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Article: Staying the course just got simpler: Simrad's autopilot corrects for compass errors and more.(Product roundup)(Product/service evaluation)
- Article from:
- National Fisherman
- Article date:
- July 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Diversified Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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You are going to pay some money for Simrad's new AP50 Plus autopilot, but there are a couple of features that easily justify the price.
For one, the AP50 Plus can take inputs from both a gyro and magnetic compass. A gyrocompass is pretty reliable, but its bearings can wear down, and the compass may drift off. If you are away from land when this happens and clouds or fog block the sun, the gyro could set you well off course, and without a reference point, you wouldn't realize it. An autopilot would follow the gyro, even if the heading worked around to being the opposite of where you wanted to go.
The AP50 Plus makes you aware of that error with its ...