"Sub $600 Autopilot" Progress

[BOAT]

Victor, can I get the motor housing and stuff for the pedestal yet? I want to start on the modifications to my steering - I think I need to reverse the setup of my wheel rack to make it work with the motor housing for the AP. That part should not matter while your working on the software and electronics, right?

Is there any way I can get started on the motor mount and getting my steering cable going in the right direction? (That's the only part of this mod I am dreading, the steering cable changeover - I would like to get it over with.)

Thanks
m

[vkmaynard]

We are still making some of individual parts for the final assembly.

The change over won't take long. Ask Ron. We will use Ron as a poster child for the video manual.

Thanks,

Victor

[DaveB]

Victor,
After 6 years, I hope I am still on the waiting list.
I haven't bought the higher consel yet to allow your system to work.
Waiting for the product.
Dave

Not us. We reserved maritechnavigation.com

Plus the chairman has more hair than I do.

Victor

[cptron]

Victor, can I get the motor housing and stuff for the pedestal yet? I want to start on the modifications to my steering - I think I need to reverse the setup of my wheel rack to make it work with the motor housing for the AP. That part should not matter while your working on the software and electronics, right?

Is there any way I can get started on the motor mount and getting my steering cable going in the right direction? (That's the only part of this mod I am dreading, the steering cable changeover - I would like to get it over with.)

Thanks
m

Changing the steering over is the easy part. The hardest part is getting your hands in the tiny space to assemble and install parts. If you need more info on changing over PM me and I will get more detailed about it. I can understand if you want to wait and get into the column only once for this project. However I have been in mine so much now that I can completely disassemble and reassemble in less than an hour. So don't sweat the small stuff. I have seen more time consuming and difficult mods on this board than Vic's auto pilot.

[Gypsea Wind]

As I have only had this boat for just over a year now, I have not had the opportunity or need to open up the helm station yet. Does a 2013 M have the right steering guts for this awesome sounding AP? I not sure what all the different types of steering systems are. We got ours new from BWY. It was one of the last Macs.

I am interested in being added to "the list".

Thanks,

Bryan and Kim
Gypsea Wind

[BOAT]

'boat' is a 2013 MAC

[mrron_tx]

The AP requires the rack & pinion steering......right ???? 2011M here. Ron.

[BOAT]

Yeah, we all have the rack and pinion - the deal is that the "rack" inside the pedestal is on the port side on a 2011 M boat but that same "rack" is on the STARBOARD side on the 2013 M boat - (or something to that effect - that is a loose definition of the issue).

SO, the worm gear motor that Captain Victor uses to turn the wheel needs to mount opposite of the rack - or something like that (you get the picture) I can't explain it,

Anyways, "Rack" and pinion on one side in some boats, "Rack" and pinion on the OTHER side in some boats. Don't ask me why I just work here. the dealio is that to mover your rack to the other side means reversing the direction of the pinion travel because the cable has to come out of the bottom of the "rack" - there is not enough room to swing the "rack" over to the other side alone - you must also turn the rack the other way so the cable is pointing DOWN and not UP.

That means the cable is now PUSHING when it was PULLING - so the only way to fix that is to go down inside the transom and throw the cable over to the other side when it connects to the rudders. Many M boats already HAVE the cable on the other side depending on the year of the boat.

My main interest in the Captain Victor autopilot is that it is contained within the pedestal, is quiet, and uses less power than the ram pilots. The disadvantage of the Captain Victor pilot is that it may not have all the software stuff to make your boat sail based on input from a wind indicator and stuff like that - but those are upgrades that can be added later. That is a small disadvantage that is correctable eventually.

The Ray Marine units and others have huge software packages that can make you boat sail all by itself based on the wind direction and really that is the only advantage to those units but that type of cruising is really for long distance travel and that means you need a power source because those units will empty the battery in a day. (Which is rather ironic that a long distance AP drains your battery in only a day's travel). The reality of the MAC M boat is that it is a coastal cruiser and in most cases you don't need an AP for more than a day and if your not cruising that far why bother with changing course based on the wind??? In a short distance that just means you will miss your destination. So, if you need a straight line from point A to Point B and it's only 20 miles away a straight line will work just fine. And like I said, LATER there can be software upgrades to include input from a wind indicator - if not from MARITECH then from savvy entrepreneur like mastreb who could sell such a package if he desired.

I would by no means expect Captain Victor to offer the finished product at 600 bucks; it really should be 1200 to 1500 bucks like all the other competing units less the wind software package. Whatever the cost for the wind indicating software could be subtracted from the price to be added as an upgrade later. Whatever the price ends up to be I think it would be a better unit for us occasional cruisers. Really - if you want to sail to Hawaii or cross oceans I recommend a wind-vane autopilot like we all used in the 70's - otherwise your gonna need a generator no matter what electric AP you get. (Solar does not work in a storm).

The main bang for the buck is the compact size and quiet operation. Just what we MAC owners need.

I wanted to flip the steering in preparation for the AP but I am afraid to do anything until I can get a better idea of the time frame of the units production and a better idea of how the whole thing fits in the Pedestal. I hate doing it all at the last minute, (there are always "issues" I never considered), but sometimes that's the only way.

[Wayne nicol]

dont know how many on the list now- but just got back from a 6 day excursion, and finally realized that the ap would be an awesome addition-

please put me on the list- boats post really sold me on the ap, low battery consumption, compact, and simple( well simple for the user that is )
thanks

how many on the list to date- just out of interrest??

[mrron_tx]

Ahhh...The list..... All I know for sure , is We want to be on it... I didn't know some 's rack & pinion steering were reversed Oh well... I learned something new today . Ron.

[mastreb]

The problem with a wind indicator on a Mac is the rotating mast. I've had a Maretron wind instrument for three years now that I run awkwardly off of an 10' antenna pole mounted to the bow pulpit because there's just no good way to mount a mast-top instrument, and if its not mast-top, then the sails interfere with its readings and its not accurate. I have it on an antenna rail mount and usually just take it off.

I mount it in the front because the inaccurate reading is when going downwind, when you just don't need it. If you put it after, it's inaccurate when you're pointing which is when you need it most.

Really high-end chartplotters like the B&G Zeus Touch and Simrad NSS units can take a "mast-angle sensor and use it to modify the apparent wind coming from a mast-top wind unit. You'd rig a rudder angle indicator next to the mast and have that sender calibrated to the chartplotter, which can also run an NMEA 0183 autopilot unit which I believe Vic's unit will be compatible with. But that's a $2000+ chartplotter, and all that rudder angle stuff is going to complicate the hull out of trailering.

Honestly the wind instrument just hasn't been worth the bother and I run the autopilot without it. A windex is all you need.

[kurz]

The problem with a wind indicator on a Mac is the rotating mast.

Hello
Aren't there solutions for ratating masts like sailtimmer and pegasus? And third why not install an easy system to block the mast for ratating when a standard windvane should be used?

For my concern it would be great to use an AP with windvane.

Its great for singlehanding, even if you use it just for a short time to go down etc. There where I am living the winds are turning all time! ...

So my question: Does Vics AP work with windvanes????

[mastreb]

Aren't there solutions for ratating masts like sailtimmer and pegasus? And third why not install an easy system to block the mast for ratating when a standard windvane should be used?

For my concern it would be great to use an AP with windvane.

Its great for singlehanding, even if you use it just for a short time to go down etc. There where I am living the winds are turning all time! ...

So my question: Does Vics AP work with windvanes????

Neither the sailtimer nor the pegasus unit >actually exist<, meaning that they're between revisions and aren't orderable or available. They're also a rather complicated solution compared to just having the chartplotter do the math.

Only Vic can indicate whether his initial software release will do weathervaning. If I'm not mistaken he will have an NMEA 0183 interface which will allow for true wind to be sent to the autopilot, and from there it's a "simple matter of software".

If I were making up things for Vic's autopilot to do, I'd put an NMEA 2000 interface on it that could take input from a rudder position indicator mounted to the mast to do the true wind math itself. This would solve a long-standing problem on Macs.

But software is hard, and NMEA 2000 doubly so because the standard is expensive.

[Ixneigh]

I want to be on the list too.
Ix

[BOAT]

Maybe on the MAC instead of weathervaning the AP it might be better to just put a tilt switch on the mainsheet? Too much heel releases the main by a few degrees. I would love something that would also pull the main back in if the tilt goes too close to zero.

To me that would be more effective than weathervaning on a MAC. In my mind I can only think to design somthing that uses a rechargable drill motor but guys like Victor and Matt who know robotics and motion control and software can make something much better.

I wish I had those skills, I would like to motorize the mainsheet AND the traveler.