In article ,
Jerry wrote:

My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. ...

I had a similar problem with my smartpilot S2G. Not only did the
autopilot behaved irradically, also the autopilot now and then
reports loss of GPS-info, while the GPS-page on the chartplotter
shows no problem at all. The only way to get the smartpilot back to
work was to pull its fuse (and thus also powering down all Seatalk-
connected equipment, except for the chartplotter, which has its own
powerfuse).

After months of trying to locate the problem, I accidently found it:
the ST600r on the outside console beeped now and then for no appearant
reason.

It turned out that the Raymarine SeaTalk connector of the ST600r was
the problem. At full power this caused the ST600r to produce enough
garbage onto the SeaTalk-bus to screw up the autopilot.

Inspecting the connector and socket revieled that there is hardly any
contact-presure between the pins and the sockets. In a stationary
situation,the connection is fine, and thus is the problem impossible
to find while in the harbor. But when the engine is running full
speed the vibration causes the connection to get flakey.

After fixing the louzy Raymarine SeaTalk connector I have had no
more problem.

It is amazing that a company as RayMarine delivers such rotten
connectors with its (rather expensive) equipment.

Regards,
-- ted