have hydraulic steering, it's pricey and can be difficult to install because the hose lengths.

It links to the GPS or tach, my main motor & kicker are tied together so the GPS is used instead of he tach

  • 2 weeks later...
Reel Overtime

Reel Overtime

Posted
Posted

Had a sport pilot on last boat and i am now taking the new (to me) 2600 seaswirl

to anchor marine in erie to install a new one today, I love it.

  • 3 weeks later...
Reel Doc

Reel Doc

Posted
Posted

I would like to jump in on this as I'm considering an autopilot as well. The main motor, (220 Evinrude), is tied to the kicker, (9.9 hp Yamaha), and my usage would be when the kicker is working for trolling. How exactly do you link the unit to the GPS, and considering my GPS is outdated, should I get two compatible units?

Thanks,

Greg

Don Supon

Don Supon

Posted
Posted

The Garmin auto-pilot wiring has a direct lead for your GPS. Just chect if your GPS has a lead to connect to. Garmin GHP10 model would steer the big motor which in turn would steer the attached kicker.

Frisco

Frisco

Posted
Posted

I suggest going to Garmins web site and download the installation and operation. I highly recommend the unit however it has to be laid out and well planned in advance because of the of the lack of shorter hose lenghts that are available, compass location, computor etc. Take the time to read it several times before the purchase.

Questions?

PM me

Ken

CaptSpike

CaptSpike

Posted
Posted

Reel Doc I have mine hooked up to an older gps thru the nema connection. Problem is at trolling speeds the AP doesn't get enough info from the gps and sends me a warning that it isn't using speed from the gps anymore. I talked to a tech at Garmin and the reason the AP wants to know your speed is so it doesn't make a turn too tight and throw someone out of the boat. Since I only use mine for trolling you don't even need to provide speed to the AP if you don't want to. It works great for trolling. If you were looking for double duty IE high speed control and low you would need to get the speed to the unit. I have found at higher speeds my gps communicates fine and no sharp turns. Though I only ran this once as a test.

Spike

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