"~^ beancounter ~^" wrote in
ups.com:

what's better & why??


I like to use the remote hand-held controller because you can move around
and see better than you can with the main controls on the control panel....

It just works better that way and the coil cord keeps it neat....(c;

One of these little harbor cruises, I'm gonna drag out Amel's emergency
rudder gear up on deck and put the pole down into the top of the rudder
post through the watertight hole in the aft cabin top. The tiller hooks on
to the top of it and steers under the mizzen boom, just missing the mizzen
gear. The handle on it is about 5' long so should be able to steer the
ketch quite well, in spite of her natural bad weather helm. I'd hate to be
stuck at sea and have to control her in the big waves with it from the aft
cabin roof. That would suck....

Amel's steering gear is two large push-pull cables to a big bellcrank on
top of the rudder post. It's like a large version of an outboard motor
steering cable, but two of them, one pushing and one pulling when you turn
the big wheel in either direction. The wheel, instead of being in the way
on a pedestal, is flat against the forward bulkhead making it easy to get
to the various electronics I have installed. The cable gear is inside the
overhead cabinet over the galley sink and work counter. This same little
cabinet is where all the electricals come to Amel's DC panel, where the
Perkins control panel back is very easy to get to and where I've installed
the master electronics contactor, multiplexer and terminated all the
electronics. The Raymarine gyro is on a bulkhead, but I have the compass
sensor located elsewhere nearer CG away from all this current.

The wheel is stainless, 3-spoke and about 3 turns lock to lock. It will
tired you out good after 8 hours fighting 8-12 ft waves trying to hold a
course. Been there, done that. B&G Pilot is useless in these conditions,
I've found. It just can't keep up. I think, in spite of its own compass
sensor being positioned so it receives a minimum of movement, the compass
sensor sloshing around is why it gets so confused. Switching to the
computer helps a lot, but its reaction time isn't fast enough to suit us.



--
Larry