Hopefully posting a "Wanted to Buy" notice here is acceptable to seabreezers.
I'm hoping someone has a unused wind-vane sitting around in the shed. New options are out of my budget

WA based, but would look at freighting interstate if needed.

An Aries, Fleming, Windpilot, Navik or similar would be ideal. Open to almost anything.

Thanks for the link and the input Ramona. It's got to fit on the transom of my little 30 footer.

Wideawake said..
Thanks for the link and the input Ramona. It's got to fit on the transom of my little 30 footer.

Perfect.
This is my copy of a Monitor I made for use on my Currawong 30. I later had an Aries on the Currawong. When I bought the SS34 I installed the Aries on that and sold the Currawong with the Monitor replica.


This is the Aries on a Currawong.

Ramona said..

Wideawake said..
Thanks for the link and the input Ramona. It's got to fit on the transom of my little 30 footer.

Perfect.
This is my copy of a Monitor I made for use on my Currawong 30. I later had an Aries on the Currawong. When I bought the SS34 I installed the Aries on that and sold the Currawong with the Monitor replica.


This is the Aries on a Currawong.

Looks great! Currawong 30 wouldve been well matched against my S&S30 back in the day - and still would!

The ST2000+ has inherent very deep design flaws. Unless your boat is very well balanced, the ST2000+ (and ST1000+) will eventually fail. I had 2 failures out in Bass Strait, the first of which left me hand-steering for 9 hours till I reached Refuge Cove . The second wasn't too big a problem as I had my Simrad TP22 on board as a spare. I subsequently modified my ST2000+ by fitting limit switches almost 10 years ago and it hasn't missed a beat since. My solution looks like a dog's breakfast inside compared to Gary's, but it certainly works!
Simrads are better as they have inbuilt stroke limiting and thus do not burn out like the Raymarines.
But I digress, and will STFU, so it's back to your normal wind-vane programming........
Cheers, Graeme

I'm going to add the auto pilot drift, I've been in communication with pelagic & I gotta say a lot more appealing than RM etc. just my 2cents worth...

The Raymarine and other autopilots all suffer the problem of proprietary teeny motors until you start paying about 6 grand
.I would recommend a nice strong reversible worm drive be installed instead of the puny motors most autopilots come with.

Kankama said..
The Raymarine and other autopilots all suffer the problem of proprietary teeny motors until you start paying about 6 grand
.I would recommend a nice strong reversible worm drive be installed instead of the puny motors most autopilots come with.

Actually the motors are adequately sized for normal stroking. It's the constant end-stroke stalling that kills them. Some years ago I tried sourcing some prototyped equivalents thru Alibaba and convinced a Chinese factory to supply a batch of 10. I used the Raymarine performance data to derive the required RPM and torque, and ended up with 10 slightly undersized motors for about $45! I trialed one in my ST2000+ for a while and it coped quite well, just slightly slower and a bit less thrust than the original. I sold most of them for a very low price to blokes with dead ST's, with full disclosure. I reckon they got a bargain considering new ones cost somewhere near $200! I have kept a couple for my own use if required.

If you already have an ST2000+ I reckon one of Gary's limit switch kits would provide a huge improvement in reliability and life expectancy.

Cheers, Graeme

Hi Mutton.
RE: I installed Gary's limit switch on my 2000 and it works very well, however I stuffed up the LCD display.

Yep. Another part that Raymarine doesn't supply.

This is a post from Practical Boat Owner. I really like this advice.
Gary

forums.ybw.com/threads/raymarine-st2000-display-fault.280364/

Get a Simrad sticker, (or a bit of paper, glue and a pen. Then write Simrad on the paper)
Trim to fit over the LCD.
Stick down firmly.
Now you have a Simrad tiller pilot which don't have displays.

garymalmgren said..

Get a Simrad sticker, (or a bit of paper, glue and a pen. Then write Simrad on the paper)
Trim to fit over the LCD.

Not a bad solution, but before you do, give the edge connector strip on the underside of the LCD a gentle wipe with a cloth with mild solvent or electronic cleaner (metho will do). Then give the four little contacts that stick up from the PCB a wipe, then assemble it and make certain all four of the click fasteners on the frame that fastens it to the PCB are fully engaged. If that doesn't work see if you can power up the PCB outside of the case and try gently pushing on the LCD edges to see if it springs to life. That would mean it's electrically ok but needs to make better contact with the PCB. And keep your eye out for a stuffed ST (the 1000 & 2000 both use the same PCB).

Cheers, Graeme

You might want to consider the "Wave Rover" self steering if you are planning on building.

www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1000498117/mk-3-trim-tab-wind-vane-diy-plans?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=wind+vane+steering&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&dd=1&content_source=bc10b4cf-50f5-4989-a283-dc4dbc80a130%253ALTf57073ce374093cf2b7cb8c469335f4cb0461638&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=bc10b4cf-50f5-4989-a283-dc4dbc80a130%3ALTf57073ce374093cf2b7cb8c469335f4cb0461638

Likewise there is the popular DYI Hebridean self steering.

windvaneselfsteering.co.uk/

You can buy a kit of parts and use local wood for the rest.