[C320-list] EV-100 install on early 320

[Troy Dunn]

Peter

Wheel pilot is fine for the upper Chesapeake.  If you plan to
circumnaviagte Delmarva then below deck might be the ticket, especially if
other ocean going adventures are in your future.  Below deck is better and
provides you a back up if you have steering cable or gear failure.

We installed the wheel pilot only without RPS.   So far it has worked well,
but I am contemplating upgrading to add the RPS.  The nice thing is you
don’t have to do that right away so if you do go with the wheel pilot you
can always try that out and add the RPS later...there’s no penalty for
installing it later.

Our pilot head is mounted in a Navpod along with wind and tridata.   We
have our chart plotter mounted in a separate Navpod below the three
instrument pod.

You want the compass mounted as close to the centerline as possible.   Ours
is mounted beneath the port setee on the bulkhead just about even with the
mast.  The computer is also mounted there.   Our boat is all Raymarine so
we have Seatalk to Seatalk NG converter behind the DC panel and another in
the pod.  Using all Raymarine means that all the devices are pretty much
plug and play.   We can display everything on the chart plotter.  Our chart
plotter can control our autopilot and talk to iPads and iPhones which is
nice for steering the boat from beneath the the dodger on those long Sunday
rainy slogs home from Rock Hall to HdG with wind on the nose.  All of this
is, like the autopilot, .completely unnecessary, but it does make cruising
a tad more comfortable.

If you DIY you will have to pull cable to and thru the pedestal guard and
reseal that.   Getting the guard drilled with a large deburred hole is a
challenge.  We opted for help on the install because of that.

Troy Dunn
Hull #514