i-pilot issues......

[lethal]

if i set a course towards a given spot using cruise control and advanced autopilot with a 10 mph crosswind, should i expect good results? this is a 55 lb pd v2 on a 16 ft aluminum jonboat. fully charged batteries.

i actually had issues with this situation yesterday. losing the course completely, surging three tenths above and dropping three tenths below the target speed of .5 mph. even straight into the wind the performance was not good. i am very concerned.

thanks.

[talltimber]

It has a hard time correcting without overcorrecting. At least mine does. With that much wind, I run it manually with the remote. The tm does not adjust not fast enough to overcome the wind gusts, especially crosswind. IMO Terrova 80lb. US2 Ipilot Still, I really like mine, good unit, quiet. If your gonna be disappointed if it don't keep you on a track or a spot no matter what, then prepare to be disappointed.

[newly]

I agree with talltimber. I had higher expectations as well especially with the spotlock feature. IMO it just doesnt work as well as people say. I have a 17' Aluminum flat bottom and with the spotlock engaged the boat will go 20-25' from the spot before it corrects. I could stay on it better with a foot control I think.

[Stymie]

Yeah, had a friend's brother with me the other day. He was not impressed with my fancy ipilot's spot lock or cruise features. Granted, we were in heavy winds, but that was one guy that walked away thinking he was smart not spending his money on this.

Information learned, felt worthy to pass. He is more of a spider rigging, pushin kind of guy ( slow ), felt it wouldn't benefit him. I'm more of a pullin kind of guy, and in those situations, it seems to work fine.

Last summer, I hoped it would work sittin on brush piles at night, but it moves too much. It's best to go ahead and anchor.

[badbrad]

Pulling jigs or cranks, you can't beat the i-pilot! I slow troll spider-rigging and like it for that just as well. I fished yesterday in some very strong gusty winds. Used the spot lock and the advanced co-pilot. Spot lock did pretty well actually and advanced co-pilot kept me on course but had difficulty making any progress, it was like running in place. Ended up turning it off and just driving the boat into the wind. My only complaint, my hand held is starting to wear on the control panel and will likely need to be replaced after this season.

[rockmike]

It ain't perfect, but it's the best thing going. I mostly spider rig, and I really like the cruise control and the finer speed increments. Gusty winds do give it fits, but you just have to adapt to the conditions.

[Stymie]

Gusty winds do give it fits, but you just have to adapt to the conditions.

I think this is the key phrase. " you ... have to adapt".

[ready2fish]

I been wanting to add i-pilot as well after reading post like this i had to ask myself if this would benefit my style of fishing (long lining) and i decided it would, i had to realize it wont work well in all situations and go with it.

Well as of yesterday (Saturday) I added the i-pilot to my v2 pd and haven't had a chance to use it yet so the only issues I'm seeing are going learning the remote , i know that will come in time

I think i made a good choice

[talltimber]

I went from a hand control tm on the bow to this unit. I don't know if my foot control even works, I use the remote. I like the spot lock feature, it just doesn't do what I thought/hoped it would. I use it a lot to hold in wind while I set up poles, drift sock, go to the back for something, retying, whatever. Basically to temporarily anchor during chores. Like rockmike said, the speed control increments are outstanding, very fine adjustments. In light breeze or no wind, the advanced autopilot is very good too. I've noticed a couple of times, in heavier cross wind, it seems like it will lose bearing. The heading will shift downwind a little bit and it will work toward the new bearing. I was fishing in a hollow too though, so I might have lost signal briefly. I don't know for sure, it doesn't do it very often.

Even being somewhat disappointed in spot-lock, I'd buy it again. Great unit so far.

[Stymie]

I've found that autopilot ( not advanced autopilot ) works better in heavier winds. Just hold the autopilot button on the remote for 3 or 4 seconds until the icon changes.

Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty happy with this thing. Makes long lining and pulling cranks a far easier task than my old trolling motor.

One weird thing, I just changed out my battery a few weeks ago. Now whenever I activate the remote, the speed setting is set to 10. Anyone else see this?