TESTED: Navico PH 500 Powerpilot

Navico's president John Cinis sums up the company's new edict with a simple slogan: "We are autopilots." And if Navico's new PH 500 Powerpilot is any indication, the company is off to a flying start with this program.The PH 500 is designed for any hydraulically steered powerboat--inboard, sterndrive, or outboard--up to 37 feet. The system consists of a course computer, fluxgate compass, hydraulic pump, rudder feedback indicator (all hidden away) plus your choice of a fixed or optional handheld remote controller. Our test boat--a Hydracat 29 with twin 200 Suzuki outboards--had both controllers for easy comparison.

The fixed control head is a basic unit with LEFT/RIGHT buttons, a STANDBY/AUTO button, and a NAV button. In the standby mode, you can powersteer your boat by simply hitting the LEFT or RIGHT button, and the PH 500 will turn your drive unit or rudders to their maximum deflection. In the auto mode, simply turn your boat onto the desired heading, press AUTO, and the PH 500 will hold your course to +/- 3deg. The unit has nine gain settings so you can adjust sensitivity to sea conditions and your speed, and you set these manually depending on conditions. Selections are indicated by beeps and blinks of a red LED light. But because the fixed control head has no LCD display, you are never totally sure of the unit's status, so I'd recommend the handheld remote controller for most applications.

The remote does everything the fixed controller does, plus it has a big LCD display which shows data like heading, bearing and distance to waypoint, alarm settings, and equally important, rudder angle. It was a breeze to sit at the helm and steer the HydraCat with the handheld controller, and response was fast enough so I never got worried about whether it would turn in time, but not so fast that it launched us off our seats. The PH 500 also did an excellent job of following steering commands from a route we plotted on a Furuno chart display, and the unit beeps when you arrive at each waypoint so you must authorize the next turn along the route (a good safety feature). While the pump itself was rather noisy, the compact, affordable PH 500 turned in a solid, straight-line steering performance in a sloppy seaway. And the best part is you can install the system yourself by plumbing the pump into your existing hydraulic steering lines. The PH 500 lists for $1,560, and the handheld controller is $390. My tests showed for that for small fishing boats and cruisers, this is money well spent.

For more information contact Navico, Dept. BT.com, 11701 Belcher Rd., Suite 128, Largo, FL 33773. phone (813) 524-1555. Fax: (813) 524-1355.