Raymarine S1000 autopilot

[skipper19]

Anybody have expierience with this model? I'm looking at it but have heard a few comments on it that it doesn't work well below 3mph. Thanks

Mark

[fishman08]

I bought the unit in 04 and had trouble trolling down with it. Then this year i contacted raymarine and they had me send it in to get it recalibrated. The guy said that they had fixed the bugs in the unit and it now can troll down to speeds needed on the great lakes. Although the unit did troll down it would turn off for no apparent reason regularly. So needless to say the simrad 14 or 12 is going on the new boat this year.

[L&M]

I would have to agree with that.

[reel escape]

Mark, I have the S1000 on my boat and have NO PROBLEMS with trolling lake speeds but if I want to go under 1.5 for walleyes it does tend to loss the GPS lock. I have been in honest 5' footers and it trolls with not a problem at all. I have not had an issues with it shutting off as fishman 08 said he had on his but when I first installed it would every once in awhile start turning without notice...solved that by doing the auto learn and have not had any other issue. With that said it is a good unit for a $1000.00 and is super simple to install but if I were to do it over again I would take everyone's advise to buying the Simrad, I have not been a boat that has one but I would diffidently want to have a compass reading as well and not just GPS. I hope this helps in your decision.

[skipper19]

Thanks for the replies. I was wondering about the gps track update feature, and I would imagine that a fast update time would be better than a longer one for holding a true course. The Raymarine was nicely priced, but I want to make sure before going out to spend upwards of $1000. I fish alone alot and having the autopilot would be real nice ONLY if it works right. I'll look at the features of the simrad. Anybody seen a good price on a model?

[Yankee Clipper]

Skipper19, I have one on my boat. Its 22" with 200HP outboard. Once I got out and played with it to learn how to calibrate it has worked great. when I go from Oneida to Ontario I do put it back through its learning process. I have used it in solid 3-4" and it tracked very well. All the other comments are right on if you want to get down to less then 1.5. I don't use it as much here on Oneida, but I also don't troll very often for Walleye's. For me it came down to cost and use. I looked at it as an entry level unit and somthing to help me when I'm alone or with my wife. Teh belt remote unit is pretty slick and i do use it to keep my turns wide as you can go in incremental degrees. Its met my expectations. I googled mine and kept checking the prices. I ended getting mine last eyar for $850 and free shipping... good luck

good luck

[skipper19]

Thanks for the reply yankee clipper, I am still keeping it on the list for like you say, a entry level unit. Mainly the price is attractive and I like the preprogrammed fishing patterns option as well. I was looking at a Garmin TR-1 Gadiator and the Gold edition autos, but the price is out of my budget right now. They also have the fishing patterns as well as another good feature of the man overboard feature that performs a williamson manuever to pickup a man in the drink, (ME)... incase I fall out and have the remote on me. It would be nice to see the boat turn around and pick me up instead of motoring off to a new home in Canada. The price for the gladiator is about $3200 and the gold version works on just the kicker motor and it is still about $2400. I think I will try the Raymarine for the cost and the fishing pattern features. It only has to troll my 22ft at around 2.4 to 3 mph anyway and if I go slower I'll get too many mud chickens...I use them as a last resort to keep from getting skunked If anybody else has some input on the S1000 please post here and I will look at the considerations..Thanks all for the help, It so far doesn't sound too bad in operation for the cost layout.

Mark