"Sub $600 Autopilot" Progress

[BOAT]

I wish i were as smart as Victor - there are SO many gadgets i would like to have that do not exist right now for the MAC -

electric solenoid valve on the forward ballast tank vent: http://www.zorotools.com/g/00062230/k-G2477474


I got the solenoid valve. I can't blow air in on one side, but I can blow air in on the other side. On the side where I can't blow air in when i put voltage to it I can blow air through it. I geuess it can only seal air going in one direction, but not the other direction. I assume it must be a floating valve that slams over to the other side when energized.

I need to think about this one:
If I mount it one way, it can't blow air out of the ballast until I hit the electric and then it will open up and let air pass, but it CAN suck air INTO the ballast when it's OFF or ON in that configuration.
If I mount it the other way it will not let air INTO the tank unless I hit the electric, but it will let air (or water) OUT of the tank when it's ON or OFF.

I don't know if that's good or not - I need to think about it before I install it because I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer so it's going to take me a while to figure out.

I guess my fear is that water will leak out when I heel over real hard. (?) I'm also not sure that it lets the air pass fast enough - I'm going to go back to that website and see if they have a 1 inch or even 1-/12 inch - I think the air flow when filling the tank is important. (I think?)

The prices on the valves are great! (thanks Matt!) so I don't care if I have to buy three or four of them to get to the right one.

[mastreb]

BOAT--let's grab a beer and go over exactly what you want to do. Worst case is that two of those valves back-to-back will give you positive control of air-flow both directions (i.e., the direction that they "slip" should be between both valves).

But I do want to figure out what you're intending to do with the gate valve, and we have to make sure the valves can tolerate taking on some bilge water as well. Safety first, after all!

[BOAT]

Hey, I never even thought about using two valves - what a great idea, (that's what smarts get's you). Anyways, the beer sounds like a even better idea.

I am going to route the ballast vent up into the anchor locker today. I already have the hose installed, and I am installing the thru hull fitting in the chain locker right now for the hose.

When i am done, I will have a straight line vented ballast tank that vents into the chain locker - so 1/2 of the job will be done. The next step is deciding if I need to shut down that vent tube altogether - I assumed it was important because the factory has us putting a rubber stopper in the hole, so I assumed the vacuum seal was important, but I really don't know, so my intention was to have a ball valve right at the ballast hole where the hose comes out so that I could effectively seal the tank tight. I don't even know if that is necessary, but that's what I was sort of shooting for.

I had a ball valve installed there before because ball valves have no restriction. But try to buy an electric ball valve in a 3/4 inch size - they are very expensive and I was holding up on this job before I spend 300 bucks on a ball valve, but then you came up with that gate valve for 30 bucks and i said, "hey! That's so cheap I'll try it! I can't loose even if it does not work because it's so cheap!" So I ordered the valve and started the hose job and now that I have the valve I'm trying to decide which way to install it since it's a one way thing, (or weather or not to install it at all).

I still don't know if I really even need a valve on that line. (I'm just assuming)

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Just got back from 4 days of "testing" in the Northern Keys. The A/P performed very well. It was the first time I had tried doing some non straight line GPS route following and the unit turned onto the new heading very nicely. I did have some issues with transferring my routes from PC using Homeport software to the Garmin GPSMap 546s that I got about a year ago. I've researched it some and it looks like at least part of my problem is using data files that have names which are too long. So, I'm working on debugging that before I make my next cruise, hopefully a week from tomorrow. This btw is one of the best features of an autopilot...GPS route following. I like to study the marine charts and Google Earth pictures in a place I've never been to and then I have some degree of familiarity once I arrive for real. This is what I plan to do when going to the Everglades 10,000 islands and Cape Romano cruise next week, so I need to get all these route issues solved by then.

[mrron_tx]

Great news Dimitri Glad to hear Y'all had a good trip,and that the ap did well. I know a lot of Us are waiting for the production to start. Happy New Year....And great sailing. Ron, Dauntless.

[BOAT]

I wish i had captain Victor's auto pilot on 'boat'. Thanks to an electric ball valve I ordered for the ballast I will pretty much have the entire operation automated except the steering. I'm just waiting for the steering equipment to be available from Victor before I mount any controls for my electric valves and the electric traveler (I'm still working on) because I do not want to mount anything in the wheel house that is going to get in the way of Victor's auto pilot.

I can't wait to get it.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I just got back from another 4 day trip to Southern Florida (10,000 Islands area) and this time got all my courses properly programmed in the GPS ahead of time. So I had the A/P following courses with turns which is one of the greatest features of a A/P IMO. But I did figure out that there was no indication on the GPS to warn before a turn. Apparently, this is not the default on my 546s though so when cruising from Picnic Key to Panther Key last Saturday, there was about a 100 degree turn from West to North that caused a gybe in the SE wind. Winds were not that strong so it was no big deal and I was watching for it anyways. When I told Victor about it, he found that Garmin has a configurable option so next time I'll try to change the setting so that the GPS can issue a warning before sending the turn to the AutoPilot. I'm not sure, but I thought my old Garmin 176C was set to give that warning by default.

[BOAT]

Any word on when we can bu an auto pilot too?

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I know Victor is currently working on assembling production boards but he will have to answer that question.

[mastreb]

So I've done a fair amount of mods to my boat to improve performance. Nothing has improved it as much as an autopilot. Totally resolves all helm and sail handling issues by simply being consistently on a course, more than a helmsman could possibly be on these boats. Installing an autopilot suddenly made me as good a sailor as I had been when I was skippering a tillered keel boat.

I would get an autopilot before I got a motor on these boats.

[cptron]

So I've done a fair amount of mods to my boat to improve performance. Nothing has improved it as much as an autopilot. Totally resolves all helm and sail handling issues by simply being consistently on a course, more than a helmsman could possibly be on these boats. Installing an autopilot suddenly made me as good a sailor as I had been when I was skippering a tillered keel boat.

I would get an autopilot before I got a motor on these boats.

I agree its the best mod ever. It's like having another crewmember that is a better sailor than I and I don't have to share any of my beer.

[BOAT]

I wish I had one.

[DaveB]

I have a new Deluxe 1300 Yamaha motorcycle I bought in March. Came with a Garmin Zumo 665 LM GPS built in. It is also portable with built in battery and has many mounting kits for Auto, Boat etc. in the box with charger cable.
This is best unit Garmin makes and with Chart chip or download from Garmin Web site, best Navigation GPS on the market for it's size.
Will tell you every turn by voice when you program it.
Upgrades are free for life.
Easy to interface with autopilot.
I use it on my bike, truck and boat. Still working on the charts on it.
Dave

So I've done a fair amount of mods to my boat to improve performance. Nothing has improved it as much as an autopilot. Totally resolves all helm and sail handling issues by simply being consistently on a course, more than a helmsman could possibly be on these boats. Installing an autopilot suddenly made me as good a sailor as I had been when I was skippering a tillered keel boat.

I would get an autopilot before I got a motor on these boats.

[vkmaynard]

Production electronics. Final control box size 4" x 4" x 1.85"

Shown with beta wiring for continued testing.

Delivering to Bill P this afternoon.

Still have software work to complete.

Victor

[Obelix]

Good news, Victor.
When will you start accepting orders or downpayments?

Obelix