Zig-Zag Pattern: When you press the button on the handheld the pilot will begin to zig-zag about the heading you were on when you pressed the button. The zig-zag angle and length period are user defined. The degree of turn has 10 choices from 5 to 50 degrees. The length of the zig-zag has 20 choices, on the Gladiator it ranges from 1/2 minute to 10 minutes by 1/2's and the Gold is from 1 to 20 minutes by 1's. Default settings are set at 30 degree turns and the length of time before it makes its next 30 degree turn is 3 minutes. This pattern is great for trolling bait or lures when you are searching for the targeted fish. It will produce a different presentation of the bait or lure in every turn. This one is a favorite pattern for those who fish for Salmon or Tuna. If you use downriggers for fishing it makes a tangle free turn by allowing you to adjust the degree of turn.
Circles: When you set up for circles and press either the right of left Chevron Buttons (Bent arrows on the Gold Handheld) the autopilot will start the circle. Understanding the circle time, or why there are so many choices depends on what you are targeting. Understand that the 1 minute circle is a pretty small circle, and the 90 minute circle, means that you need to be in pretty open water. (Example: From the time you start the circle and the time you close on the circle is 1 minute.) Fisherman use this feature to stay with the fish. With some fish when you find where they are in an area, that maintaining a circle pattern will produce a better bite. A circle pattern gives you a different presentation on the lure or bait; the inside of the turn will present at a slower rate than the bait on the outside of the turn.
Step Turns: You may set up your autopilot to do step turns. This means that with one press of the Chevron buttons on the handheld (bent arrow on the Gold) you will be able to do a specific degree of turn. You will learn over time what degree of turn you like best. Most people prefer 10 or 15 degree turns. The reason being is that you can also stack the turns by pressing the button a several times (Example: If you had the step turns set up for 15 degrees with one press of the button, you could press the button 2 times and do a 30 degree turn or 3 times for a 45 degree turn.) If you happen to have fishing lines out the sides and back of your boat you probably would not want to turn your boat 45 degrees all at once , unless you like untangling your lines.
U-Turns: These are only available with the TR-1 Gladiator. If you program the buttons for U-turns, pressing the right Chevron button will cause the boat to make a U-turn to the Starboard, and Left Chevron button will cause the boat to make a Port U-Turn. The degree of turn is G-rated, meaning that the faster you are going the larger the U-turn and the slower you are going makes a tighter or smaller turn.
MOB (man overboard) is a stand alone feature not needing a GPS to work. The Gladiator and the Gold both are able to use this feature. When the MOB button is setup and pressed the boat will do a Williamson turn (see picture above) bringing you back over the spot where the MOB was initiated. Of course this is a great safety feature, but it could also be used as a turn to bring you back over a specific spot for fishing.
The following patterns are used in conjunction with your GPS. These features were developed for keeping you in a specific area and not being subject to wind and current and driving you off your point or location. Sometimes it's ok to drift with wind or current, but there are times when you have located the underwater structure and you want to keep coming back over it, or search around it, or orbit a certain distance from it.
Search Pattern: Sometimes it is necessary to search a specific area. Whether its because you know the general area the spot is, but you can't exactly find it, so you need to search an area. You might be looking for a ship wreck or other structure and using the search pattern it will make an outward spiral from a specific waypoint. First set up the special nav function buttons for Search Patterns. When you are near the waypoint you want to search from, select "go to" this waypoint on your GPS, and with the pilot in heading hold, press and release the GPS button and then press and release one of the Chevron Buttons (bent arrows on the Gold). If you pressed the Right Chevron or bent arrow, the waypoint will remain on your starboard side as the spiral search unwinds (gets bigger). You may set the spacing between the laps from 50 to 1000 ft by 50 ft increments.
Cloverleaf Pattern: The clover leaf pattern is intended for use when you wish to repeatedly pass over a point where you think fish may be holding. You must mark the location of the cloverleaf step with a waypoint in your GPS. Once the waypoint is saved, select "go to" this waypoint on your GPS. From heading hold, press and release the GPS button. The pilot will start maneuvering toward the waypoint. By pressing the Chevron buttons (bent arrow on Gold) you will start the boat in a clover leaf pattern. Example: Using the Right Chevron (right bent arrow on Gold) will be traversed by always turning the the starboard. The length of the clover leaf is adjustable in length from 500 ft to 6000 ft in 100 ft increments.
Orbits: The autopilot will orbit the waypoint you have active in your GPS, with the waypoint to your starboard side if you press the Right Chevron (right bent arrow on Gold) button when the GPS LED is lit and the special function Orbit has been enabled. The waypoint will be on your port side if you use the Left Chevron button. The orbital radius is approximately the distance from the waypoint a the time you press one of the Chevron buttons (bent arrow on Gold.)
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