What to buy? (Autopilot)

I have a SI-TEX 70. Absolute piece of junk and worthless to me.

I don't want to break the bank, but I need to get something reliable and Lake Erie worthy.

Here are my main concerns. I don't want to have to mark the shaft on the rudder and have to constantly re-calibrate every time I power up my unit (which I have to do now). I'd like one that auto calibrates the rudder position.

I'd like one that will integrate with my current HDS Gen2 Touch12 unit, but it's not worth an extra $500 for that...

I do have a Lowrance Point1 External GPS already in the ethernet so I don't know if that helps or not.

I don't need a remote. I can walk to the front of the boat if the unit isnt getting off course every 5 minutes, or I can have an external control pad in the back. I would pay $200 for a remote, but if I can save $300 by not having one I don't need it.

I just want a good auto pilot that can trough 3-4' waves if I want to, and keep a decent course on typical Lake Erie trolling days. I don't need it to steer in anything over 6' waves.

I am asking because I don't have any real experience with any other unit, and reviews are all over the place.

My boat is a 30' Sportcraft GLS single screw.

Thanks!
-Matt

Hey Matt.
BK here. Do not no what money you are talking about but I have a Raymarine. I forget the number it is but it works well. When I got it I had to replace the motor in the pump. They rebuilt it and sent it back and worked one weekend. It was not water proof or resistant. Got a New motor and has been fine for 2 years. You have to set the unit up for your boat but I do not have to screw around with it after 1 set up. Does well. 272 sportcraft. See you in the spring.
PS. I have the other motor which I seal up with silicone for a spare.

I am also looking for a basic good working unit for a 27 sportcraft single screw without hydraulic steering .have no prior experience with one so any info would be great. thanks todd

Matt. I would look at the Simrap ap24. I had the simrad ap11 on board and just upgraded to the ap24 middle of last season. It may be a little more then the raymarine, but I love it. It is also nema 2000 already. No need to buy adapter cable. Give me a call if you want to chat about it more. Pretty east to install what ever brand you decide on.

Raymarine EVO 200. I installed it last winter and haven't had any issues at all. It is artificially intelligent and really unbelievable how it handles in rough conditions. I have it networked through NMEA 2000 with A Lowrance Link 8, HDS 10, HDS 7, and 3G Radar. You don't have to by an adapter, since both are NMEA 2000, you can just cut the Lowrance NMEA 2000 backbone cable and cut the Raymarine NMEA 2000 backbone cable and splice them color to color. All the electronics communicate with each other with no issues.

Here are links to our Raymarine and Simrad Autopilot pages at the WalleyeTackleStore . As members of this forum you can benefit from our low overhead and low prices on these and other products. For MAP items you may need to put the item in your shopping cart to see the actual price as we cannot display discounts for MAP items.

Good luck in your search for Autopilot equipment.


http://www.walleyetacklestore.com/raau.html

http://www.walleyetacklestore.com/siel1.html

my sportcraft has hydraulic steering so I cannot give any good info on that.

Raymarine evo 200

I also installed the simrad ap 24. Works good on my 27' Sports Craft with cable steering.

Thanks for all the advice. I have been looking at the different units and researching them.

I am going to be making a decision soon. I need to get into my boat and see what pump and motor I have so I can determine if I can use them.

-Matt

I bought a Simrad last year for my 25' Sportscraft with. I/O and it doesn't work worth a damn. The I/O over steers and no matter what I do it is always doing slow S curves. Nice when one one is around but when you get in a pack it's not good. Wish I would've saved the money. I need a boat with a rudder.