marine instrumentation I don't have a clue

[1st Sail]

Saw this post on SailboatOwners. Looks very interesting.
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index. ... er.173144/

Affordable wind instrument if you could couple this to an existing network.
http://www.peetbros.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=137

Is this something of value for you EE's and CE's that could be integrated in to our current NEMA network etc. systems.

Hope I'm not offending anyone or this forum by posting a reference to another forum. If this is an improper post please delete.

[Herschel]

I did a cursory look at the links you asked about, and most of it is "beyond my pay grade". But I can offer my experience with a mast head system that my PO installed. It was a basic Standard Horizon system with two gauges. I initially found it interesting and moderately helpful while it worked. Then it slowly began to degrade and did not offer accurate info. As an old Hobie and small boat sailor, I "regressed" to looking at the wind vane on my VHF radio antenna to check the direction of the apparent wind. Eventually the wind speed indicator cups stopped rotating on the SH system, and now the whole rig sits atop my mast as a nice "status symbol" but is totally non-functional. For wind speed info I use a Skymate (http://www.westmarine.com/buy/speedtech ... r--2803864) when I want to check it. I know that is boating heresy for some, but I am at a "keep it simple" place in life, and that works for me.

[sailboatmike]

Im personally way over the huge price they are asking for instruments that at best work for a while then degrade to just things that fill the holes you had to make to fit them in the first place.

Ahhh but of course you can buy spare parts to fix the thing that should of never broken in the first place for only 90% of the original purchase price of the unit.

I cant work out why I can but a wireless weather station that shows all the info the wind instrument does plus gives you a forecast, time, temp and 73 other various functions for 1/5th the cost of just the mast top sender unit of a brand name instrument.

They must think we are real fools, but then again we keep buying them and not holding them responsible for making a decent reliable unit when our mega dollar unit fails once again,

What ever happened to the old test of "Fit for purpose"

[Seapup]

I cant work out why I can but a wireless weather station that shows all the info the wind instrument does plus gives you a forecast, time, temp and 73 other various functions for 1/5th the cost of just the mast top sender unit of a brand name instrument

I have wondered about picking up one of the more durable looking wireless stations and mast mounting it before. They are cheap enough...

Basic anemometer with bicycle speedometer seems to have potential too...



The ospreys here like to perch on masts, so I am fine without the extra toys.

[Wind Chime]

The ospreys here like to perch on masts, so I am fine without the extra toys.

Hey Seapup, where do you live that you have Ospreys?
That must be cool! Aren't those like the mafia-boss of hawks?

[C Buchs]

Lots of Osprey's here in the Pacific Northwest. They are really fun to watch catch fish. They don't skim the surface like an eagle and grab them. They dive right in. First time I saw it, I thought it had crashed. Very cool to watch. This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ziEBLvDj0 shows one. If you're impatient the dive is about 1:10 into the video.

Jeff

[jcasale]

NE Florida is also a favorite habitat for the osprey. They are an impressive bird to watch hunt (although I don't apreciate the fish and rodent bones and guano left on my deck after they've had thier feast). I had several pinwheels tied to my standing rigging in an effort to dissuade them from roosting on my mast while on the mooring, they did not work.

The University of North Florida, my alma mater, also has the osprey as our mascot.

John
Atlantic Beach, Fl (currently landlocked in Lansdale, PA)
2000

[1st Sail]

In conclusion: this stuff is really for the birds....Got it! I shall remain an instinctive sailor as always who sometimes is led astray by toys. Temptation subdued!
Thanks for the info.

[mastreb]

You might take a look at OpenCPN. It's the open-source chart plotter implementation with the most support. Runs on Android devices, PCs, and there's a Raspberry Pi implementation.

I've done all the instruments from most of the vendors on multiple boats, and frankly I sail by telltales, windex, and compass still. It's faster, easier, and more accurate because there's no processing delay.

Unless you're integrating an autopilot and doing more than daysailing/weekending, I see no reason to do all the instrumentation beyond a cheap chart plotter with a depth sounder, many examples of which are now below $500 from the major vendors.

If you are going to implement an autopilot, do yourself a favor and get the chart-plotter made by the same vendor. Everything works smoothly that way. It's a lot of integration effort otherwise, and none of the DIY/open-source solutions can drive autopilots made by the big vendors.

Autopilots are a HUGE benefit on MacGregors. They make sailing so much easier by keeping a consistent course, which is very difficult for a human to do on these nervous boats. I recommend them for all purposes BUT you really need a major vendor's chart-plotter to work with them. The open-source/DIY stuff doesn't integrate very easily and only the same vendor's chart-plotter can directly drive them.

Offshore cruising to unfamiliar territory is a different matter entirely; for that the instruments are necessary and I wouldn't go cheap.

[1st Sail]

I still have my original Lowrance chartplotter with Navionics maps which is plenty of info. It is a good safety back up if we travel the river after sunset as wing dams and channel marker are noted on the nav maps. In any event I have them all memorized anyway. However, retracing tracks at night is a good back up. If we are traveling up or down river for an event I will record a set of tracks dead center of the channel as a point of reference. With all of my sailing on Midwest Lakes and the upper Miss. I'm in waters I have fished, boated, and sailed for years. So the chart plotter helps prevent overconfidence is a good second reference.

I have windtels on the shrouds and telltales on all my sails which is all I have ever needed. Admittedly I sail for pleasure and other times try to squeeze all the speed I can out of the available wind just to make me a better sail handler. Occasionally wind data would be a great reference for just crunching comparative performance numbers. A wind instrument would be more to satisfy my performance curiosity than anything else. Otherwise a waste of money.

No big deal I have never felt uncomfortable without a wind instrument albeit my hand held wind meter. I just log on to USAirnet.com and get the aviation data for my locale and set sails accordingly. I have found their wind speed, direction, time and weather data quite accurate. If you are sailing in the proximity of an airport the info is quite relevant.


http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi

[BOAT]

Saw this post on SailboatOwners. Looks very interesting.
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index. ... er.173144/

Affordable wind instrument if you could couple this to an existing network.
http://www.peetbros.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=137

Is this something of value for you EE's and CE's that could be integrated in to our current NEMA network etc. systems.

Hope I'm not offending anyone or this forum by posting a reference to another forum. If this is an improper post please delete.

Where were you planning to mount this instrument? You have an M boat so you have a rotating mast. I do not see how these instruments can work on a rotating mast?

[Baha]

I sail on the Norfolk coast of England, which has some pretty tricky winds, and just use the tell-tales and some wind indicators high on the shrouds. There are some work-arounds discussed in earlier posts dealing with mounting wind senors on the rotating mast, but, unless you are racing, I don't see the value. Maybe I am missing something. Although I am a relative newcomer, I feel it is important to get a sense of the wind and how your boat responds to it by "feel" first.

[grady]

Where were you planning to mount this instrument? You have an M boat so you have a rotating mast. I do not see how these instruments can work on a rotating mast?

http://www.nexusmarine.se/products/mari ... s/mrc-box/

[Tomfoolery]

Mine came with a Navman 3100 wind instrument that didn't work. So I took it all out, and put a bulkhead compass where the instrument was. I started messing with it in my shop recently and figured out why it didn't work (iffy plug connection where the speed/direction bits plug into the mast mount). But since I put a Windex up there when I got the boat, I don't really feel the need to put it back. Just one more thing to deal with.

I even broke the tack flags off the Windex by accident when the mast was down, but I don't actually need them (and you can't buy them separately for the smallest one), and just the needle up there is plenty.

[paul I]

Mine came with a Navman 3100 wind instrument that didn't work. So I took it all out, and put a bulkhead compass where the instrument was. I started messing with it in my shop recently and figured out why it didn't work (iffy plug connection where the speed/direction bits plug into the mast mount). But since I put a Windex up there when I got the boat, I don't really feel the need to put it back. Just one more thing to deal with.

I even broke the tack flags off the Windex by accident when the mast was down, but I don't actually need them (and you can't buy them separately for the smallest one), and just the needle up there is plenty.

IMO the wind instrumentation is more hassle than its worth. On my previous boat the masthead sensor failed twice in 4 years and the display failed once as well. And the stuff is fairly expensive. I just use a Windex now. I don't really care to know the wind speed. I did spring for the little illumination light that mounts under the Windex mount so I could see the Windex at night. The light goes on with the nav lights.

I once put the tack indicators on so they were pointing backwards. No one ever even noticed.