Simrad or Comnav autopilot ??

[steveinak]

Getting down to order time so which one do i go for??

 

[Raider Ronnie]

I installed a Simrad in my bhm last year.
LOVE IT !

 

[Frigate]

I have a Simrad in my Duffy and it is finest kind.

 

[CaptDave]

AP

Steve,

I have used both and prefer the Simrad over trhe ComNav and intend to install one myself and most likely go with the AP35.

Respectfully,

Dave

 

[tunaorlater]

What kind of steering do you have on your H&h? I have my second Simrad and happy with it. Never used a Comnav though.

 

[steveinak]

What kind of steering do you have on your H&h? I have my second Simrad and happy with it. Never used a Comnav though.

Hydro Slave with the pump running off the transmission.

 

[Frigate]

Having a limited knowledge of the subject, I have Hydro Slave steering and my pump is on the front end of my Cat. I have not heard of running a pump off the transmission. Is running the pump off the transmission common?

 

[traditions]

Alot of lobster boats are running thier haulers off the transmission.No drive shafts or belts.

 

[tunafishhkg]

Also have simrad that works great. If buying new then it will have a rate gyro. If old unit make sure you have the RC35R or newer compass since downsea affects on our DE needs the better compass more times than not and I do not know what the comnav uses.

 

[Raider Ronnie]

Steve,

I have used both and prefer the Simrad over trhe ComNav and intend to install one myself and most likely go with the AP35.

Respectfully,

Dave

Dave,
I assume your JC is either Hynautic or a Sea Star system like my BHM.
I installed an AP24 system. Had planned on the AP28 but everyone was out of stock with the ap28 head. Plus BOE gave me the best deal I could find. Key is ordering the biggest pump & computer, not so much the 28 or 35 head unit.Not sure the 35 does that much more to justify the higher cost.

 

[steveinak]

Alot of lobster boats are running thier haulers off the transmission.No drive shafts or belts.

Wow running haulers off of the gear?? Never heard of that. I know they are running the Pacer washdown/live tank pumps off of the power steering pumps. My hydro pump runs off the front of the engine, no belt.

 

[BHM31]

I have had the COMNAV 1420 Series in my boat for 4 years now and I’m happy with it. It’s no Simrad but it does what I need and its around 1/3 the cost. I was replacing an existing AP and was able to use the previous pump w/o any issues. I think I paid $900 for the entire system minus the pump. Installation was fairly simple and quick thanks to the pump already being in place. I have it interfaced with a Lowrance GPS and it was an easy interface since all that was needed to connect to the NMEA output/input was some speaker wire. Easy to calibrate , has a good range of settings, tracks good and is fast in most sea conditions. I just go it with the fluxgate compass but you can get an optional Heading Rate Stabilizer which supposedly helps in very rough conditions but I’ve never had the need for it. Unit is simple to operate and if you’re not looking to spend a lot and have a reliable AP w/o all the bells and whistles, COMNAV may be the way to go.

Hope this helps.

 

[steveinak]

I have had the COMNAV 1420 Series in my boat for 4 years now and I’m happy with it. It’s no Simrad but it does what I need and its around 1/3 the cost. I was replacing an existing AP and was able to use the previous pump w/o any issues. I think I paid $900 for the entire system minus the pump. Installation was fairly simple and quick thanks to the pump already being in place. I have it interfaced with a Lowrance GPS and it was an easy interface since all that was needed to connect to the NMEA output/input was some speaker wire. Easy to calibrate , has a good range of settings, tracks good and is fast in most sea conditions. I just go it with the fluxgate compass but you can get an optional Heading Rate Stabilizer which supposedly helps in very rough conditions but I’ve never had the need for it. Unit is simple to operate and if you’re not looking to spend a lot and have a reliable AP w/o all the bells and whistles, COMNAV may be the way to go.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the post and i'll take another look at the comnav's, they are very popular in this part of the world.

 

[WoundUpMarine]

not too sure how the autopilots work for a hydraulic system with a power steering pump run off the engine. is there just a solenoid valve that controls the rudder and bypasses the helm? if so whats an approximate cost to install a system on my boat.

 

[F/V First Team]

Why not use a reversing pump?

Raymarine Marine Electronics - Hydraulic

I run my main hydraulics for the hauler AND the power steering both off my gearbox. I'll look for a picture of the unit

 

[F/V First Team]

The pump stack is over on the right hand side.
Please excuse the condition of my bilge, I was in the middle of a project at the time.

 

[WoundUpMarine]

i have a seperate pump for my hauler and power steering, both run of belts of the front of the engine. the reversing pump just goes in series and just takes over from the helm when engaged? couldnt a 2 way control valve do the same thing and use the pressure made by the power steering pump, or is that what the reversing pump does?

 

[F/V First Team]

You hook it up to a power supply, 12/24 volt depending on which model you get and how your boat is wired, then when you feed information into via your autopilot and rudder position sensor it engages the pump spinning it one way or the other to push your hydraulic fluid through the proper plumbing to move your rudder. Just tee off your existing steering lines.

 

[steveinak]

Here's what i got from the guy in Rockland at Hydro Slave. I wanted to use a hydro valve instead of a steering helm for one of my steering stations so that what the top #400 is the valve number and the solenoid valve was $575.

 

[WoundUpMarine]

so the solenoid valve from hydroslave is just actuated by a autopilot control unit?