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Pelagic control head installation

A

AlanH

compulsive typist
OK team, would y'all mind explaining...pictures are even better... where you have the control unit for your Pelagic autopilot located? I mean the thing where you push buttons to change course and setting, not the "black box" with the internal "brains".

I have an extra washboard for the companionway ready to go, was thinking about mounting it on that.
 
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I think it wants to be mounted vertically. Check with Brian. Also check his website for the installation manual. You can have it rear facing or forward facing. Somewhere reachable from your helming position on either tack is good.
 
Hmm. I thought the control head, the "black box" had to be facing fore or aft and be essentially vertical. I've done that, it's on the bulkhead at the aft end of the starboard quarterberth, facing forward.

I mean the the box (which happens to be black in this version) with the buttons, pictured here.

tiller_wand-300x225.jpg
 
That is a newer looking unit. In the previous version, and probably this one, the box with the display and buttons also contains the accellerometer/gyro, so needs the vertical mount. The black box with no buttons just has the power amplifier ICs to drive the motor, and also the DC/DC converter to power the smart head.
 
AlanH said:
I mean the the box (which happens to be black in this version) with the buttons, pictured here.
Click to expand...

Mine is above the tiller, when not in use, covered from the Berzerkeley elements by a custom lavendar cover by Synthia.
 

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Alan, what David said is correct.
The piece you want to take care to mount vertically and either facing fore or aft is the piece with the buttons.
As he said, it contains the brains of the unit and the gyro/accellerometer chip.
As with any gyro, the closer you can get that to the center axis of motion, the better.
Of course one still needs to be able to reach it, so somewhere in the cockpit is the answer.

I have mine mounted to port of the companionway, basically as far away from the magnetic compass as was feasible.
mounting it in a washboard sounds feasible (I think that's what Bob J did??), provided you can make sure the washboard absolutely does not move independently of the rest of the boat.
A little wobble could get you some big errors, depending on the settings

my .02

DH
 
I have mine mounted like Jackie's (sans lavendar) at the aft end of the cockpit facing forward. Dyslectics like myself need to think before pressing buttons when the box is facing this direction, but I got used to it fairly quickly. Key is to have this box within reach of the tiller and the ram so you can continue to hand steer while adjusting the length of the ram before dropping it on the pin and hitting the "auto" button.
 
My old one was mounted on the transom below the tiller head and somewhat on Starboard side. It really depends on your transom setup. One might need even to fab a wedge shaped adaptor to mount it on a slanting surface. Not too low, you want to minimize immersion.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL0S04jxyps
 
DaveH said:
...mounting it in a washboard sounds feasible (I think that's what Bob J did??), provided you can make sure the washboard absolutely does not move independently of the rest of the boat. A little wobble could get you some big errors, depending on the settings...
Click to expand...

Yep. Several layers of black tape on the ends eliminates the wobble. I like being able to store it below. A single, large drop board goes in its place for locking up the boat. I also wanted it at the front of the cockpit for tacks and gybes.

Bezel Front.JPG
 
Oh boy. Now I done it. I asked Brian for a "forward" facing control head. If I put it in a washboard, it'll be an "aft" facing control head. OK, I think I need to make a little box for the front of the transom and do like Jackie has. Well, except that my cover will be brown because brown is manly don'tchaknow?

Thanks, team, for the clarification. I need to rewire the whole system up to my electrical system anyway.
 
Now, here is an another question,
I purchased this system this year and now starts installing.
The tiller actuator instllation, is the distance has to be exactly 18” from rudder axis to tiller pin?
It could be off a little bit or has to be exact 18”? My tiller drops pretty steep and has to use bracket and have to make a mount to mount the bracket on tiller.
 
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cpt_757 said:
Now, here is an another question,
I purchased this system this year and now starts installing.
The tiller actuator instllation, is the distance has to be exactly 18” from rudder axis to tiller pin?
It could be off a little bit or has to be exact 18”? My tiller drops pretty steep and has to use bracket and have to make a mount to mount the bracket on tiller.
Click to expand...

Under the lavender cover (cleverly made for me by Synthia) is the Pelagic control head itself. There was already a hole there for some distant dysfunctional electronic device, so it seemed a good spot for the control head mount. The brains of the unit are deep in the starboard bowels of Dura Mater, on the backside of the companionway, where all the rest of the electronics rest. Crawling into the transom gains access to all that magic. If you dare.

Maybe this photo will help. The tiny brown and white wires are meant to connect with my wind instruments, which are telltales, and not very responsive.
 

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Harrier's control "box" is mounted on the aft facing vertical panel of the bridge deck. As with other nearby AP control devices, I can manipulate it while standing below, as well as from most anywhere in the cockpit forward of my traveler track, which is mid cockpit.
 
Harrier said:
Harrier's control "box" is mounted on the aft facing vertical panel of the bridge deck. As with other nearby AP control devices, I can manipulate it while standing below, as well as from most anywhere in the cockpit forward of my traveler track, which is mid cockpit.
Click to expand...

As I recall, Sir, the only consideration was that you might hit it with beer cans when you throw the empties out of the cabin. That might affect the warranty.
 
Hi. I'm refitting my Westsail 28 and have a shiny new Pelagic autopilot with spares to install. The boat didn't even have a compass when I bought her, so I'm working with a clean slate. I want to be able to hook up the autopilot to the N2K system to feed wind data to it so I bought an Actisense NGW-1 0183 to N2K converter. Here's the question: Is there someone on the forum that knows what color of wires to hook up between the motor control unit and the Actisense NGW-1? The manuals for each fall short of making it clear enough for me to want to just start hooking wires up. Maybe someone on the forum has this or similar setup or knows a guy who's got a guy.

Thanks!
Byron
Westsail28
 
OK everything is finally mounted properly. The Wildcat has a new tiller, which has an actual pin in it instead of a little bolt head. There's a switch box and an inline fuse. I bought a switch where I can actually tell if the thing is ON or OFF this time. OK, so here we go. Actual Testing. It only took 18 months.
 
A-a-a-annnnnd.... if I hold down the "port' button when I turn it on, it works! It steered part of the way up to Vallejo and from the RYC all the way down to Coyote Point after the Valljo 1-2. I think I need to turn the gain up, tho.
 
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