For people interested: I have placed a picture of the solution he

http://test.sailsoft.nl/neco/AP-Neco-drive.jpg

Rgds,
/Ger Rietman
www.sailsoft.nl



"Ger" schreef in bericht
...
Daniele,
I may have a solution for you, provided you know a bit about electronics
and
can handle a soldering iron.
The autopilot in my Nicholson 39 was also the old NECO with the drive
under
the wheel.
I have replaced the autopilot by a Robertson AP200, but I left the old
NECO
drive in place, because replacing it by a new drive suited for a modern
autopilot would require a lot of mechanical engineering work plus
additional
costs for a new drive.
I am sure you recognise this.
The problem is that the NECO drive is driven by heavy relais and exotic
windings in both the motor and clutch, requiring special drive electrics.
There is no possibility to have the drive controlled directly by a modern
autopilot.
The solution is to completely remove all electronics (relais,
rudder-feedback potmeter etc) from the drive and replace it by a new
electronic circuit, acting as interface between your new autopilot and the
drive motor and clutch.
I have done this and it works now like a dream.
I got the electronic schematics and print layout from somebody here in
Holland, and with some minor modifications I got it up and running.
The circuit board with electronics fits nicely in the space where the
relais
were sitting.
However, the person from which I received the schematics (the designer) is
the owner of the design and I need his approval of course to pass it to
others.
I can ask him for his permission if you are interested in this. Just let
me
know if you are.
If there are other readers of this message also interested in this
specific
NECO subject they are of course also welcome to react.
If you want to reply directly please locate the email address on my
website
via the menubar at the top.
Regards,
/Ger Rietman
www.sailsoft.nl

PS: Daniele, is it possible that I sent you the Neco user manual a few
years
ago?


"Daniel" schreef in bericht
...
In my 1978 Swan 411 there is an old NECO autopilot. I recently fixed
some minor faulty circuitry and it now works as it is supposed to do.
Too bad that it is a vintage device and, for example, does not have a
NMEA input, the course is set on an absolute 360 deg dial and there is
no whatsoever display that gives information on the set/actual course.
I would like to upgrade it but the 12Volt/20A servomotor under the
steering wheel works well and I would like to keep it: it is presently
controlled by two relais'. Also the clutch works and there is a rudder
feedback, probably a variable resistor, in the same assembly. Keeping
them would reduce the cost by a relevant amount and, in particular,
would almost zero the mechanical adapting of the steering system. On the
market there are many display/control units available with all the
modern facilities; using one of them should not be impossible.
The main problems I foresee a i) compatibility between the output of
the new unit and the relais/servomotor, and ii) possible installation of
a new rudder feedback unit.
Has anybody in the NG faced those problems and solved them?
Daniel