Glenn Ashmore wrote:
Modern helm steering is like a car. Turn the top of the wheel in the
direction you want to go.

That said, let me try to confuse the subject a little. Until 1933 the
command to turn a ship quickly to port was "Hard-a-Starboard". The idea
being that the command was referencing the tiller rather than the wheel.

As to your radial drive. In a cable system, the arm that turns the rudder
post can be a Quadrant or a full disk radial drive. Radials work best when
the cables can be led directly to the post. Quadrants require a sheave on
either side to guide the cable.


Like a quadrant, or 1/4 circumferential coupling, the telescoping
mono radial or slave tiller arm would require sheaves where the
telescoping steering arm would intersect the bulkheads in the
steering well under the steering deck, as in the system I built for
50 bucks. It worked very well, despite it's technical shortcomings.

The primary design compromise was that the steering was
theoretically less precise at dead ahead than it was at extreme
angles. This was not a practical concern, since at maximum extension
there was a little more slop in the arm and at dead ahead it was
sufficiently precise. In such a system, the further you turn the
wheel, the less deflection of the rudder results than near the
centre. Non the less, 3 turns lock to lock for +, - 45 degrees
maximum rudder angle was sufficient and comfortable in my balanced
spade rudder setup on an HR28.

A full rudder post top wheel, a or 3/4 circular coupling fixture for
circumferential steering cables can lead the cables directly to the
binnacle.

Terry K