Autopilot/drive compatibility

[BrianandJocelyn]

We have an Alpha 3000 auto pilot with a failed drive. Will the Alpha control head control a B&G T2 drive and accept input from a B&G rudder position sensor?

[Nauticatarcher]

Drive units are usually dumb, in that they get a reversing current from control unit either forward or reverse, rudder feedbacks of the newer type are sometimes not backward compatible

[Bill O]

Maybe time to upgrade to opencpn and pypilot. Very modern AP and interfaces w/electronics and will not break the bank.

We had an old AP and changed to these. It was like, welcome to the 21st century!
Here's 2 write ups discussing what we did:
Phoenix's Flight: Building a Marine Navigational Computer with OpenCPN and Raspberry Pi3
Phoenix's Flight: Pypilot Open-Source Marine Autopilot for Hydraulic Steering