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KHedquist
09-13-2009, 04:04 AM
Found this on the MinnKota I Pilot looks really cool.

Minn KotaŽ Unveils i-Pilot™: The First Ever GPS-Based Trolling Motor Control System

July 2009

RACINE, Wis.– Minn KotaŽ introduces i-Pilot™, a trolling motor control system which utilizes GPS technology to automatically navigate and position the boat for anglers. “This is a true breakthrough in trolling motor technology,” Minn Kota Product Manager Dave Maryanov said. “What better way to keep you on fish than to have the trolling motor automatically position the boat for you. This is the ultimate in hands-free operation.”
i-Pilot integrates GPS technology into Minn Kota Terrova™, PowerDrive V2, RiptideŽ ST, or Riptide SP bow-mount trolling motors. This creates a new level of versatility for the angler and offers several features that have never before been available on a trolling motor. The Record a Track feature allows an entire fishing track, up to a remarkable two miles in length, to be stored to memory for immediate retracing or a later return trip. As many as three different tracks can be recorded and stored at a time.
The revolutionary Spot-Lock feature works like an electronic anchor, holding the boat in place. If the boat drifts more than five feet from the Spot-Lock location, i-Pilot will activate the trolling motor to keep the angler on the designated spot. It automatically corrects for wind, waves, current and drift. The “recall” feature for Spot-Lock provides the ability to return to that specific location at a later time. Up to three Spot-Lock locations can be stored at a time.

The i-Pilot system offers another groundbreaking innovation being offered to anglers for the first time, Cruise Control. With Cruise Control, i-Pilot maintains real-time on-the-water boat speed in one-tenth mile-per-hour increments. This precise speed control allows the angler to dial in bait presentations in trolling applications.
Also included in the i-Pilot control system is the new GPS-based Advanced AutoPilot™. Advanced AutoPilot utilizes a series of waypoints to maintain a true heading while adjusting for wind, waves, current and side-drift.
Integrated into the i-Pilot remote control is Minn Kota’s famous CoPilot™ wireless trolling motor control system. With the remote, i-Pilot users will be able to control speed and steering from anywhere in the boat. “The whole concept of our i-Pilot system is to allow anglers to adapt all of these great boat control and positioning features and utilize them to their specific fishing application,” said Maryanov.
i-Pilot is available as an add-on accessory for new or current Minn Kota Terrova, PowerDrive V2, Riptide ST and Riptide SP bow-mount trolling motors. The Suggested Retail Price for the i-Pilot system is $399.99.
More specific product information will be available on our website soon.
Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics LLC consists of the Minn Kota, Humminbird and Cannon brands. Minn KotaŽ is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as offers a complete line of battery chargers, Trim Tabs and marine accessories. HumminbirdŽ is a leading innovator and manufacturer of fishfinders, fishfinder/GPS combo units, chartplotters, marine radios and digital depth gauges. CannonŽ is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories.

K Gonefishin
09-14-2009, 08:55 AM
I can't wait to get one.

Jason Halfen
09-15-2009, 10:33 PM
I had a chance to use the Track Record feature for the first time today. It will be ideal for any situation when a moving boat is part of the presentation: casting shorelines, weeds, or rocks; pulling spinners; pulling 3-ways or cranks; livebait rigging....you name it. Very accurate, and completely intuitive to use.

phowler
09-16-2009, 12:27 AM
Will I-Pilot increase the prop speed if needed to counteract the effects of wind or current?

walleyefreak
09-16-2009, 04:13 AM
Will I-Pilot increase the prop speed if needed to counteract the effects of wind or current?

I believe that will be part of the "cruise control" feature that will be included in the I-Pilot. But since I am not a beta tester or anything like that I am not positive, that is just how I intrepreted the information on the ICAST show video.

Jason Halfen
09-16-2009, 04:48 AM
Will I-Pilot increase the prop speed if needed to counteract the effects of wind or current?

This is part of the cruise control function, which will adjust power to the motor in order to match a GPS speed.

The track record function does not record speed, only position. However, a user can operate track record and cruise control at the same time to duplicate position/direction and speed.

phowler
09-16-2009, 09:33 PM
Sounds good, where do I sign up?

KHedquist
09-24-2009, 11:18 AM
looking forward to getting one, the anchor function should be sweet on the river

Jason Halfen
09-27-2009, 08:04 PM
I just added field test data for the i-Pilot Spot Lock feature to the link that Moreyes posted:

I have a unique opportunity to be able to run a MinnKota i-Pilot on my Terrova 101 in advance of the i-Pilot's general release to the market. I am excited to announce that my i-Pilot has just arrived!
I'm going to use this page to acquaint you with the unit, its installation, features, and on-the water capabilities. It will be a work in progress as I acquaint myself with the unit, so be sure to check back regularly over the next couple of weeks.

just received my first bundle of information on the new i-Pilot from MinnKota. You will be among the first to learn about it.

As mentioned in the I-Cast video that many of us saw, the i-Pilot is a GPS-enabled replacement head for current MinnKota electric drive bowmount trolling motors, including the Terrova, Powerdrive V2, and Riptide ST/SP motors. They are compatible with motors manufactured in 2007 and forward. The installation is easy enough that anyone reading this should be able to accomplish it quite easily. The functions of the i-Pilot, described below, are controlled with a fully sealed, waterproof, floating remote control.
Track Record

This afternoon, I took a break from fishing to test the first of i-Pilot's GPS enabled functions: Track Record. The track record function allows i-Pilot to record GPS position data in the form of a set of "track points" while the boat is underway (when powered by the bowmount; a Terrova in this case), and then retrace the track from beginning to end, or from end to beginning, as many times as the user likes.

i-Pilot can record up to three separate tracks, each up to 2 miles in length. When retracing a GPS track, i-Pilot controls the steering of the motor. Speed is not recorded by the Track Record function, only position; speed can be set and adjusted manually, or controlled using the i-Pilot "Cruise Control" function.
The track record functions are controlled by the i-Pilot remote. The first picture is of the remote while I was recording a track (more on that later). The second picture above highlights that portion of the remote control that is used for Track Record. The final picture above shows this region of the remote in more detail. Only a few buttons are needed to use the track record function: the record button (R) in the upper left, the pause button in the upper right, and two arrow buttons in the middle...return to start and return to end, where start (first recorded track point) and end (last recorded track point) refer to the two termini of the recorded track.
Click on the images for larger pictures
To start recording a track, the user presses the "R" button once. Doing so allows the user to select a memory location for the track (A, B, or C) using the + and - keys that normally control speed. A selection must be made within 3 seconds, otherwise i-Pilot will record the track in whichever memory location is currently displayed on the remote. When a recording is being made, "Rec" is present on the i-Pilot remote's display, as well as the memory location (memory location A, in this case). When I took this picture, I had 4 "bars" of GPS signal strength, my motor power setting was 3.5 (top, center), my GPS speed was 0.8 mph (lower left).
Click on the images for larger pictures
As I noted above, speed is not recorded by Track Record, only position. Motor speed can be adjusted at any time while the track is being recorded. I clipped along at a fair pace during this trial, and even checked the i-Pilot's speed against that determined by my Humminbird 997. As you can see in the second picture, the speed correlation is perfect.
After recording a track, I wanted to see how accurate i-Pilot would be in playing back the recorded track...or, in other words, how close to the original track I would be when I pressed the "Track to start" or "Track to end" arrow keys. So, I wandered a short distance away from the track, and pressed the "Track to start" arrow key. Under these circumstances, i-Pilot moves directly to the nearest track point, and then follows the recorded track points back to the first point (or the last, if I had pressed the "Track to end" arrow key).

In short, i-Pilot did a great job of returning to the track and then following the track back to its first track point (the start). Once i-Pilot arrived at that point, it turned the motor power off, rather than continuing to drive right through it. What a great feature!
Rather than asking you to just believe me that i-Pilot does a great job at following a recorded track, take a look at the screen capture from my Humminbird 997 shown below (first picture). I took this screen capture after i-Pilot had returned me to the start of the recorded track. Let me decode the screen capture for you (second picture): I began to record the track at the blue arrow. I made a few turns and stopped recording the track at the green arrow. My recorded track is the lower of the two paths in the screen capture. Then, I moved the boat off the track (to the red arrow), and pressed the "Track to start" arrow. Look at what i-Pilot did: it moved back to the nearest recorded track point, then followed the recorded track right back to the first recorded point (just behind the boat icon). i-Pilot's path back to the beginning of the recorded track is the upper path in the screen capture. Not bad!!! Note the distance scale from the screen capture; the deviation from the original recorded path is quite small. It looks like it's under 10 feet for most of the "playback" track...right about the normal GPS position accuracy that I normally see with my Humminbird 997c (7-10 feet).
Click on the images for larger pictures
Ok, we've recorded a track, we've replayed the recorded track to the beginning....let's have i-Pilot turn us around and replay the track again, from beginning to end.

One press of the "Track to end" arrow key, a speed adjustment with the + or - keys, and we're off. You can see what the i-Pilot remote displays while playing back the recorded track in the first picture; a down-pointing arrow with the word "end" is displayed in the middle of the screen, along with my GPS speed (lower left), GPS signal strength (upper left), motor power setting (7), and the memory location for the recorded track (A).
How did i-Pilot do on this second pass, following the original track from beginning to end? Great, just as it did when playing the track from near the end back to the beginning. My Humminbird 997 screen capture, shown in full and zoomed in below, tells the whole story. I took that screen capture after i-Pilot had turned the motor off upon arriving at the end of the recorded track; note that I'm coasting from the speed I was running while the track was playing (2.0 mph) down to (and through) 0.7 mph now that the motor is turned off.

One use of Track Record and I'm thoroughly impressed. Think about all of the uses for this sort of feature while you fish. Do you like to cast weedbeds? Pull spinners over open water? Follow precise contours of a mudflat while rigging live bait? Cast shorelines? I could go on and on...

Track record is true "set and forget" steering control for your MinnKota bowmount. Set your path with Track Record, and then forget about controlling your boat after that. i-Pilot will take care of the boat control while you focus on setting the hook.


The i-Pilot has 4 revolutionary functions, enabled by its internal GPS-based system. These include:

Record a track
Simply push the Record button and fish along your desired course. i-Pilot will store that track to memory (up to three separate tracks). When you want to retrace a course, i-Pilot’s Playback functions will automatically guide your boat down the track.

i-Pilot can record your track (A to B), and then retrace the path automatically. To retrace your path in either direction, just press the Track to Start or Track to End buttons.

Spot-lock
Spot-Lock works like an electronic anchor. With the push of a button, Spot-Lock will keep you on the fish. Spot-Lock Recall lets you return to that spot later.

Select your spot, and if you drift more than five feet away, i-Pilot will trigger your trolling motor to bring you back.

CoPilot™ and Cruise Control
Select and maintain a consistent speed for optimum bait presentation with cruise control, and use the legendary speed and steering functions of Minn KotaŽ CoPilot™ to precisely control your boat.

Advanced AutoPilot™
Just point your trolling motor in the direction you want to head and activate Advanced AutoPilot™. i-Pilot keeps you on your heading and delivers you there with GPS accuracy, compensating for wind, waves, currents or drift.
Here's a look at the i-Pilot remote control. The keys for the different functions are all grouped together.

For example, the familiar co-pilot keys are all at the top (under the display).

The record-a-track keys are beneath the co-pilot keys, in the middle of the remote.

On the left side, towards the bottom, are the autopilot and cruise control keys.

On the right side, towards the bottom, are the spot-lock keys (look for the anchor).

The i-Pilot will be available in November, with a retail price of $399.

I look forward to receiving mine and putting it through its paces, especially on the river this fall.

Head Unit

The brains of the i-Pilot are contained within a head unit that replaces the top half of my Terrova's head. The head unit contains the integrated GPS receiver and all of the electronics required to control the Terrova's steering and thrust. Here are a few pics of the head unit itself, before installation.

The primary linkage between the guts of the Terrova and the i-Pilot is a single, insulated plug that you can see hanging over the top of the unit in the second photo.

The third photo shows a portion of my i-Pilot's serial number. Feels kinda fun to be driving i-Pilot #2!
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Remote

Users will control all i-Pilot functions with a hand-held, floating, fully-sealed remote. Here are some pics of the remote. More information about the remote's functions will be in the way soon, as soon as I install the unit.

The remote is quite light, lighter than I expected. It weighs about as much (or perhaps less than) a typical remote control for your TV.

The third pic shows the guts of the remote, accessed by removing the 6 Phillips screws from the back of the unit. This makes the battery accessible for easy replacement.

Now, off to install the unit on my Terrova!

Terrova installation

Installing the i-Pilot onto my Terrova was ridiculously easy. It took, perhaps, 5 minutes, including the time needed to take the pictures below. It's clear to me that the engineers at MinnKota had the Terrova in mind when they designed the i-Pilot.

Step 1. Disconnect power to the trolling motor.

Step 2. Remove the cover to the head unit by unscrewing the four screws found on the underside of the trolling motor's head.

Step 3. This exposed the components found in the head unit. If you have an autopilot (like I did), then the autopilot must be disconnected and removed.
Click on the images for larger pictures
Click on the images for larger pictures
Step 4. Unseat the autopilot from the head unit, and disconnect it from the motor's electronics (unplug one plug, and you're done).

Step 5. Into that plug that used to contain the autopilot, plug in the i-Pilot. 2 very satisfying clicks on the way in, just as advertised in the i-Pilot manual.

Step 6. Attach the i-Pilot to the remainder of the motor using the four original screws.

I verified a successful installation by deploying the motor...3 quick little chirps means that all is well.

Now, it's time to take it out on the water. So, off to a little nearby lake that's hosting a walleye tournament next weekend. More when I return!

Click on the images for larger pictures
First impressions on the water

I had a chance to use my i-Pilot for the first time this weekend. The more I use it, the more situations I think of where the i-Pilot and its GPS-enabled functions will become central to my boat control and bait presentation.

I'll start the discussion by talking about some features that current Co-Pilot owners will find very familiar. The i-Pilot's co-pilot features (basic direction and speed control) are at the top of the remote. Check out the first picture for a look at the remote itself, and the second picture to see the co-pilot speed and steering controls.
The left and right steering arrows are self-explanatory. In the middle of this section of buttons is the prop button: one push to turn the prop on, a second push to turn it off. The plus and minus buttons incrementally change the speed of the propeller. Below the prop button is the jackrabbit key, which increases motor thrust to maximum; below the jackrabbit key is the backlight key, which makes the display readable at night.

One evolutionary step I noticed right away is that the basic speed control is tunable in 1/2-unit steps. In other words, speeds can be set at 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, etc. This finer degree of speed control will be wonderful for dialing in a precise motor speed for finesse bait presentations; wintertime jig dragging on the river comes immediately to mind. The third photo above shows the remote's display, with this half-increment speed (2 1/2) noted above the propeller.
Click on the images for larger pictures
Let's go back to the i-Pilot remote's display, shown in detail at right. A lot of information can be presented on the display; we'll go through all of the icons as they present themselves during this orientation.

In the upper left is the GPS signal strength, measured in bars like on a cell phone. The i-Pilot requires at least one bar of signal strength for its GPS-enabled functions to work. The standard co-pilot steering and power controls are not GPS dependent, so they'll work well in areas where signal strength is low, like in a steep canyon or an area that is near a heavy leaf canopy.
To the right of the signal strength indicator is the current motor power setting. It ranges from 1-10, in half-unit increments. In this picture, the motor is on power setting #5.

Below the power indicator is a propeller icon. This icon spins when the motor is running.

In the lower left is the current GPS speed. It is completely accurate, when checked against the Humminbird GPS that I have mounted at the bow. Having this GPS speed in the remote is a tremendous advantage. Since you can be anywhere in the boat while controlling the bowmount, you need not be anywhere near a fixed locator screen in order to check your speed. This GPS speed is the heart of the i-Pilot "Cruise Control" function that we'll discuss in the near future.

walleyefreak
09-28-2009, 05:43 AM
Very impressive. Thanks for posting that information.

I really REALLY can't wait to get one of these!!

KHedquist
09-29-2009, 01:52 PM
Saugerama Tourney date October 17, 2009.

I hear that Jason will be having a on the water demo of the I Pilot at Everts Resort Pool 4 at the above date, and Everts is accross the river from Red Wing

KHedquist
09-29-2009, 02:05 PM
The nuts and bolts

AllenW
09-29-2009, 02:42 PM
Couple questions if I may....

It replaces the board in my Terrova right?
Good considering the short lives the boards seem to have have.

How does it keep a 5 foot spot if according to what I've read, the GPS isn't that accurate?
Nice feature even if the spot was a bit bigger.

You can not program a course into the unit?
Appears you have to actually run the course???

And the biggie...
How much $ ??

Warranty??


Looks like a nice system, considering the boards are a $100 on a Terrova, might be a nice upgrade.

Al

MikeF
09-29-2009, 03:52 PM
Johnson Outdoors

MMmmm

I think we may see in the future an interlink between the Humminbird units and the i-pilot.

You can have three tracks with the "other" units or you can have many more waypoints and tracks connected to "our" unit.

Should be interesting to see future developments now that Humminbird just announced the down scan update.

KHedquist
09-29-2009, 04:26 PM
Allen go to Jasons website he some go info, he is actually using it now

Jason Halfen
09-29-2009, 09:18 PM
Couple questions if I may....

It replaces the board in my Terrova right?
Good considering the short lives the boards seem to have have.

How does it keep a 5 foot spot if according to what I've read, the GPS isn't that accurate?
Nice feature even if the spot was a bit bigger.

You can not program a course into the unit?
Appears you have to actually run the course???

And the biggie...
How much $ ??

Warranty??


Looks like a nice system, considering the boards are a $100 on a Terrova, might be a nice upgrade.

Al

Allen,

The i-Pilot does not replace the Terrova board. The only thing it replaces is the AutoPilot, if your Terrove is so equipped. More information on the i-Pilot's components can be found on my site, which Moreyes referred you to.

I can't speak to the accuracy of the i-Pilot GPS function vs a standard GPS receiver, but I know that using my AS GR50 receiver, my typical position accuracy (as noted on my 1197) is 7-10 feet. The Spot Lock feature will control prop speed and direction when the trolling motor leaves the 5-foot diameter circle surrounding the point at which Spot Lock is engaged. On my site, I have some field test data for Spot Lock that I collected in a 20+ mph wind and decent chop. If you review that information, I think you see that while my boat did move outside of a 5-foot circle under those conditions, it still stayed very very (VERY!) close to the original spot lock position. Based on the scale of my GPS chart screen, I estimate that all of my boat movements were contained within a 20' x 20' square. Not bad for a pretty stiff breeze!

To enter a course using the Track Record feature, you must actually run the course while recording it. You could certainly run the course with your main motor (as long as the trolling motor was deployed, as deploying the Terrova is what provides power to i-Pilot) while recording in order to get it entered more quickly, but you must actually travel the course. In the future, with both Humminbird and MinnKota under one roof, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a system where a GPS course could be plotted on a chartplotter, and that course sent to the trolling motor for it to follow.

The i-Pilot will retail for $399 when released this November. It carries a 2 year warranty.

Hope that helps! There is a lot of i-Pilot test data on my site, and more will be added after this weekend.

babyranger617
09-30-2009, 02:03 AM
this is unreal looks like its going to be a must have for people who troll with bow mounts, talk about auto pilot

Dicko1
10-03-2009, 06:34 PM
Hi Guys,

Some good info on here about the I pilot

One question I can't find after searching various posts is will the existing co pilot remotes still work after fitting the I pilot module ?

The reason being, I've just ordered a terrova, 2 remotes (1 std, 1 extra) and a corded foot pedal (as a back up if all the remote stuff blows up).

Here's what I want to do. If the I pilot is fitted, one person will have that and use the new I pilot functions, can another person still use the standard remote to control the standard co pilot functions or do we have to change to 2 of the new remotes ?

Thanks for any input.

Jason Halfen
10-03-2009, 06:56 PM
This is straight from the i-Pilot manual:

"i-Pilot will override all CoPilot functionality. CoPilot remotes will not function with i-Pilot."

"Q: Is i-Pilot compatible with CoPilot

A: No. None of the components of the two systems are compatible with each other."

Keep in mind that i-Pilot has, as part of its basic (non-GPS) functions, all of the co-Pilot-type controls: steering, prop speed, etc.

Dicko1
10-03-2009, 07:29 PM
Thanks Jason, even though it's not the reply I wanted to hear.

Basically means I've just bought some gear which will be redundant with the I pilot as once an I-pilot is fitted, I'll need an extra remote for that system as well. :(

Dicko1
10-03-2009, 07:30 PM
Also, does that mean the remote foot pedal won't work if it uses the same reciever as the co pilot ?

What about the corded foot pedal ?

Jason Halfen
10-03-2009, 08:29 PM
The corded foot pedal remains functional with Terrova, but not with PowerDrive V2.

AllenW
10-04-2009, 01:50 PM
Allen,

The i-Pilot does not replace the Terrova board. The only thing it replaces is the AutoPilot, if your Terrove is so equipped. More information on the i-Pilot's components can be found on my site, which Moreyes referred you to.

I can't speak to the accuracy of the i-Pilot GPS function vs a standard GPS receiver, but I know that using my AS GR50 receiver, my typical position accuracy (as noted on my 1197) is 7-10 feet. The Spot Lock feature will control prop speed and direction when the trolling motor leaves the 5-foot diameter circle surrounding the point at which Spot Lock is engaged. On my site, I have some field test data for Spot Lock that I collected in a 20+ mph wind and decent chop. If you review that information, I think you see that while my boat did move outside of a 5-foot circle under those conditions, it still stayed very very (VERY!) close to the original spot lock position. Based on the scale of my GPS chart screen, I estimate that all of my boat movements were contained within a 20' x 20' square. Not bad for a pretty stiff breeze!

To enter a course using the Track Record feature, you must actually run the course while recording it. You could certainly run the course with your main motor (as long as the trolling motor was deployed, as deploying the Terrova is what provides power to i-Pilot) while recording in order to get it entered more quickly, but you must actually travel the course. In the future, with both Humminbird and MinnKota under one roof, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a system where a GPS course could be plotted on a chartplotter, and that course sent to the trolling motor for it to follow.

The i-Pilot will retail for $399 when released this November. It carries a 2 year warranty.

Hope that helps! There is a lot of i-Pilot test data on my site, and more will be added after this weekend.


I'll spend some more time on your site, thanks for posting.

Does the Terrova have two boards then?
I'm on my third board and I just assumed the unit had only one board...maybe not.??
Little confused as its the Auto Pilot that's been giving me the problems.

20 foot would still be nice, I just read of 5 foot accuracy and was just wondering how they got that.

Nice feature if the foot control still works with the I pilot.

A feature where you could input a course before you run it would make it much nicer.
Until that happens, not so sure I can justify $400 for it.
Ya never know though..:)

Al

Jason Halfen
10-05-2009, 05:51 AM
Maybe we just have a terminology problem.

When you mentioned board, I immediately assumed you meant a printed circuit board, like the one that is in the foot pedals or so forth.

The autopilot "board", if your Terrova is equipped with one, is removed during the install process.

Sorry for the confusion.

Jason Halfen
10-05-2009, 05:54 AM
A new test run for the Track Record and Cruise Control features is now available on my site. I collected it on the Mississippi River near Red Wing yesterday, as I wanted to see how i-Pilot performed in a setting where wind, current, and wakes from big cruisers work together to make boat control challenging.

AllenW
10-05-2009, 07:30 AM
Maybe we just have a terminology problem.

When you mentioned board, I immediately assumed you meant a printed circuit board, like the one that is in the foot pedals or so forth.

The autopilot "board", if your Terrova is equipped with one, is removed during the install process.

Sorry for the confusion.

No problem, probably me confusing you... :)

If it does replace that board in the trolling motor and not in the foot control, it makes the I pilot much more desirable as that board is about a $100.
Doesn't take to many boards to have paid for the I pilot.


Al

Jason Halfen
10-05-2009, 08:21 AM
I think we're piecing it together now.

This picture shows my Terrova with the cover removed, during the install process. The autopilot, which is comprised of the small black box (red arrow) and the attached compass (blue arrow) are removed during the install. The cable to which the black box is connected is how the i-Pilot connects to and controls the motor.

AllenW
10-05-2009, 09:50 AM
I think we got it...:)

Thanks.

Al

RichZ
10-28-2009, 10:30 PM
This is straight from the i-Pilot manual:

"i-Pilot will override all CoPilot functionality. CoPilot remotes will not function with i-Pilot."


That is a bummer. To me, one of the most attractive features of the CoPilot is the wrist mounted remote. It's always right there where I can get at it without looking or fumbling around. I've seen guys using the MG 'key fob' style remote, and it doesn't strike me as being very convenient or efficient. And that's what it looks like I'd be forced to do with the i-Pilot's larger remote. I'd been hoping that i-Pilot installation wouldn't disable my existing CoPilot.

FEDER
10-29-2009, 06:27 AM
Did have the chance to test out the I-Pilot again with Minn-Kota and Tom Neustrom Tuesday 10-27-09 on Lake Minn-Kota for about 2.5 hours. This time we had a lot of wind during testing as i had hoped for as i wanted to see how the I-Pilot would handle in bigger winds.

We spent lots of time with Spot Lock and Track Record, and the system performs great. It seems that everytime you get on the water with this system you or someone in the boat comes up with applications of how they will use differant feratures for styles of fishing.

I can't wait till i can get people out in the boat for TestRides with the I-Pilot as seeing and doing is believing. This is a piece of equipment that everyone is going to want on their boat.

Please if you have any questions give me a call
1-218-255-3535

George Feder

pwrfshn
10-29-2009, 10:19 AM
Jason,

Thanks for all your help and info. Hopefully you don't mind the migrating of some of your info over from your site that had been referenced in your replies.

Please understand that we want to encourage you to post pictures and information on WC, we just can't allow the off site linking.

Keep up the great work and we truly appreciate the information.