Thinking about buying a GPS (Garmin 276C Plus), and then probably an autopilot (Raymarine ST4000) later on. I want to get an autopilot that will work well on my C30 without spending a ton of money; and one that will communicate well with the GPS (for boat and maybe car a on occasion) that I'm thinking about buying. Any input?? - Steve Romero
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gps and autopilot
last spring i bought a garmin 3010c and a raymarine 4000st for my catalina 30. i'm delighted with my garmin and furious with myself for having bought that english piece of junk marked raymarine. one time the autopilot went wild and blew out my whole electric panel. even raymarine said it wasn't the installer's fault, but the unit's. there is no fail-safe circuitry in the unit, so unlike an aircraft autopilot, if it goes out of control, it stays out of control until you manually shut it off. i've heard from others who had this problem, too.
last spring i bought a garmin 3010c and a raymarine 4000st for my catalina 30. i'm delighted with my garmin and furious with myself for having bought that english piece of junk marked raymarine. one time the autopilot went wild and blew out my whole electric panel. even raymarine said it wasn't the installer's fault, but the unit's. there is no fail-safe circuitry in the unit, so unlike an aircraft autopilot, if it goes out of control, it stays out of control until you manually shut it off. i've heard from others who had this problem, too.
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Scott
GPS/WP
I had an ST4000 on my boat that became 'unrepairable'(Raymarine technospeak) and I replaced it with a Simrad WP30 this year. It looks a little odd compared to the ST4000 but the install was only two hours and it plays nice with all my other electronics. No complaints yet, it gets the job done as well as the previous unit but every boat I see around my moorage has the Raymarine units........
I had an ST4000 on my boat that became 'unrepairable'(Raymarine technospeak) and I replaced it with a Simrad WP30 this year. It looks a little odd compared to the ST4000 but the install was only two hours and it plays nice with all my other electronics. No complaints yet, it gets the job done as well as the previous unit but every boat I see around my moorage has the Raymarine units........
Auto
I have the SIMRAD WP30 which came with my boat when I purchased her 3 tears ago and I added the Garmin 176C. I have been very happy with both. They were very easy to install and very easy to link together for the crosstalk capability with each other and my JRC 1000 RADAR. I have no complaints about either.
I have the SIMRAD WP30 which came with my boat when I purchased her 3 tears ago and I added the Garmin 176C. I have been very happy with both. They were very easy to install and very easy to link together for the crosstalk capability with each other and my JRC 1000 RADAR. I have no complaints about either.
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AXEL
Raymarine ST4000
I bought a new Ray ST4000 this season and I couldn't be happier. It works great in all tacks and wind & water conditions. I hooked up the rudder sensor. Yhe main thing that soldme on the ST4000 was the remote flux compass. A big problem with auto pilots is magnetic interferance. I was able to locate the flux compass in a good location and it works great!
I bought a new Ray ST4000 this season and I couldn't be happier. It works great in all tacks and wind & water conditions. I hooked up the rudder sensor. Yhe main thing that soldme on the ST4000 was the remote flux compass. A big problem with auto pilots is magnetic interferance. I was able to locate the flux compass in a good location and it works great!
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Bill
Raytheon/RayMarine works fine
I Installed a Ratheon ST4000 (before their 'plus' version) around 1995 in my 88 Catalina 30 TRBS/Wing Keel and it continues to still work fine after 10 years, never needed any service nor has ever failed me. The instrument head is in my Edson swivel pod on the pedestal, and the flux-gate compass is installed in the quarterberth sette seat's 'bulkhead' starboard side, just below the aft edge of the chart table. My only complaint is I wish the flux-gate compass wire was longer so I could have installed the compass under the draws in the hanging locker. The one thing I did to avoid problems which others were and might be having is to oversize the power wire to the instrument head to prevent any voltage drop. Remember to use the 3% voltage drop table recommendations for the round-trip length and then consider up sizing one more gauge (I went up the pedestal and came out via a hole I drilled therein). Regarding GPS, I have Raymarine's GPS/WAAS RayStar 120 Receiver with their ST50 'Navdata' instrument head in the cockpit with a PC running Raymarine's v 5.1 software at the nav station below. However, it sounds like you want portability, so I can only advise the ST4000+ instrument head can accept NMEA GPS input (I did it with mine via my old Loran), so you should be able to wire most portable units into it via the portable GPS's 'data cable'. hope this helps...
I Installed a Ratheon ST4000 (before their 'plus' version) around 1995 in my 88 Catalina 30 TRBS/Wing Keel and it continues to still work fine after 10 years, never needed any service nor has ever failed me. The instrument head is in my Edson swivel pod on the pedestal, and the flux-gate compass is installed in the quarterberth sette seat's 'bulkhead' starboard side, just below the aft edge of the chart table. My only complaint is I wish the flux-gate compass wire was longer so I could have installed the compass under the draws in the hanging locker. The one thing I did to avoid problems which others were and might be having is to oversize the power wire to the instrument head to prevent any voltage drop. Remember to use the 3% voltage drop table recommendations for the round-trip length and then consider up sizing one more gauge (I went up the pedestal and came out via a hole I drilled therein). Regarding GPS, I have Raymarine's GPS/WAAS RayStar 120 Receiver with their ST50 'Navdata' instrument head in the cockpit with a PC running Raymarine's v 5.1 software at the nav station below. However, it sounds like you want portability, so I can only advise the ST4000+ instrument head can accept NMEA GPS input (I did it with mine via my old Loran), so you should be able to wire most portable units into it via the portable GPS's 'data cable'. hope this helps...
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