Need autopilot advice- raymarine s1000 or sitex st110

[wnyfisherman]

I am in the midst of rigging a new to me 23 hydrasport boat. It has a bracketed 200hp outboard with seastar hydraulic steering. I am in need of opinions on the inexpensive line of autopilots out there. Wish I could afford the best, but have to compromise. Please chime in your likes/dislikes if you HAVE or HAD one of the following units; raymarine s1000 or sitex st110. I've read mixed reviews and would truly like to hear from a fellow LOU member on their experience, not just rumors.

[wnyfisherman]

Anyone?

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[sszoldra]

I have a Raymarine unit on my boat but it has cable steering. I'm very happy with the unit itself and when I had questions on the install and set up the service people at Raymarine were easy to get to and even walked me thru the sea trial phase of it while on the water.

[wnyfisherman]

Thanks. I found the newer RM Evolution systems on a thread here and I think im going to go that route. The prices are real good for what appears to be a upgrade over the older s1000. 

[CaptSpike]

I haven't had either of the units but if I were you I'd save a little more and get the better unit. You already have hydraulic steering why not set it up to run the best way it can? If you put the cheaper unit on now chances are you'll be ripping it off later and installing the more expensive one anyway. I can see if you didn't already have hydraulic steering using the other style.

JMO,

Spike

[mudflat]

I ran a s1000 on a 21' Center console w\225 Yamaha for years and it did the job reasonably well however the pump was noisy and could get annoying at times, so much so that I would shut it down.  I tried several things to isolate the noise but couldn't.  You would have to be trolling at 3mph at first to get it to engage and then you could slow down to normal speeds (2.2-2.8 for me). Drop below 2 mph and it would shut down

 

I now run with a TR1 gold on my kicker and would not want to go back to the s1000.  More $ but you get what you pay for.  A good auto pilot is worth every penny you spend on it imo.