Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

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Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by BOAT »

I bought the wind sensor from them for the rotating mast and I can't get it to work with my chart plotter - is always shows the wind coming from my aft starboard quarter no mater where the wind is coming from.

So I am trying to get hold of Chris to troubleshoot this thing and the email does not work and when you go to the .com website it says "OUT OF BUSINESS".

From my point of view - what SHOULD I think?
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Nauti Nell »

There is a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PegasusAeroNautics/ but posts are old.

or

You should have gotten a kiss.....
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by BOAT »

I suppose - I guess I am back to square one on this wind instrument stuff - I can't seem to find anything that works on a rotating mast.

The instrument seems to be slow in low winds too (I think - I need to test it with another wind instrument) I just sailed for three days and the GPS said I was doing 3 to 4 knots yet the wind indicator said the wind was only 6 to 7 knots. I mean, that might be correct, I do sail very light, so who knows.
On my last trip to Catalina we hit 20 to 30 knot winds and at those wind speeds it seemed to be fairly accurate - but the wind direction was still not right.

But on the wind direction indicator I have never really got the thing to work right since day one. Either the mast sensor moved on the bolt or I did not have it calibrated or one thing or another. Anymore - the sensor just shows the wind always coming from behind me when I am pointing into the wind. And it never shows any wind on the port side no matter what. Really strange.

Maybe it really only works with it's own meter - I'm using it with a chartplotter.

I guess I'll never know now! The guy is gone and the website says out of business! I guess the thing is going into the trash. Another expensive lesson learned I guess.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Russ »

Can you reverse engineer the thing? Seems like it's a fairly simple concept.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by BOAT »

I'm no good with electronics.

If there is anyone out there that knows about electronics and nmea messages and stuff I guess I could send it to them and let them play with it to see if they can get it to work.

I doubt it's ever going to work with a plotter - and I highly doubt it will ever work with it's supplied "mast rotation sensor" - the sensor is just too flimsy for the kind of machinations our mast's go though in the normal course of stepping the mast - I don't think it's a great product for people who trailer their boats.

I have the cable in the mast - that's the best thing - I can use that cable to do something else, but what?

I just don't have the electronic skills to do it. I guess I need to call Maretron and do it the right way -
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Catigale »

Send it to Strebe with the Dilbert challenge,,,,I need some technical to work on this....
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by BOAT »

I have not talked to Mathew for a long time - he is hanging out with those rich Bennetue people now - I'm in the poor people zip code.

I just might mail the wind sensor to him anyways with a note saying "Here is a present - if you fix it you get the beer money".

I was thinking of bypassing the mast sensor completely just to see if the silly thing really works at all, and then add the sensor back into the circuit but wire the mast sensor in at the pedestal wiring instead just to see if I could play with the rotations. If the sensor worked maybe I could get it to work with another instrument? (Shoot, I'm kidding myself - I don't know ANYTHING about electronics). :(

Really - this is getting out of hand - I think i will just get an ultrasonic and put it up there = then i don't need to take it down every time I trailer the boat.

I met another rich boat owner who owned his own company just last week in Oceanside Harbor - I was parked in a guest slip under the Harbormasters office and a couple from Dana Point in a Catalina 32 parked next to us. They were very nice.

He was very knowledgeable about ultrasonic wind instruments. I might give him a call too.

I do have an idea that would make ANY mast top wind sensor work on a MAC M boat with no mechanical interface to deal with - maybe Matt would be interested in that - he seems to have a knack for things that make money.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Hamin' X »

BOAT wrote:I bought the wind sensor from them for the rotating mast and I can't get it to work with my chart plotter - is always shows the wind coming from my aft starboard quarter no mater where the wind is coming from.

So I am trying to get hold of Chris to troubleshoot this thing and the email does not work and when you go to the .com website it says "OUT OF BUSINESS".

From my point of view - what SHOULD I think?
He hasn't checked-in to the forum since last year, but you might send him a PM, or email. Here's his profile:

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12058

~Rich
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by 1st Sail »

I contacted Fly or Sail approx 1yr ago requesting info. He responded immediately. Shortly thereafter I was about to place an order and followed up with a few tech questions. I receive answers the following day. When I asked about availability he stated he had 1 unit left. Unfortunately that was a deal breaker for me. With no back up units or apparently spares for any situation I decided to pass on the order. Granted they are a small company so I would expect a limited inventory. Zero was unacceptable for $1,000 purchase.

The only reasonably priced wind system for a rotating mast is the Sailtimer Wind. Early reviews are mixed. I have been corresponding with them over the past months. Response has always been next day. The new units are using Bluetooth 4.0 which has a broadcast distance of 300ft depending on the sending units strength. This may over come some of the earlier review post complaining about drop out. A 30ft mast would be the edge of transmission distance using older Bluetooth versions IIRC. Otherwise you pop $2K for a TacTick. For $350 I may take a chance. According to the last email units are in stock for immediate ship. Shipping to IL was 2-4 days.

According to their web site they support IOS and Android running Open CPN and also bundle their own software to run on IOS and Android device supporting BlueTooth 4.0.

I may roll the dice on this one. I will keep everyone posted.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by BOAT »

Thanks greatly for that captain - I really need some help on this issue - I have a bad neck and craning my head to look up at a wind vane really hurts. I really want to get something that will work in the system so I can also let the wind vane run the auto pilot some times. I'm not so sure the sailtimer has the ability to send nmea messages without a converter box, but it's still better than nothin'

Your help is greatly appreciated. Please let us know what you find on the wireless unit.

What we really need is an ultrasonic unit - if I could find a ultrasonic unit I would be able to leave the unit on the mast when trailering - that would be the idea situation.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by BOAT »

update,

Today I replaced the mast plate with a new one - also replaced the mast bearing with washers and made the mast rotation nut a little more snug than it was with the bearings. I run my stays really tight so there is just too much pressure on the bearing from BWY - I destroy them withing 8 or 9 months - so I went back to the washers (because I am NOT going to run loose stays - I like my mast bowed back good and I don't like my shock loads to bounce).

Anyways,

I reinstalled the mast sensor on the new plate and re-calibrated the wind instrument. All I can say is that is worked in the driveway - but the last time I calibrated it it worked in the driveway fine too. The problem is getting it to work out in the real world (in the ocean).

So, we are putting out soon and I will let you know.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Ixneigh »

I like the ribbon on the shrouds method. In terms of windspeed the only place im going in 30 knots is ashore to buy a sandwich! Guess all the real sailors live in CA ;)
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Idh63 »

Hi All,

I know I am very late to this tread, and I really have not been here to macgregorsailors in a long time.

I have this FlyorSail wind indicator from Pegasus without the gauge on my :tat26: . I am using NEMA to my B&G Zeus 2. It has worked great since installation, which was May of 2016.

Why I am at the forums today is I do need to re calibrate it since installing the mast bearing from BYW. I have the installation instructions, not the calibration instructions.

Now that I see FlyorSail have given up the business, it's going to be hard to reach anyone for a duplicate set of those instructions. I knew this would be the risk for the savings at purchase time. $795 for the flyorsail solution or around $2000 from a known marine vendor.

I installed the rotating mast bearing about 18 months ago and had no issues.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL »

I use cassette tape on the shrouds. Rock and roll, especially old Rolling Stones seems to work best. Especially GIMME SHELTER. I keep the cassette aboard so that if the tape blows away, I just replace it.
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Re: Flyorsail.com Pegasus Aeronautics ripped me off??

Post by 1st Sail »

This just landed in my email inbox this evening. I have hunted and fished all my life so sensing and reading the wind has never been an issue. But I'm also an anal retentive nerd. So geeking out on a wind system fits my personality. There are days we sail just for fun and there are days we sail with the intentions of squeezing out as much speed as possible just to become better sailors.
C:\Users\dave\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\HAT8LYER\email.mht
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