Practical Sailor's gear and boat reviews take the guesswork out of your buying decisions.

Do-It-Yourself Autopilot Installation

Whenever you read about radar, loran, SSB, VHF and other electronic goodies, you’ll find the writer also extolling the virtues of an autopilot with the admonition that “you can’t install it yourself” and to “screen the installer carefully.”

Not easily intimidated, I will admit that when I ordered my Robertson AP200DL with hydraulic linear drive, I though I might be faced with my ultimate challenge.

Fiddle-faddle. The installation of lation manual an autopilot is not in the domain of shows a plus or minus 45degree the electronicsinstaller. It’s simply a example, mine turned out to be a mechanical device connected to a plus or minus 50 degrees. Leave the battery. If you understand basic masking tape in place. high-school geometry, can drill a hole, and know to measure twice and cut once, you can install an autopilot. Join me on my 27 foot Albin power cruiser as we fill in the blanks with methods and principles adaptable to any type of belowdecks unit.

-William K. Millar

*** For the this entire article please click on the link below...

Do-It-Yourself Autopilot Installation