5.8Checkingautopilotoperation
Aftercompletingcalibration,checkthebasicautopilotoperation,
asfollows:
1.Steerontoacompassheadingandholdasteadycourseat
normalcruisingspeed.Ifnecessary,steerthevesselmanually
forashorttimetocheckhowthevesselsteers.
2.Ensureitissafetoengagetheautopilot,thenpressAUTO
tolockontothecurrentheading.Theautopilotshouldholda
constantheadingincalmseaconditions.
3.Use-1,+1,-10and+10ortheROTARYcontroller,toseehow
theSmartPilotaltersthecoursetoportandstarboard.
4.PressSTANDBYtoreturntomanualsteering.
Checkingruddergain
Todeterminewhethertheruddergainissetcorrectly,carryoutthe
followingtest:
ItemDescription
1.Ruddergaintoolow
2.RuddergaintooHigh
3.
Correctruddergain
1.Ensureyouhavesettheautopilotresponsetolevel5.
2.Driveyourvesselatatypicalcruisingspeedinclearwater.
Itiseasiertorecognizethesteeringresponseincalm
seaconditionswherewaveactiondoesnotmasksteering
performance.
3.PressAUTOtoenterAutomode,thenaltercourseby40°:
•Thiscoursechangeshouldresultinacrispturnfollowedby
anovershootofnomorethan5°,Iftheruddergainisadjusted
correctly.
•Ifthecoursechangecausesadistinctovershoot(morethan
5°)and/orthereisadistinct‘S’inthecoursetheruddergain
istoohigh.
•Ifthevessel’sperformanceissluggishandittakesalong
timetomakethe40°turn,withnoovershoottheruddergain
istoolow.
Ifnecessary,adjusttheruddergain.
Checkingcounterrudder
Counterrudderistheamountofrudderyourautopilotappliesto
trytopreventyourvesselfromveeringoffcourse.Highercounter
ruddersettingsresultinmorerudderbeingapplied.
Tocheckthecounterruddersetting:
1.Ensureyouhavesettheautopilotresponsetolevel5.
2.Driveyourvesselatatypicalcruisingspeedinclearwater.
Systemchecks
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