[C320-list] autopilot

[Jeff Church]

Koen,

I installed the MKII this spring, replacing a broken 4000+. I spoke to Raymarine about the S1. They said that the programming in the S1 control head might be a little better, something like 5% better in a following sea. That didn't seem to be worth the price, but I doubt that any of the usual boating outfits will have any 4000s in stock.

As to the installation, since the wires and compass were already in place some of the work was already done for me, but there still was a lot of tweaking to do.

The wheel drive did not fit without lowering the engine instrument pod. That wasn't very difficult. Remove 2 nuts inside the pod, scrape away the caulk on the aft tube, slide the pod down an inch, drill 2 new holes in the back of the pod, caulk the old holes and re-caulk the tube.

If you want the clutch lever in the 5 o'clock position where it always used to be located, you will need to drill a new locator hole in the forward ring of the drive unit, drill a hole in the pod to reposition the engine stop cable outboard about 3/4", and plug the old hole with a snap-in plastic button. It would be easier to just install the drive with the clutch in the 10 o'clock position which is the way it is installed on all the newer boats. I think that position is less convenient to reach, and my wiring was already routed out the starboard binnacle tube. Another reason to consider the 5 o'clock position is that you will need to drill a hole in a tube and fish out the wire to the drive unit. You might want to drill that hole into the empty tube on the starboard side instead of taking a chance of tearing up an existing wire in the port tube.

Room is tight in the binnacle tube, stuffing more wires up there is tough to do. 

The biggest pain is fabricating a mount for the rudder sensor. I've seen a few good solutions. I can send some pictures of them  to your email address if you want.

Good luck.

Jeff  
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Koen Bennebroek 
  To: C320-List 
  Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 11:04 AM
  Subject: [C320-list] autopilot


  I'm considering adding an autopilot to Big Cat. Most Catalina's I've  
  seen use the ST4000 or the MKII. It seems that both have been  
  discontinued and replaced by the S1.
  Apart from the rudder transducer, is there a difference between the  
  models? Is there a reason to choose the S1 over the older models?
  Also, how hard is the install? I assume all of this can be done while  
  the boat is in the water?

  Thanks, Koen
  (Big Cat, 1995, #224)