[edmundsteele]

FYI, I did finally get around to installing the Simrad autopilot – with the “third” hydraulic line linking the reservoirs – and all seems to be working nicely. The final testing was delayed because unfortunately, I had purchased the NAC-2 autopilot computer instead of the similar NAC-3, without realizing that the former doesn’t have a NMEA 0183 port. My Tiara 3200 doesn’t have a paddle-wheel speed sensor or its equivalent and the Simrad computer needs the boat speed in order to calculate the rate of turn, or whatever. The bottom line is that I really did have to interface the autopilot to the original equipment Garmin 3010C in order to get the SOG from the Garmin. Back to the internet and I bought and installed a Furuno NMEA2000 to NMEA 0183 converter. I now have this deep nest of NMEA 2000 cables behind the instrument console but at least it should be easier to add an AIS if I feel the need.