Raymarine LIGHTHOUSE 4 - Rudder Damping Levels and Deadband Angles; Adjusting the Rudder Damping Level

8.
7Rudderdampinglevelsanddeadband
angles
Forautopilotsystemswhichincludearudderanglereferencesensor/
transducer,rudderdampingisusedtopreventEvolutionautopilotsystem
over-activity,characterizedby“hunting”maneuvers.Anumberofrudder
dampinglevelsareavailabletoaddressthisbehavior.Rudderdampinglevels
relateto“deadbandangles”,andcanbeconfiguredusingyourautopilot
controlhead(e.g.p70s/p70RsorMFD).Ahigherdampinglevelisintendedto
eliminatepilotandhelmover-activity.
Typically,theappropriaterudderdampinglevelisthelowestacceptable
value.However,itisimportanttobeawarethattherudderdampingscaling
hasbeenchangedinrecentversionsofACUunits,whichincludenewer
processorandsoftwareversions(theseunitscanbeidentifiedwithan“A”
appendedtotheirSKU).
Important:Therudderdampinglevelscanhaveasignificantimpacton
yourautopilotperformance .Ifyouareunsureastohowtoadjustthese
settingstobestsuityourautopilotsystem,pleaserefertoyourdealeror
Raymarineproductsupport.
Thefollowingtableliststherudderdampinglevelsanddeadbandanglesthat
areavailablewithbotholdandnewversionsoftheA CUsoftware:
Rudderdamping
level
ExistingDeadbandangle
NewDeadband
angle
(A
CUsoftware
versionv3.11
onwards)
ACU-100,150,
200,400
ACU-300
1
0.1°0.15°0.1°
20.2°0.30°0.2°
30.3°0.45°0.3°
4
0.4°0.60°0.4°
5
0.5°0.75°0.7°
60.6°0.9°0.9°
Rudderdamping
level
ExistingDeadbandangle
NewDeadband
angle
(A
CUsoftware
versionv3.11
onwards)
7
0
.7°1.05°1.1°
80
.8°1.20°1.6°
90
.9°1.35°2.2°
It’simportanttochecktherudderdampinglevelcurrentlyconfiguredonyour
autopilotcontrolhead,toensureitmatchesyourneeds.Therudderdamping
valueshouldbeincreasedonelevelatatimeuntiltheautopilotstopshunting.
AdjustingtheRudderDampinglevel
UsethefollowingmenupathtoadjusttheRudderDampinglevel:
1.[Homescreen>Settings>Autopilot>Advancedsettings>Rudder
Damping].
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