I'm setting up my raymarine ev100 autopilot. Does anyone know the hard over time for a catalina 30? Or how the best way to figure it out?
Does anybody know the hard over time for a catalina 30
- Thread starter ChrisCall
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I'm not a 100 percent certain either but it a value in the setup of my raymarine ev100 autopilot. I'm guessing it's the amount of time from my rudder at center all the way over to the stop, but want to be sure before I guess
IIRC you are supposed to time is based upon a certain rate of turn, aka making a 90 or 180 deg turn in a certain number of seconds... read the manual, it should explain in more detail
It is for the autopilot, and when you set it, consider what you think is acceptable based on the load of the motor. Faster times require the motor to work harder, draw more current, and generally put more concentrated stress on the drive. Slower times would lessen those factors.
This action is also reflected in the operating setup, a higher number will affect the response in performance mode more than in cruising mode. With the response level in the p70 set to say, 3, or 1/2 scale, a faster hard over will be more responsive than a slower one.
The good news being that you can change it easily, so set it to something, go out and try it, and see if it works for you.
FWIW, I have my hard over set fairly moderate, the p70 is set to performance (race) and when "just cruising" the response is usually dialed down to "2", and sometimes that is even too high, the corrections are too large, and too often. Dropping the hard over a few points would settle this, but the point is, it's almost at the really fine tuning stage now.
This action is also reflected in the operating setup, a higher number will affect the response in performance mode more than in cruising mode. With the response level in the p70 set to say, 3, or 1/2 scale, a faster hard over will be more responsive than a slower one.
The good news being that you can change it easily, so set it to something, go out and try it, and see if it works for you.
FWIW, I have my hard over set fairly moderate, the p70 is set to performance (race) and when "just cruising" the response is usually dialed down to "2", and sometimes that is even too high, the corrections are too large, and too often. Dropping the hard over a few points would settle this, but the point is, it's almost at the really fine tuning stage now.
FWIW mine is set to 3.6 on an Edson six spoke wheel. I do not have a rudder position sensor. The autopilot would do fine when motoring or sailing in a consistent wind when pointing. Not so good when a gust heeled the boat and rapid course change. The pilot would continue to adjust in small increments. Not quick enough to compensate.
There's lots of talk about the rudder reference, and it would be interesting to see what the real difference it makes upwind are.
Downwind is pretty obvious although mine (without it) seems to do just fine with the big asym reasonably close to ddw
Downwind is pretty obvious although mine (without it) seems to do just fine with the big asym reasonably close to ddw
Look at your "Evolution autopilot setup and commisioningwith P70..." manual. Step #4 tells you how to estimate hard over time. Basically, you put it in standby. Then turn wheel all the way to port. Then press the +10 and +1 buttons simultaneously until the pilot turns the wheel 90 degrees to starboard. Time this, then extrapolate the time to what it would be for a full turn from port stop to starboard stop. Make sure you have gone thru the previous setup wizard steps before you try this, cause you want to make sure a turn to port is a turn to port and a turn to starboard is a turn to starboard, or you could drive it to port when you are already hard to port. Tweak time as necessary, when you're out on the water.
This is a "preform a tack" variable (+10 and +1 buttons at same time). Only place the AP uses this setting. You have to balance how hard the AP is working and the need to get the boat pointed in a new direction. If you make it too slow the boat stalls while in irons during a tack. If you make it too fast the AP drive overloads and you pop a circuit breaker.
Also used in commissioning...step #4 here:
https://raymarine.app.box.com/s/g4nuab5t3b0gxx8paj9b
Edit: or do you mean the hard over setting? I would think that would effect all operations of the autopilot, as it's used only for a boat that has no rudder sensor (so the autopilot uses it to estimate where the rudder is at all times).
Without a rudder sensor installed, the EV needs to know how many seconds it takes for the motor to drive the rudder from full port to starboard. They suggest timing how long it takes to go 90 degrees and then estimating how much longer it would take to complete the trip to full starboard. I did this by counting the number of wheel spokes that went by during the 90 degree movement while timing the number of seconds it took. Divide spokes into seconds to come up with the rate of movement of the wheel. Its then a mater of manually completing the movement of the wheel to the full starboard position while counting the spokes that passed. Put the math to work and you have the hard-over-time.
Very clever and easy to do.
What this sounds like, to us "old timers", is what used to be called the "response" setting. Since it is easily variable, set something in the middle and work from there.
When I'm sailing in close quarters, I have my response time set to "quick" and when I'm in the ocean, I change it to "slower" so the motor isn't working all the time.
When in doubt, RTFM (F is for FUNNY, Bruce).