Last thing to do was to wire up the brains of the system, the AC12. First, I installed it on a bulkhead near the breaker panel, safe inside the (hopefully dry) cockpit. Then, I hooked up the wires temporarily to… Continue reading
The DD15 is the muscle of the autopilot system. It’s a unit that attaches to the rudder and moves it according to the autopilot computer. The first thing to do was figure out where to stick it. I decided in… Continue reading
Heading indicator, electronic compass, same thing. Basically it figures out what way the boat is facing and can interface with other instruments to provide MARPA data (where my radar tracks targets) and radar overlay. And, most importantly, sends heading data… Continue reading
After a couple of… hairy solo excursions in stronger wind, I bumped an autopilot up to the top of my list. Now, being a 36′ foot with a wheel, there were two main types of options. An above-floor ‘wheel pilot’ like http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=380… Continue reading