Remvoing the Northstar Autopilot and MFD

We finally got all but one piece of our remaining order for the Simrad system so we are now in the process of finishing our electronics refit. Before we can install the AP28 autopilot system and NSE multifunction display (MFD) we first have to remove the old Northstar autopilot and M84 navigation system.

The removal of the Northstar M84 navigation system was pretty straight forward. The M84 display was removed from the Navpod instrument pod located at the steering pedestal and the associated cables were pulled through the pedestal guard tubes. The power supply, sonar transducer and video input cables were pulled through the pedestal tubing back into the lazarette. The GPS antenna was removed from the stainless tube above the radar antenna and the antenna cable pulled through the tube of the arch. Complete removal of the M84 took about two hours.

The Northstar autopilot system took about two hours as well. The autopilot control head was also removed from the Navpod instrument housing and its cable pulled through the pedestal guard tube. The control box located in a dry and safe area of the lazarette was removed. The wires to the drive unit and the power wires in kept in place as they will be used for the new autopilot system but the Northstar's Navbus and NMEA0183 wires were removed. The rudder feedback unit was also removed as was a relay switch, gyro compass and fluxgate compass. The two compasses had long cables snaking through the boat to the base of the mast so it took some effort to separate it from wire bundles and pull it through.

In the lazarette we have a bulkhead that is in a dry place and out of the way from stowed gear. This bulkhead, where the old stuff was once mounted, was cleaned up to make room for the new units. I really wanted to give this bulkhead a fresh coat of paint and get the old screw holes filled in but unfortunately we don't have any filler or paint and being in the San Blas there is none to buy.

A single day to remove everything was what we expected. In preparation for installing the new Simrad systems we have a new Navpod instrument housing (the front piece) which we laid the templates for the AP28 autopilot control head, the NSE multifunction display and an IS20 Graphic instrument head. Once we were satisfied with the placement of the instruments we cut the required holes for each instrument head. Once cut we did a dry run and placed each instrument head into the new face of the Navpod to make sure it fit and with everything lined up correctly we drilled the holes for the mounting screws.
Now we're ready to start installing the new Simrad AP28 autopilot system and the NSE-8 multifunction display with its associated hardware.