Robertson AP300 Autopilot
The guts of Bob is located directly under the pedestal, accessed from either the stbd lazarette or through a hole in the wall of the quarter berth. Just inside the hole from the quarter berth, mounted on the wall is a black box, this is the central control box of the autopilot. Then sitting on a shelf just above there is the hydraulic pump and piston that is directly attached to the steering quadrant. A very thin rod is also connected to the quadrant, this is the rudder direction sensor. This autopilot would steer the boat even if the steering cable were to break. The main cockpit control head is wired directly into this black box, the NavStation control head is daisy chained off the cockpit control head.
Bob can be used to steer a compass course (Display "A" for Automatic mode) where you would fine tune him with the left and right arrow keys and he can also steer a course dictated by information on the SILVA network (Display "N" for Navigation mode). In this mode he would display the cross track error and a representation of the boat on a highway indicating the direction to turn to get back on the road. Bob can also be configured to sail a constant wind angle, however the NMEA sentence it requires is no longer supported and hence SILVA also does not support it. If this is a feature that you really need to have, SILVA has a black box that for $150 you can get this old sentence broadcast on the network.
Bob has a comprehensive installation and user guide located in a white ring binder in the document cabinet on the stbd side of the salon.
Notes:
Bob can be used to steer a compass course (Display "A" for Automatic mode) where you would fine tune him with the left and right arrow keys and he can also steer a course dictated by information on the SILVA network (Display "N" for Navigation mode). In this mode he would display the cross track error and a representation of the boat on a highway indicating the direction to turn to get back on the road. Bob can also be configured to sail a constant wind angle, however the NMEA sentence it requires is no longer supported and hence SILVA also does not support it. If this is a feature that you really need to have, SILVA has a black box that for $150 you can get this old sentence broadcast on the network.
Bob has a comprehensive installation and user guide located in a white ring binder in the document cabinet on the stbd side of the salon.
Notes:
- The control heads have a wheels in the center which can be used for steering the boat and is also used for accessing the set up menus. The arrows also work for steering the boat but there is no way of by passing the wheel device to access the setup menus. Currently the wheel devices are not working, I will endeavor to get them fixed before we sell the boat. Incase I don't and you really need to access the set up menu then here is what you need to do. Inside the unit the wheel device causes two buttons to rhythmically go up and down on a printed circuit board. I am not sure if they were pressure sensitive pads at one point but by experimentation I have found they work well with depressed with metal. The solution is to super glue tiny bits of tin foil to the end of the rubber buttons (Last time I had it apart I could not find any suitable glue hence I performed the required set up changes pressing the pads using tin foil wrapped over a pencil eraser, then replaced the unit with the wheel not working).
- The control head at the NavStation is connected via a home made cable with wires just pushed in the back of a complicated connector. I did not see the point in having a backup unit just sitting in a cupboard when I could try and wire it in and get some use out of it. The unit causes errors on startup and it sometimes takes 5-10 attempts to start Bob before it is happy. If I cannot fix my wiring issue I shall remove the NavStation unit and leave it up to you to either, try again with the hack wiring job, buy a real cable from Simrad Robertson or just leave it in a cupboard as a spare.
Have you read Sailing to Jessica?
"For anyone who wants to grab life with both hands, leap out of their comfort zone, and imagine the possibilities out there; this wonderful debut novel ticks every box. It is part memoir, part exceptional travel adventure (with amazing detail), part love story. After reading this, don't be surprise if you feel just a little tempted to jump on a sailboat." - Christine on Goodreads.com
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