Looks great Sean! Saw on the blog you guys "enjoyed" that ridiculous bog of weeds and plastic at the last lock on the dismal, I could barely get through it. Hope your voyage is going well and in warmer waters. (Ps, in your honor I have been lifting anchor exclusively of sail power since we crossed paths ;)
Why not hook up to windvane? Wouldn't it be less effort for the motor? I have a couple of salvage tiller pilots and am happy to give your ideas a try.... just sharing what some fellow Pacific Ocean voyagers showed me regarding attaching the tiller pilot to the wind vane to steer the tiller to reduce the effort of the components.... think gearing!?
Um, probably because the whole point of using a windvane is to steer the boat without needing an autopilot. The advantage of the windvane is that it doesn't use any power at all. The disadvantage is that the windvane steers a course relative to the wind, whereas with an autopilot you can steer a magnetic course or courses driven by a route planning program like the OpenCPN.
Oh Great DIY, Guy; The Tiller to Windvane theory of operation is that the tiller pilot steers to a magnetic (GPS in your mode) course and then the linear drive tilts the windvane sensor mount. With the vane's wind sensing vertical fin removed, the vane steers to the tiller's movements, magnetic (gps). WHY? to reduce power needed to move the linear motor and let the tiller pilot operate in heavier winds/speeds (they are often undersized) People who need a bolt-on solution do this. One-who-Hacks, can graft-in a windshield wiper motor, or even hydraulics to amplify the output of a smart (if small) tiller pilot. Cheers!
Looks great Sean!
Saw on the blog you guys "enjoyed" that ridiculous bog of weeds and plastic at the last lock on the dismal, I could barely get through it. Hope your voyage is going well and in warmer waters.
(Ps, in your honor I have been lifting anchor exclusively of sail power since we crossed paths ;)
does it stop after it reaches it's destination?
Why not hook up to windvane? Wouldn't it be less effort for the motor?
I have a couple of salvage tiller pilots and am happy to give your ideas a try.... just sharing what some fellow Pacific Ocean voyagers showed me regarding attaching the tiller pilot to the wind vane to steer the tiller to reduce the effort of the components.... think gearing!?
Um, probably because the whole point of using a windvane is to steer the boat without needing an autopilot. The advantage of the windvane is that it doesn't use any power at all. The disadvantage is that the windvane steers a course relative to the wind, whereas with an autopilot you can steer a magnetic course or courses driven by a route planning program like the OpenCPN.
Oh Great DIY, Guy; The Tiller to Windvane theory of operation is that the tiller pilot steers to a magnetic (GPS in your mode) course and then the linear drive tilts the windvane sensor mount. With the vane's wind sensing vertical fin removed, the vane steers to the tiller's movements, magnetic (gps). WHY? to reduce power needed to move the linear motor and let the tiller pilot operate in heavier winds/speeds (they are often undersized) People who need a bolt-on solution do this. One-who-Hacks, can graft-in a windshield wiper motor, or even hydraulics to amplify the output of a smart (if small) tiller pilot. Cheers!
Tutorial please!
looks like water world the movie, rad
Only rudder controlled by computer, how about main sail?
this is good shit
What a mess, man!