Tillerpilots - need advice

Gents what is still available and what is good.
It seems that there are only 2 types freely available
Raymarine ST1000 or Simrad TP10

Is this the only real choice that we have left in this world?
I am not interested in some obscure Chinese no name brand

I would like to know what have you got or used
how often is it used and how old is it

these things are expensive in my country with crazy import duties and it seems like Raymarine are the only ones left here with some kind of after sales service

what say you

 

Manie, the reason there are only a few is because the crap has been whittled away, survival of the fittest remember.

Tiller pilots have limited use, but they certainly work well on lightweight, balanced helms OK. I have also set them up on trim tabs of wind steered autopilots with very good success.

 

Expensive gear used by the Oceanic racers.

http://www.nke-marine-electronics.c...68:gyropilot&id=24:gyropilot-verin-electrique

 

Mamie,

I have used the st1000 quite a lot. I have really pushed it, using it on a 40' racing sailboat (a trip 40), and while it wasn't really happy it did give five years of good service without a problem. On a lighter loaded boat I think it would have been much better, and a lot of the problems we had wouldn't have been a problem.

Things like pins bending, high electrical use, ect...

But again this was on a boat that far exceeded the rated range, generally in a highly unbalanced configuration (exclusive use on deleviries).

 

other choices?

Are there other choices? I wouldn't mind a "cheap" imitation. I have two dead pilots from the big guys and having torn several apart, they are not very "special" on the inside- and not very waterproof either. Neither one of the big two support their older products very well so a Chinese one might just do better. They are making most of our electronics anyway. IMO, a basic auto pilot should be at least as smart as a cheap, GPS enabled cell phone. B

 

If you are only looking for an actuator, then there are plenty of industrial linear servos around, which I'm sure would meet your needs. A simple PIC & MOSFET driver circuit should not be too hard to produce to take the NMEA commands (0183 I'm guessing) and convert to the appropriate drive signal.

Autopilots are undoubtedly the most heard of electronic part being replaced on yachts. It should be fairly simple to size it so that it doesn't break, but apparently no-one bothers.

Cheers,

Tim B.