"Sub $600 Autopilot" Progress

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I believe Victor has already applied for patents so that is effectively "copyrighting" it.

Very nice data analaysis charts Vic, I can't wait to help test the new units. By effectively licking the overcurrent issues with the new mechanical and electronic advantages, I believe that was the remaining tangible obsticle to overcome in order to get past the hump so to speak and start moving downhill towards production. And I believe that this is the "fantastic news" being referred to lately in this thread too.

Folks, I also think that although all these detail points mentioned, like quiet operation, built in remote with target heading (this really is a huge improvement over Raymarine for those of us geeks who like to understand exactly what an A/P is "thinking"), fully enclosed installation, etc are fantastic, really the biggest fundamental advantage of this unit is that it is being designed and produced by one of our own....a guy who loves to sail and tinker with his Mac powersailor. There is no way that you will ever get that sort of dedication, brand specific knowledge and customization out of a large company like RayMarine, Garmin, or insert blank who is trying to blanket a much larger market. Good luck even finding one of their engineers to talk to.

And regarding price, it wouldn't be the first time that a small business set out to do something and then realized that the costs were much higher than originally anticipated...and you also get what you pay for. I wouldn't want Vic to put a smaller motor in to save 50 bucks for example..especially when my last Raymarine unit burned up because I used it for 8 hours straight on a typical warm Florida day (not even summer btw). I have tested Vic's autopilot several times now on very long cruises...like just last month when I posted the Skyway pics. I have a cutout in my panel so I can touch the motor, and even after operating for multiple hours, the motor is still cool as a cucumber to the touch. On my sportpilot, you could have fried an egg on it after that. So lets keep things in perspective here...go to Amazon and look up the new sportpilot, it is about $2100 and that doesn't even include a remote that you could take into the cabin to drive the boat on a rainy day!

[mrron_tx]

Dimitri : Thanks for that update and info I believe You hit the nail on it's head with Your opinion of the fantastic news As far as cost goes.... I'm willing to pay for what I get....as long as I get what I pay for. I believe This AP will be worth waiting for and paying for Also since My great loop trip has been pushed back until next year....the wait is a minimal concern....it actually gives Me more time to make sure all the other mods I copied from a lot of the great Folks on here work well together....Many thanks to Y'all btw Ron. Dauntless.

[wbpenney]

I totally agree with Dimitri. The detail, time, and testing that has gone into this as a part time project, trying to eliminate all possible problems has been mind-boggling. The project regardless of the end price so far has been more successful then I thought it would be. I have been testing the original autopilot for well over a year now and I am happy to say that the only time the hardware has been removed, which was last week, was to change the pulley ratio.

[Ixneigh]

I'm thinking about a fighter style sliding canopy instead of the factory sliding hatch, in anticipation of using the remote while operating in wet weather
Ix

[Russ]

I'm thinking about a fighter style sliding canopy instead of the factory sliding hatch, in anticipation of using the remote while operating in wet weather
Ix

Why not just use a dodger?

[March]

Dimitri: I have all respect and admiration for Vic's accomplishment and his thorough testing and elaborate dedication to get all the bugs out of the system before he brings it to the market. I fully agree with you: given the option to buy a product developed by a fellow Mac Sailor or one put together on a conveyor belt, supporting the former is the better, more rewarding choice. However, there are still a few issues with your reasoning:

Firstly, both you and wbpenny already enjoy the benefits of the A/P. Naturally, you are going to sing praises to it, and you'd pooh-pooh the raymarine products that Vic's A/P has replaced. Anybody (including myself) would do that: I replaced my old Johnson engine with an E-TEC and am very satisfied with my choice; the Johnson's shortcomings suddenly became obvious, in retrospect. Until the E-TEC broke down, that is.

I also agree that the Raymarine support is oftentimes deficient and no engineer who designed their sportpilot is likely to chat with you on the phone and offer their specialized support. However, when my TackTick wind sensor went bad, after Raymarine acquired the company, the Raymarine support staff replaced the faulty unit at no cost, even though I was technically out of warranty. Wonder if a private business owner like Victor is likely to do that. On the other hand, the extensive testing that may be so irksome for those who wait in line is designed to prevent such problems. I'd be fine with relying on it, along with the hope in the "neighborly support" that a fellow Mac user is likely to offer, if need be, but other people may not be so understanding.

"You get what you pay for." That doesn't make any sense: weren't you arguing that the sportpilot is not as good as Victor's, even though it's $2100.00? You obviously don't get what you care to pay for when it comes to Raymarine. But it makes sense to bump up the price of the S/P which started as a "sub $600 autopilot" taken into account the extensive testing, tweaking, adjusting, double-checking, replacing a motor with a slightly more expensive but much more reliable unit, etc etc.... Each delay justifies a higher price--which I am cool with. You get what you can afford and are willing to pay for--when and if it's available.

It would be nice to know what kind of "waiting list" there is (if any) before Victor is moving "downhill towards production" This is an important aspect that might not be relevant to those who already have a unit and are testing it, but it sure is to those who don't. A lot of discussion on this thread is evidently related to people's conscious or subconscious efforts to jockey for a privileged position, at the head of the list. But is it really necessary for the successful marketing of this product?

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Hey March, I guess I need to respond to some of your points. Certainly I have no idea what Raymarine's pricing model is, how much is cost, how much is profit, etc. My statement about getting what you paid for was really more geared towards a comparison of what Vic might be able to build for 600 bucks versus what it may cost to build a better unit. It wasn't meant at comparing Raymarine to Maritech. I've owned two Raymarine units, a wheel pilot and a sport pilot. Both worked reasonably well, the sportpilot had no display whatsoever so there was no telling which way you were going other than the visual horizon indication and boat compass, etc. No such things as autotack, remotes, etc. For this reason the sportpilot was more idiot proof, but I enjoyed using the wheel pilot more since at least it did have a control head with a display..and I'm the type who likes to see that kind of data. Now regarding the support, I installed the new wheel pilot myself in an O'Day 272 LE and it worked without problem for several years until I sold the boat...the only real downside was the high pitched squeel the motor made. The sport pilot already came in my 3 year old 26x and because the PO did not shelter the A/P from the elements, it wasn't working and the control stalk had rotted off due to the U/V exposure. Right there, another advantage of Vic's helm mounted equipment, its better protected from the elements. But anyway, Raymarine was cool, they charged me 200 bucks to totally rebuild the thing and then it worked fine for another 6-7 years until it overheated and fried. Now I tried to call Raymarine again and get a rebuild but they no longer supported the old sportpilot, so, my investment was down the toilet basically, they wouldn't even give me a discount on a new unit..which I found to be bad business really. So, my Raymarine support experiences have been mixed...great in 2003, terrible in 2010, and nowhere near what you experienced. This in fact is likely one of the reasons that Vic picked me to be a beta tester, because I have about 14 years experience with Raymarine units and can give him honest comparisons between the two.

Now what kind of support will Vic provide on the unit? Well, he would have to answer that question, but I can't imagine him not properly supporting the unit. And as for waiting list, I don't know the answer to that either, but like with everything, if the demand does overwhelm the supply at first, then I suppose there will be a waiting list. So I certainly can understand your frustration in that respect and I'm certainly in the camp that keeps talking to Vic about deferring the corner case development and getting a unit out as quick as possible that can do the basic functions well. But its also Vic's name on the thing so you can't blame him for wanting to have a certain level of development quality before he puts it out in production. I don't think there is any jockeying for position going on that is part of the successful marketing, its just that there are a lot of curious people here who want to know what is going on. The fact that 1.5 years of beta testing has led to some major improvements is also something that seems pretty normal in the development of a high tech gadget like this and I'm sure that Vic would like to get it out as quickly as he can while also maintaining an acceptible level of quality. And really, I have no idea where the price will end up at but its certainly going to be a lot less than its competitors while still having all the aforementioned improvements over the competitors.

[Don T]

Hi Victor,
Just a little query as to progress. I'm in a heavy maintenance / modification mode this summer now that our health issues have improved.
SO, how's it going Victor, any chance this summer?

Thanks,
Don T.

[vkmaynard]

We've been steadily ordering materials and parts for a limited run now late this season.

Motors, belts, servos and emergency release placards in hand. Compass order next week. Parts progressing.

New remote overlay and box labels finalized and ordered tomorrow. We took a vote on the two layouts. The graduated blue won but we are still going to order some of each. Probably mostly black due to the visibility. The buttons will be ring embossed with possible back-lighting (very expensive $1450 for 50 units due to tooling and setup cost). The final remote case will be yellow.

Finalizing software. Final PCBs (main control unit, remote control, compass and hall sensor PCBs) hopefully ordered in the next two weeks. We have a local quick-turn shop.

Very time consuming.

Victor

[SENCMac26x]

Vic,

Do you already have someone working to create documentation materials? (Setup guides, instructions, trouble shooting, etc?)

[vkmaynard]

Not yet.

Victor

[BOAT]

Looking good. "Maritech" - that's a pretty good name.

[kurz]

Looking good. "Maritech" - that's a pretty good name.

http://www.maritech.com/people
... ???

[vkmaynard]

Not us. We reserved maritechnavigation.com

Plus the chairman has more hair than I do.

Victor

[mrron_tx]

Thanks for the update Victor Dauntless and I will continue to patiently wait in the background for the release date Ron. Dauntless.