MacGregorSailors.com

You shouldn't have any trouble mounting the compass close to the ladder as long as it's 300 series stainless. As far as I know all the standard Mac hardware is 304. 303, 304, 316 or 17-4 are all essentially non-magnetic, some retain a small amount of residual magnetic properties after being cold worked, but the compass compensation can handle this. If you have any doubt, take a small magnet and see if it sticks. Of course aluminum is no problem.

Come to think of it, my compass is probably about 18" from the battery with no apparent ill effects; compass correction factor is a very acceptable 3 degrees. Not so when I had a stereo speaker within about 15"; compass correction was over 50 degrees. I moved the speaker to get to the current number.

IMO auto tack is only the second most important function of my AP, after holding a course. It's not second by much. It's one of the greatest things ever invented for those who frequently singlehand. Knowing what I know about auto tack, I'd pay $200 extra to get it in a New York minute.

One of the benefits of having the control head on the pedestal which I forgot to mention is, when the AP is on standby, the rudder position indicator serves as a rudder angle indicator visible on the display. Saves you from looking back over the captain's seat to see which way the rudders/motor are pointed.

Yeh Chip I was thinking of mounting it on the pedestal but with the M there is such limited room and I have a chartplotter and depthsounder mounted on top. I felt the next best place was the port side of the companion way. The only sheet I will have there is my topping lift and forward halyard, which is not used much since I have roller furling. The control head is about 1/2" away from the companionway track and fairly high up so it should not be in the way for going forward. One thing I failed to mention is that I got the wireless remote, since the head was going to be so far away from the pedestal.

NautiMoments - when you wired the motor into the LCD display, Which routing did you use?
Did you have to put an extension on the wires?
Per my understanding the length of the motor wires is 15 feet. Was this long enough to reach the Display without a splice or another wire?

Compass, Which one was you planning on installing?
I was wanting one that partly recessed into the bulkhead like the PLASTIMO
Mini Contest Bulkhead Mount Compasses

I think I see a disconnect in the two preceding posts ... compass as in "bulkhead," or as in "fluxgate?" Nonetheless, just a word of warning.

I mounted my recessed nav compass into the exterior port bulkhead. Unfortunately the electrical panel is too close there ... think on it, James.

As for the fluxgate compass, I thought they were best placed low and centered? It's easy on the 26X, maybe less so for the M? ... but same proviso regarding the electrics.

Frank C wrote:I mounted my recessed nav compass into the exterior port bulkhead. Unfortunately the electrical panel is too close there ...

what about the starboard side?
nothing behind that on an X except a void in the head.

Bob T.
"DaBob"
'02X w/ '04 90 TLDI

James, I have a handheld/portable Plastimo compass that has a mounting bracket with it; slots in the back. I have mounted it on the stbd side of the companionway. The thing you have to watch out for is that at certain sail sets the sheets from the traveler come very close to it. You have to take care when mounting the compass. I used 3M double sided tape, very very stong, to hold it in place for the first season to confirm the best location. If the sheets become a issue you could move the bail on the boom aft 6-8". But James if you are using that model of compass I would definitely put it on the stdb bulkhead. Frank is right, the port side puts the compass too close to electrical interference. That is why I put my radio and anything electrical on the port side to keep all electical on one side.

The autohelm head near the electrical has no effect of course. The fluxgate compass for the autohelm is mounted under the front of the cockpit, behind the stairs. This is where madmax has his and I took his lead. Since I have speakers near the inner front side of the fuel lockers (inside) I was able to fish the wires from the pedestal to that location, then from there to behing the electrical panel; temperarily lowered the light to help with get the wires through. This meant no splicing was necessary. A wire fisher from Home Depot or such is worth its weight in gold.

James, I have a handheld/portable Plastimo compass that has a mounting bracket with it; slots in the back. I have mounted it on the stbd side of the companionway. The thing you have to watch out for is that at certain sail sets the sheets from the traveler come very close to it. You have to take care when mounting the compass. I used 3M double sided tape, very very stong, to hold it in place for the first season to confirm the best location. If the sheets become a issue you could move the bail on the boom aft 6-8". But James if you are using that model of compass I would definitely put it on the stdb bulkhead. Frank is right, the port side puts the compass too close to electrical interference. That is why I put my radio and anything electrical on the port side to keep all electical on one side.

The autohelm head near the electrical has no effect of course. The fluxgate compass for the autohelm is mounted under the front of the cockpit, behind the stairs. This is where madmax has his and I took his lead. Since I have speakers near the inner front side of the fuel lockers (inside) I was able to fish the wires from the pedestal to that location, then from there to behing the electrical panel; temperarily lowered the light to help with get the wires through. This meant no splicing was necessary. A wire fisher from Home Depot or such is worth its weight in gold.

NautiMoments - thanks for your reply. I can see where the compass would not need a splice or longer wire if mounted under the cockpit. It comes with a 20 foot cord.

The cord for the Raymarine ST4000 motor is 15 feet. Did you need a splice for this? How was the wiring routed?

James, no splicing or extensions were required. After the wire ran down the pedestal I routed it to my port speaker location (inside the boat, forward vertical face of fuel locker) using a wire snake. I then snaked it to the electrical panel area using the hole for the light to put my hand up and grab the wiring. I routed the rudder sensor that way as well. The only wiring I had to purchase was for sending the NMEA signal from my chartplotter to the autohelm head. Since my VHF radio is below the electrical panel I purchase a SHIELDED cable capable of carring both the NMEA signal from the chartplotter to autohelm head and chartplotter to VHF (3 wire min.).

The compass wiring actually ends up being too long and I tucked the excess behind the seam of the inner liners below the stairs.

I mounted the remote sender on the inside vertical port side face of the chockpit. (hope this makes sense)

I'm still pretty new around these parts. I think the Teleflex hydraulic pilots have to some extent been overlooked. I posted a bit about these over in

MacGregorSailors.com Forum Index -> Modifications
Raymarine Autopilots
Goto page 4
............................................
I really, really dislike the slack/slop in the Teleflex rack & pinion cable steering that came with the M. As a result I'm looking at options.

I'd kinda like to switch to Teleflex Sea Star hydraulic steering
http://ww2.seastarsteering.com/INBOARD/inboard.htm
with aluminum cylinder
http://ww2.seastarsteering.com/INBOARD/inboard.htm
(and perhaps 'power assist')
http://ww2.seastarsteering.com/SPA/spa.htm
and switch to the Ray Marine pilot hyd. pump to drive all that.
http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/Defa ... 7&Parent=5

blanton wrote: ...
I really, really dislike the slack/slop in the Teleflex rack & pinion cable steering that came with the M. As a result I'm looking at options ...

Are you sure the slop is mainly due to the cable drive? Seems to me there's much more slop
in the X-boats linkage and rudder brackets than in the cable system. Hydraulic steering might be
a very expensive answer ... to the wrong question?

I have a stink-pot buddy who complains bitterly about his change to hydraulic steering ... not sure, though, how his issues might apply to our hybrids. But, assuming you're like me, you're gonna chase this idea for a better answer. Search on "all terms" for [ hydraulic steering ] to find a dozen threads, including these two.

Hydraulic steering: "LCB" has converted his Mac to hydraulic ... maybe in the Mods pages too?

Replacement Rotary Steering for 1996 26X: trapeze's Mac had Teleflex Seastar by the PO.

A brief comment on hydraulic steering, then back to the AP. Check out all the sailboats out there, large or small and you will not find hardly any with hydraulic steering. They all use a mechanical connection of some type. Why? Feel. Sailing requires tactile feedback of the loads on the steering system from the rudder back to your hands. This is lost in a hydraulic system.

I found what I think is a great location on a X for an AP compass. The stock cable reached no problem. It runs down from the pedestal under the cockpit, back to the transom, down under the starboard side of the aft berth, under the head, to the aft dinnette seat. This location puts the compass within an inch of dead center side to side, very near center front to back, and very low. Probably the most stable spot in the boat. I did need to cut the cable to make the run, but the AP came with the required gel filled beans just for this purpose. Re-connecting the cable was simple.

Here is the location. You can see the 4 bolts holding it. It is right behind the yellow triangle sticker also included with the AP.

Haven't yet mounted my fluxgate compass but that's one of the 2 spots I've been considering ... the other as Chip described, just behind the X-boat's companionway ladder.

Regarding DD's mounting photo, I also have a fire extinguisher mounted horizontally along that ledge, above DD's compass & below his stowage bin. Would my fire extinguisher (mounted just 2 inches above) interfere with the fluxgate compass?

Frank, thanks for the tip about other possible sources of play in the system. I crawled around under there a bit and played with all the links, but I'll certainly have another look.

Duane, I'm familiar with cable steering and helm feel in sailboats. We are usually refering to a different type of cable steeing there, not what is essentially a cheapo R & P set-up for outboards as is the Teleflex.. I'm not sure that a lot in "feel" comes through the mac set-up, particu;ar;y for those without outboard disconnect. My M came with the BWY disconnect.

I've had hydraulic steering in two other boats. In some boats it will feel too stiff and warants power steering. An interesting option with the Teleflex stuff is the 'power assist'mode which leaves your 'conventional' hyd. steering intact when turned off.

Or here