Raymarine ST4000 autopilot in wind vane mode?

[patrickkidd]

I have a ST4000 (the black one, not the grey ST4000+) and am getting used to its awful limitations, even on a Catalina 30. Granted, I am sailing in and near San Francisco Bay where the wind and currents are quite strong. I have basically given up tuning the thing to be anything better than an eight-year old first timer.

HOWEVER! I found a used rudder indicator and will see how that helpsonce I got it installed. I am also wondering if anyone has experience using one of these units in wind vane mode when connected to a SeaTalk-compatible wind instrument. Do you think the rudder indicator and/or wind vane mode will make any difference in the ST4000's ability to stay on course even on a beat in steady 15knts? Is it worth looking for such a wind instrument?

Thanks!

 

[Calif. Ted]

Have you tried the "Catalina Cocktail" settings as recommended by RM ? Mine works pretty fair with it, also I do use wind vane mode but I don't know that it improves function much, and you now get "wind shift" error messages. Settings below:

This boat has a relatively low number of turns on the wheel from lock to lock. I would recommend you change the following setting from the default in this order. Please do these one at a time while evaluating performance after each change. Also, make sure that you have gone through the compass linearization with a deviation of 10 or below.
1. Change the Rudder Gain from 5 to 2
2. Change the Auto Trim from 3 to 2
3. Change the Response from 1 to 2
4. Change the Drive Type from 1 to 2
Please avoid changing the drive type if possible. If the turns on the wheel from lock to lock are less than 2 then you might try the Rudder Gain at 1.

 

[kloudie1]

In addition, the rudder position sensor will make it a lot more stable.