Octopus Autopilot Driving and SIMRAD AP 24

2000SEARAY280SS

2000SEARAY280SS

Member
May 7, 2007
919
Potomac River
Boat Info
ArrowCat 30ES
Engines
Twin Verados 250
I am thinking about installing an Octopus Autopilot Driving system.
I have rack and pinion steering, and I am looking at the Type R Mechanical Drive for my 28’ Sea Ray. The Type R is mounted in the transom area and piggy backs on the power assist steering cylinder of the I/O. This system does not require a switch to hydraulic steering.

There was a guy on here that did the install and I sent him a couple of emails about his installation and he never responded.

Has anyone ever installed one of the Octopus units and how do you like them?

I will also be using a Simrad auto pilot AP 24 head unit.

Does anyone have one of these units and how do you like it?
I will be getting the Octopus Type R – Defender Item # 257847 with a Simrad Autopilot Kit and 9 foot cable for dual engines.
 
Please keep up updated as I am extremely interested in your project. I have been doing lots of research on a/p's and that looks like a good option. Choices are limited with the strendrive config.
 
I was up at the boat today and took lots of pictures of where everything may go. I am looking forward to this as well. It is the first big project since the inverter I installed and use very rarely.
 
I believe I am going to install the Octopuss on my 320 with twin Bravo 3's...Hoping it's ggoing to be a fairly easy job, but I know a guy who did it on his 27 amberjack.. and said it's not that hard at all, I'm interested in Pictures..
 
The Octopus drive unit is on back order the adapter is on its way. The Auto Pilot from Jim is on its way.

My current project is finishing the kitchen remodel for the Admiral.

It is going to be tight on my S280 and my biggest concern is making sure there are no interference issues with the steering adapter and the cable.

The compass mounting is going to be challenging also.

boltman good to see you back on the board its been a while.
 
The auto pilot and the octopus adapter tube showed up tonight. My first impression was how small the boxes where. The rate compass was very small from what I was planning to try and install. The install is going to be a lot better. I guess I should have looked at the dimensions in the manuals.

The secondary steering adapter tube is also very small. Only about 7 inches long and is made of a light weight metal. i do not want to guess what it is made of. It is very well machined and I am beginning to see how it will work.

I am going to install the adapter tube first and then measure for the secondary steering cable. If the weather permits I might get a break from the kitchen to try to install the adapter tube.
 
Well I have been figuring out the layout for the parts and ordering materials. Cable, epoxy, interface cables for SIMNET to NMEA and a fuse block.

The admirals kitchen is almost done and the weather is turning. :smt038

I will be posting the mechanical and electrical as I go.

All of the materials look top notch.

It looks like plug and play but you know how that goes.

The only component that needs special location is the compass. I might need to build a special mount for it to protect it and keep it dry.

The Octopus drive looks solid and well made. The steering cable adapter is well machined and should connect very nicely.

I am hoping to mount the head unit where my speedometer is located if there are dimensional issues I may need to make an adapter.


Started my spring commissioning chores this past weekend pressure washed the bottom and prepped for bottom paint.

I can't wait to get started hope to update you all soon.
 
It has been a while since I updated this thread mainly because the work on the Auto Pilot has been kind a slow.

I started by rough fitting every thing to see if would work and getting the layout configured. Things went together pretty well.

I built a starboard box for the compass and removed the speedometer from the dash for the AP control head. The AP went in perfectly into the hole. It looks pretty good.

The camera battery was dead so I will get some shots of the install tomorrow.:smt021

The SIMRAD net connects to the NMEA 183 network of my Northstar using an AT-10 interface device. I was able to do the dock side checks and all the NMEA data was going back and forth. My radar was using the compass heading for the map overlay and I was able to send waypoint information to the course computer.

I started installing the octopus drive today. I built a box to mount it on so I could add a little storage. I am going to use some Six10 to mount a couple of blocks so it can be removed for access to the port engine.

The steering adapter goes on pretty easy. Once you remove all the engine crap that is in the way.

I decided to change my exhaust manifolds since I have owned the boat since 2007. They look pretty good but this gave me all the access I needed.

I am having trouble getting the drive collar tightened up so I stopped before I broke something. I will get some pictures tomorrow.
 
I got some pictures of the box I built to mount the drive unit on. I am going to use some Six10 to place a couple of blocks on the hull so the box can be removed for access to the port engine.
DSC01658 (Small).JPG
You can see here the dowel that can be removed to install and retrieve a storage box all ready sized for oils and emergency parts and the like.DSC01768 (Small).JPG
The steering adapter goes on pretty easy. I needed an ignition wrench bent at a right angle to tighten the lock nut. I only lost one bit and socket to the bilge monster and that was during the last torque setting on the steering cable attachment block.
DSC01650 (Small).JPGDSC01757 (Small).JPG
Here you can see the yoke and additional steering cable that goes back to the drive unit on the gray box. I still need to dress it out for proper clearances.
DSC01759 (Small) (2).JPG
The center hold area is where I choose to mount the compass DSC01775 (Small).JPG
and the auto pilot computer. I know I am taking a chance with the water pump right there but we will see. You can also see the SIMNET junction block.
DSC01774 (Small).JPG
As previously stated the AP24 head unit went right into the old speedometer hole in the dash. I am very happy with the look.
I use GPS for speed.
DSC01767 (Small).JPG

I am going to wrap up the install this week and sea trials as soon as I can. I will let you know how it goes.
 
Got everything mounted today and had some good results and some bad.

The box that I built worked great. The drive was mounted. When I moved the box to get a bend out the drive cable the AP rudder test passed. I think the drive cable I bought is to long. I rerouted the drive cable and ran out of energy to complete a different routing test.
 
I rerouted the steering cable and the drive location is working and the AP rudder tests are passing. The base was doing some tests and the river was closed so I did not go out for a sea trial. I am having a little problem with the steering being a little stiff once the second drive cable is installed. I have contacted tech support on the issue.
 
We went out and did sea trials on Saturday. After fueling up I calibrated the compass and set up for a Nav run.:grin:

I set a goto point and the boat headed right to it. Cool. A couple of more goto points and I decided to do a high speed run to St. Clements Island about 10 miles away from where we did the slow speed runs. Everything worked great until,,,,

We stopped for a little fishing and sun bathing thinking everything was cool. We fired up the engines and decided to move back across the river and I found out I was only able to turn left. What the heck.:smt021

Well I thought for sure that the drive had locked up so I disconnected it and no joy.
I removed the autopilot drive cable from the drive and still nothing. All the time I was being eaten alive by the famous Sothern Maryland stable flies.

Decided to stop troubleshooting and headed home. After some creative throttle and left turns we made port.

Today I went down and was sure the steering actuator was now bad. I finished disconnecting all of the installed drive parts. When I got to the steering collar I noticed it was hard against the actuator. After repositioning it the steering was back to normal.

Well I get to put it all back together next weekend and figure out how to get that steering collar locked down.DSC01757 (Small).JPG
 
How is a/p working after some time in use? Are you happy with it? Would you do it again? What was the total cost if you don't mind me asking?
 
Still waiting on parts. They will show up on Monday. It worked really well for a little while. Everything connected and talked to each other first time. I got the AP24 and connections from BOE and the Drive Unit and steering from Defender since Jim does not carry them. I think everything was just under 5K
 
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Any update on your AP.

Ken
 
I reinstalled all of the drive parts last weekend with the shorter drive cable from defender. The drive collar i think is still going to give me trouble. I had to leave the boat because of thunder storms and did not get a chance to sea trial. The dock trials went off without a hitch and the drive and AP are working really well together.

I tightened the drive collar as tight as i could until the hex socket bolt striped the socket. I am going to sea trial today or tomorrow but I am not expecting any computer problems since the previous tests went so well.

The drive collar that attaches to the steering ram if there is a weakness this is it. I am also having a couple of minor interferance issues with hoses and cables that i need to address.

The AP is intuitive and seamlessly detected all of the devices connected to it. The multifunction display depth GPS and other NMEA sentences all were detected across the nmea 183 SIMNET adapter. The compass data is displayed on the MFD and has provided a more accurate radar chart overlay.

I am very happy with the data interface capability and the AP capability.

SIMNET makes a drive unit the MSD 50 but it would not fit my application but may be worth considering. I am confident that if I continue to have issues with the Octopus drive collar they will make it right.
 
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