Mainly because I am cheap and like taking risks.
If something says untested and UAOR I'm in
G
GPS / Sounder Deal
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beene
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2546
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:31 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Ontario Canada, '07 26M, Merc 75 4s PEGASUS
Duane
Sorry, I meant to ask you before, what autopilot are you using?
What should I look for when buying one to make sure it is compatible with the ESC2000? Just that it supports NMEA 183 connections?
I don't suppose you have seen any good deals on one have you?
This getting a BIGGER boat thing gets more expensive every day.
I had my 565 for 11 years and did not need to spend a dime on it, outside of regular MTC of course.
Cheers
G
Sorry, I meant to ask you before, what autopilot are you using?
What should I look for when buying one to make sure it is compatible with the ESC2000? Just that it supports NMEA 183 connections?
I don't suppose you have seen any good deals on one have you?
This getting a BIGGER boat thing gets more expensive every day.
I had my 565 for 11 years and did not need to spend a dime on it, outside of regular MTC of course.
Cheers
G
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tangentair
- Admiral
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:59 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Highland Park, IL ...07M...Merc 50 BF...Mila K
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Duane Dunn, Allegro
- Admiral
- Posts: 2459
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:41 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Bellevue, Wa '96 26x, Tohatsu 90 TLDI and Plug In Hybrid Electric drive
- Contact:
Tangentair,
I think there is a difference between a NMEA hub and just connecting multiple devices to the wires. From what I have read the NMEA signal strength is strong enough to drive up to 3 devices by simply connecting the wires together. I have personnaly connected up 2 devices (my autopilot and Laptop / Pocket PC) to the output from my old GPS with no problems. A NMEA hub is a signal repeater device that amplifies the signal when you have many talkers and listeners. In particular you are quite safe with listen devices like autopilots, computers and VHF's.
I don't know how well a talker device would share with the speed sensor, I haven't had the need to try it. I did do two way from the PC with my old GPS but it didn't have a speed sensor sharing the cable.
Beene,
My Eagle SeaChamp 2000c-DF is connected to my Raymarine SportPilot+ autopilot. I've been very happy with it, but unfortunately they don't make it anymore. I think the Sport Pilot looks particularly good at the Mac pedestal. If you don't look closely you wouldn't even know the boat had an autopilot installed. With it there is no big plastic ring on the wheel and no need to go to a larger wheel to get room for your fingers. It's perfomance has been good. It tracks well using the fluxgate compass but really shines when following a route from the GPS.
Any NMEA183 compliant autopilot should work fine with the SeaChamp. Unfortunately most of todays options will set you back a full boat buck. I picked up the SportPilot a few years back for $600. I made West Marine (who had it in stock) match a Boaters World (who never has anything in stock) advertised price. They grumbled, checked the web, made phone calls to corporate purchasing and eventually did the right thing and matched the price. Just be patient and keep smiling. The savings was well worth my 45 minutes of waiting around.
I think there is a difference between a NMEA hub and just connecting multiple devices to the wires. From what I have read the NMEA signal strength is strong enough to drive up to 3 devices by simply connecting the wires together. I have personnaly connected up 2 devices (my autopilot and Laptop / Pocket PC) to the output from my old GPS with no problems. A NMEA hub is a signal repeater device that amplifies the signal when you have many talkers and listeners. In particular you are quite safe with listen devices like autopilots, computers and VHF's.
I don't know how well a talker device would share with the speed sensor, I haven't had the need to try it. I did do two way from the PC with my old GPS but it didn't have a speed sensor sharing the cable.
Beene,
My Eagle SeaChamp 2000c-DF is connected to my Raymarine SportPilot+ autopilot. I've been very happy with it, but unfortunately they don't make it anymore. I think the Sport Pilot looks particularly good at the Mac pedestal. If you don't look closely you wouldn't even know the boat had an autopilot installed. With it there is no big plastic ring on the wheel and no need to go to a larger wheel to get room for your fingers. It's perfomance has been good. It tracks well using the fluxgate compass but really shines when following a route from the GPS.
Any NMEA183 compliant autopilot should work fine with the SeaChamp. Unfortunately most of todays options will set you back a full boat buck. I picked up the SportPilot a few years back for $600. I made West Marine (who had it in stock) match a Boaters World (who never has anything in stock) advertised price. They grumbled, checked the web, made phone calls to corporate purchasing and eventually did the right thing and matched the price. Just be patient and keep smiling. The savings was well worth my 45 minutes of waiting around.
-
beene
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2546
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:31 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Ontario Canada, '07 26M, Merc 75 4s PEGASUS
Duane
Thanks again.
On an earlier pic of your
I saw what looked like your cabin door at the back of your transom behind your seat. Will that actually fit there? I was looking for ideas to close off the cockpit from the engine noise and keep things like eye glasses in the pit and not in the water.
Did you mod your boat to fit that hatch there?
Looked very nice, and keeps the hatch cover from getting in your way in the cabin.
G
Thanks again.
On an earlier pic of your
I saw what looked like your cabin door at the back of your transom behind your seat. Will that actually fit there? I was looking for ideas to close off the cockpit from the engine noise and keep things like eye glasses in the pit and not in the water.Did you mod your boat to fit that hatch there?
Looked very nice, and keeps the hatch cover from getting in your way in the cabin.
G
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Duane Dunn, Allegro
- Admiral
- Posts: 2459
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:41 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Bellevue, Wa '96 26x, Tohatsu 90 TLDI and Plug In Hybrid Electric drive
- Contact:
What you see is two thirds of my hatch.
I read about many who were able to store their one piece hatch under their helm seat. I tried many approaches to this, tilted different ways, even trimmed off some of the upper corners; but I could never get mine to fit. It seems like there is a fair bit of size variability in the under seat area.
I quickly got tired of having to find a place to store the large panel inside so I cut it into thirds like normal sailboat washboards. I used matching aluminum strips to cover the joints. This made storage much easier.
Later, now that I had some smaller pieces I re-visited the under the seat idea. The angle on the hatchboards is different than the angle on the transom sides so I made some beveled fillers from wood with a groove in it to match the hatchboards shape. This lets me drop in the two largest panels under the helm seat. It does not go all the way to the floor, there is still a gap. Early on I had put some shock cord across this area and I just left it to keep the big stuff in place. The third smallest panel can also be stored under the seat velcroed to the other two.
These pictures aren't the best, the boards fit better than it looks I just didn't pay enough attention before I clicked the shutter.
I also have a fabric panel that came with my Dowsar enclosure that closes in this opening. It does go all the way to the floor sealing the opening. It and the hatchboards can actually both be in place under the seat at the same time. It fits inside the hard panels.
I added fasteners for the fabric panel at the companionway as well. This lets me choose the hard or the soft panel at either end of the cockpit. Most of the time we have the hard hatchboards stored aft under the seat. There are times, at marina's mainly, when we may want some privacy at the companionway but don't want to mess with the hard boards. I can just snap up the fabric transom panel to screen off the cabin quickly without getting the hard panels out.
The fabric panel is also good when you want to seal up some but not all the way. On our first night out a few weeks ago we put in the hard hatch boards and closed the sliding hatch. It was cold and we had our 110v heater turned to low. In the morning we had quite a bit of condensation inside from the 5 of us breathing all night.
On the next two nights I replaced the hard hatchboards with the fabric panel at the companionway. I still slid the top hatch closed. This closed up the cabin enough to keep it nice and comfortable with the heater yet let enough air move that there was no condensation either morning.
I read about many who were able to store their one piece hatch under their helm seat. I tried many approaches to this, tilted different ways, even trimmed off some of the upper corners; but I could never get mine to fit. It seems like there is a fair bit of size variability in the under seat area.
I quickly got tired of having to find a place to store the large panel inside so I cut it into thirds like normal sailboat washboards. I used matching aluminum strips to cover the joints. This made storage much easier.
Later, now that I had some smaller pieces I re-visited the under the seat idea. The angle on the hatchboards is different than the angle on the transom sides so I made some beveled fillers from wood with a groove in it to match the hatchboards shape. This lets me drop in the two largest panels under the helm seat. It does not go all the way to the floor, there is still a gap. Early on I had put some shock cord across this area and I just left it to keep the big stuff in place. The third smallest panel can also be stored under the seat velcroed to the other two.
These pictures aren't the best, the boards fit better than it looks I just didn't pay enough attention before I clicked the shutter.
I also have a fabric panel that came with my Dowsar enclosure that closes in this opening. It does go all the way to the floor sealing the opening. It and the hatchboards can actually both be in place under the seat at the same time. It fits inside the hard panels.
I added fasteners for the fabric panel at the companionway as well. This lets me choose the hard or the soft panel at either end of the cockpit. Most of the time we have the hard hatchboards stored aft under the seat. There are times, at marina's mainly, when we may want some privacy at the companionway but don't want to mess with the hard boards. I can just snap up the fabric transom panel to screen off the cabin quickly without getting the hard panels out.
The fabric panel is also good when you want to seal up some but not all the way. On our first night out a few weeks ago we put in the hard hatch boards and closed the sliding hatch. It was cold and we had our 110v heater turned to low. In the morning we had quite a bit of condensation inside from the 5 of us breathing all night.
On the next two nights I replaced the hard hatchboards with the fabric panel at the companionway. I still slid the top hatch closed. This closed up the cabin enough to keep it nice and comfortable with the heater yet let enough air move that there was no condensation either morning.
Re: GPS / Sounder Deal
I know this is an old thread but I am trying to connect an Eagle 502c iGPS to a speed sensor and an Nmea port connection. The diagrams that Duane Dunn posted are not available to view any more. If available, please repost.
Regards
Regards