Raymarine Axiom with EV100 Wheel Pilot

[JSM]

Looking at upgrading my old Autohelm 4000 with a new Raymarine EV100 and adding a Raymarine Axiom chartplotter. The EV100 gives me the option of operating it from a seperate controll head or using the Axiom chratplotter to controll it . Is there any advantage to using a seperate controll head for the autohelm other than loosing controll of the autohelm if the chartplotter goes down ?
Also would appreciate any input on charts. Navionics over raster etc.
Thanks

 

[goldenstate]

Hi JSM,

I am doing the same installation and asked the same question of @ddoles, who has already done the same. Here is his response.

I bought my EV100 wheel pilot kit with Navionics included. I use it on my phone and like it.

-Tom

 

[Christian Williams]

I don't know how, physically, the chartplotter controls the wheel pilot (In terms of menus, buttons to push and so on).

But for me, easy, instant control of the wheel pilot is critical and the P70 control head works very well for that purpose. That's because the wheel pilot is usually engaged, and I am very often pushing the control buttons. That is, alter course 5 degrees right. Now make a 40 degree turn. Ah, 10 degrees left to dodge that paddleboarder. Ah, 130 degrees right for the jibe.

As a practical matter, it is awkward to turn the wheel pilot to standby and bend over to disengage the clutch for every minor course change. Steering by the buttons is just more natural.

Maybe the chartplotter is just as good as the dedicated controller. Don't settle for less if it;s not.

 

[JSM]

Thanks guys. After reading thru the thread linked above it sounds like running the wheel pilot thru the plotter isn't that big of a deal. While I like the idea of having both controllers , I also want to keep the installation at the helm as simple as possible. Will have to take a closer look at the interface on the plotter.
A forrest of hairs to be split here !

 

[toddster]

Pretty much what Christian said. Another option that can work for quick adjustments is a wireless remote control. Not sure if that requires the control head. The third-party one that I have does not. It has a base unit about the size of a deck of cards that wires directly to the SeaTalk bus, anywhere along the line. The beauty is that it works from anywhere on the boat, if you've remembered to put it in your pocket. You can adjust course while working at the mast or on the foredeck, or in the galley. It does take some effort to make sure that the little batteries are always fresh.

 

[goldenstate]

Where on your boats have you all located your actuators and EV1 compasses for your installations? Thank you in advance.

 

[Geoff W.]

I'm following how @GrandpaSteve did it --

EV1 goes above the tilt-out drawer in the galley. Drilled a hole through the rear bulkhead and lead the wire around the "hood" that encapsulates the tilt-out drawer in the lazarette.

ACU-100 is going on the inside wall of the starboard lazarette. Ideally, it would mount on the box directly aft of the trash can receptacle, but that space is taken up by water filters on my boat.

I haven't finished the wiring yet, but I think I need to buy a 9 foot spur cable... you know what... I'll just draw a picture...



After hemming and hawing, I blew some dough on a railmount NavPod and will have the head unit to the side of the existing steel binnacle rail. The "backbone" will go near the ACU-100. The SeaTalk power cable will connect to one of those spur pieces... and the backbone cable will go between the power spur and the backbone-connector in the lazarette.

I realize I forgot to draw the connection from the drive unit to the ACU-100, but that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Christian Williams]

On the 32-3 I put the compass in the head compartment. The P70 control head is on the binnacle on both boats. Teak veneer covers are off in the photos.

E32-3 installation:



E381 installation:

...

 

[GrandpaSteve]

I made this note when I installed my EV-100. It made sense at the time - The way to do it with the supplied cables is to run the backbone cable to the controller location, then connect the seatalkNG tee connection to the backbone cable, connect the spur calble to the tee, then the spur to the controller. Use a blue terminator on the tee and a white terminator on the back of the P70.

 

[goldenstate]

Thank you all.