Outstanding AP

Written By: Dimitrios

I installed this AP as an aid to trolling for salmon on Lake Michigan. I have to say that the product performs beautifully. I have the AP hooked up to a Lowrance HDS 9/Gen2, and the two units work together well. My boat is a 16 ft C Dory Angler with ......Read More

Benton

Written By: Richard

I purchased the pilot last year during fishing season here in the Pacific Northwest. My boat is a Hewescraft 220 Ocean Pro with a single Honda 200HP. I have the pilot connected to a Lowrance 9 touch. I installed the pilot myself and it was fairly eas......Read More

Outstanding AP

Written By: Dimitrios

I installed this AP as an aid to trolling for salmon on Lake Michigan. I have to say that the product performs beautifully. I have the AP hooked up to a Lowrance HDS 9/Gen2, and the two units work together well. My boat is a 16 ft C Dory Angler with 50 HP Honda 4 stroke O/B. The Honda is the trolling motor. There was a lot of bad discussion on various forums and web sites regarding this product, and I almost didn't purchase. However, after discussing the issues with Navico tech staff I realized that the problems were associated with poor installation and VERY poor commissioning of the AP with the HDS unit that were the cause of the problems. Additionally, Navico advised me that all AP's draw a tremendous amount of AMPS off your battery, and your battery's must be well charged and/or you must have a good alternator on your trolling motor. If you don't have enough juice to power the AP, the unit will cut out on you. My Honda has a 10 AMP charger on it and I have experienced no issues with the unit cutting out. I decided to install the AP after the great help I got from the Navico Tech folks. Installation was a breeze. The instructions that come with the AP from Navico were OK, but instructed the installer to install the hydraulic tubes "in line". WARNING! This causes the boat to turn in the opposite direction that the helm is turned. As we all know, the hydraulic hoses MUST be crossed at the hydraulic pump so that the boat motor turns in the opposite that the steering wheel turns. Small but significant error in the instructions. I installed the AP properly in my C Dory. I downloaded the proper software off the Navico web site so that the AP and HDS unit can talk to each other properly, and downloaded into the HDS without any issues. The most important step in the use of this AP is the next step, or the proper commissioning (set up). There's a two part task here: the dockside commissioning and the sea trial commissioning. Navico has some very good videos as to how to do this and I followed the instructions exactly. All went well at the dockside commissioning. Unfortunately, the sea trail commissioning did not work out, and I traced the problem to a faulty compass. I sent the compass back to Navico and they sent me a new compass in a few days that worked perfectly and the commissioning was finished with no further problems. The instructions on how to use the AP are not included with the AP. You must download the instructions off the Lowrance web site, and the documents are buried as an addenda to the HDS9/Gen2 touch unit. However, the instructions are easy to follow. This AP works perfectly with the HDS unit and makes getting to a salmon fishing area and trolling for salmon a lot more enjoyable! We often make runs in the dark to get out to our favorite spot, and the AP allows us to travel to our spot in a straight line saving fuel and time while being able to keep an eye out for other boats in the dark (we don't have radar). Once we start trolling, the AP allows us to run our troll routes while maintaining nice Z patterns which activates the gear and gets us into more fish! LOVE that feature. When we get a FISHON, we simply switch the AP to a straight line and slow down the motor to about 1 knot and let the AP do the work of driving while we concentrate on fighting and landing the fish. The AP will not disengage when we slow down like many others do. Nice. No more fighting the waves and wind while trying to net the fish. I feel that this feature alone has put 30% more fish in the boat. I would recommend this AP to anyone who loves to fish and wants to increase their enjoyment of the sport per the positives I mention here. You just need to make sure you or your marine installer follows the steps to install and commission properly and you will have a great time catching more fish. I've used this AP for approximately one year. Tight lines!

Benton

Written By: Richard

I purchased the pilot last year during fishing season here in the Pacific Northwest. My boat is a Hewescraft 220 Ocean Pro with a single Honda 200HP. I have the pilot connected to a Lowrance 9 touch. I installed the pilot myself and it was fairly easy. With respect to the programming I had to read it carefully step by step but that too was easy. The system works like a charm. I use it all of the time for following routes and long distance travel. It saves a lot on time and fuel. Mentally I am more relaxed because I do not have to constantly concentrate to stay on course. I would not have another boat without one.