Dodge buttons on control head are slow

[ReedStr]

is there a way to increase the responsiveness of the dodge buttons on the control head? when I use the doge buttons on the control head it takes a second or two before the helm responds. I'd better see that log pretty far in advance. On the other hand if I flip the switch on the jog lever it responds immediately. No problem avoiding that log that suddenly shows up. So I know the system has the ability to respond quickly.

 

[FishTech]

It should be an instantaneous response. I just tested it to verify. What do you have the arrow key set as in the system menu?

 

[ReedStr]

Dodge.

I checked and when I am in auto mode (and I assume nav) and then push the arrow key it waits 1 second while beeping 3 times before activating the motor to turn the rudder. in stby it is instantaneous. And if I flip the switch and push over the FU lever it is also instantaneous. so there is a 1 second lag before activating the rudder motor in auto mode.

 

[gtstang462002]

Hopefully they bring the safehelm2 back. I have that installed on one of my boats. It is great, when I need to dodge something like a log, I just turn the wheel and it temporarily disengages the AP for a preset amount of time (I have mine set to 10 seconds). After that preset amount of time passes the AP re-engage s and resumes control. Much more natural to grab the helm to dodge something rather than trying to push buttons IMO.

 

[ReedStr]

Hopefully they bring the safehelm2 back. I have that installed on one of my boats. It is great, when I need to dodge something like a log, I just turn the wheel and it temporarily disengages the AP for a preset amount of time (I have mine set to 10 seconds). After that preset amount of time passes the AP re-engage s and resumes control. Much more natural to grab the helm to dodge something rather than trying to push buttons IMO.

I agree about grabbing the helm being a natural option (I was disappointed to find out they discontinued it when I was ordering the system this past winter) and in my case the follow up jog level handles that well enough. The issue is I want to install a dodge remote so I can sit back on the bench in the pilot house with the autopilot steering and when I see the tree use the remote to dodge rather than hopping up and stepping over to the jog lever. My old WH autopilot had a dodge remote and I'm trying to keep the same level of responsiveness and control that I had previously.

 

[ReedStr]

It should be an instantaneous response. I just tested it to verify. What do you have the arrow key set as in the system menu?

Can you duplicate the delay in auto mode? Were you testing it to verify in standby mode?

 

[FishTech]

Standby is instantaneous. Auto is less than .2 seconds. Just long enough to let out the alert tone.

 

[ReedStr]

Of course in standby it's not that important because my hand is on the wheel steering the boat. With respect to how long the delay is in auto, in testing it I just counted "1 thousand 1..." so it's probably less than a second but in practice it was long enough I had a hard time dodging the log and didn't want to use it again. When I first tried it for dodging logs when the autopilot was steering my thinking was it was too slow to respond because the pump was too small or I needed to up the power from the autopilot. But then I tried using the FU Jog lever when the autopilot was on nav and while I can still crank the helm over faster by hand when I'm steering in standby, flipping the switch and swinging the jog lever over was fast enough. When I got back to port is when it occurred to me to test for a delay with the dodge buttons and there it was. In port I can hear when the motor kicks in (which is how I timed the delay for the dodge buttons versus the jog lever). At sea I cannot.

As my airplane pilot friend said, "My autopilot beeps to let me know I've taken control but it does that after it lets me take control. While it doesn't know if it's actually me wanting to take control it also doesn't know how fast I need to take control so it gives me control and beeps to make sure I know it's dropped control."

 

[ReedStr]

Standby is instantaneous. Auto is less than .2 seconds. Just long enough to let out the alert tone.

when you say instantaneous do you mean the display? Because the direction arrow on the display updates instantaneous but when I listen for the motor it doesn't start up for 1 second and the rudder position indicator doen't register a change either.

 

[FishTech]

I am referring to the time between button press and motor moving.

 

[ReedStr]

I am referring to the time between button press and motor moving.

Given that yours is fast to respond and mine is slow, any ideas what could be causing mine to be slow? Or a test I can run? Attach a volt meter to the processing unit motor output and see if the delay is in the control unit or at the motor?

 

[ReedStr]

Here are 2 videos showing the problem. With the dodge button you can see the heading change instantaneously but the rudder angle indicator doesn’t start changing for a second. If you listen closely you’ll see that the rudder angle indicator starts to change when you hear the motor activate. The videos show instantaneous rudder movement if i activate the follow up jog lever but a significant delay if i push the dodge button. The video shows using the dodge controller but it’s the same with the control head jog button. 2 videos on icloud showing the problem