Posts: 183
Location: Grand Forks ND | One thing I haven't heard anyone talk about is the Heading Lock (MG) vs. AutoPilot, and this is the main reason I am hesitant to switch to MG.
On iPilot you have advanced AutoPilot which is GPS based (has the circle around the N on the remote screen) as well as standard AutoPilot which is compass based (no circle around the N). MotorGuide has just a GPS based Heading Lock.
I fish with standard Autopilot on 99% of the time because if you do some drifting the motor will stay pointing forward, which is nice for speed and/or location adjustments. With a GPS based lock your trolling motor would be turning trying to get back on that straight line it draws out from the motor when you turned the setting on.
Example, let's say the bow of your boat is pointed towards shore and you're drifting from right to left down the shoreline. With a compass based system your motor will always point ahead to the shoreline. With a GPS based system your motor will now be turning to the right as you drift until it is pointed basically 90 to the right.
So in this case with a MotorGuide you would not be able to use heading lock at all and have to run your motor in a "manual mode". Have any of you MG owners encountered problems with this, or what did you think of this when you switched from Minn Kota to MotorGuide? |
