smithy09 50 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 The Marshall's wind gear needs an upgrade. Despite lots of attempts at calibration, close hauled direction is still a long way out from tack to tack. I suspect that it is the wand not being high enough, but could also be a chance to put on some new stuff. I am looking at the Raymarine wireless (Old tactik stuff). Has anyone had any experience with these? Any good? How hard to hook into the other wired Raymarine stuff? Any feedback appreciated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Nope, but I'd be happy to do you a deal on "proper" wind gear - B&G ! There are lots of options, from basic to very advanced, with multiple sensors, allowances for Pitch, roll and yaw, lots of customisations - eg different mast twist calibrations, etc etc . All NMEA 2000 of course, so can talk to almost anything. Oh, and by the way, I would not use wireless for wind, unless for a basic system. Even Raymarine say the wireless stuff is for cruisers... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,592 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 my 20 yr old B&G gear is fine, it only moves about 30 degrees when I tack, not bad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 When mine needs upgrading, I am really keen to look at the Cruzpro unit. It has no moving parts as it is Ultrasonic. It measures Air particles traveling through two points, which then calculates speed and direction. Only thing I can see as a problem is that it is NMEA0183 output. That's fine for my older gear, but if I am upgrading to new gear, that might be a problem perhaps.http://www.cruzpro.com/uwsd10.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Nope, but I'd be happy to do you a deal on "proper" wind gear - B&G ! There are lots of options, from basic to very advanced, with multiple sensors, allowances for Pitch, roll and yaw, lots of customisations - eg different mast twist calibrations, etc etc . All NMEA 2000 of course, so can talk to almost anything. Oh, and by the way, I would not use wireless for wind, unless for a basic system. Even Raymarine say the wireless stuff is for cruisers... IT, I will certainly be coming to see you in the near future as I need to get internet from my inmarsat phone to my PC, and have totally failed to date. In the last RNI, where you went was much more important than boatspeed, and having predictwind updates, as well as updates on where the rest of the fleet have gone is critical. We lost the last leg big time because of this, but did real well in legs 2 and 3 by heading where predictwind told us to go.. I'm also keen on getting AIS and a wireless network, so I'm sure I can keep you busy!! B&G sounds great but the rest of the system is Raymarine, so it would have to integrate well!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 No problem with that Smithy, the raymarine stuff just expects the wind data on the bus in NMEA2000 format (Seatalk NG), provided your gear is, in fact Seatalk NG and not just the old Seatalk... Happy to help, when you're ready. Cheers Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bogan 8 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I have a PB200 ultrasonic sensor. Works at least as accurately as the Navman unit it replaced. NMEA2000, and 0183, and can operate as a translator/gateway between the two networks. One thing I can say - it's a tough little unit: in one round waiheke race it came loose early on due to poor mounting of the aluminium mounting stick (that I mounted it on) to the mast. The combined sensor and stick was like a little club hanging by the network cable. It spent the whole beat back in 25 knots up the outside of waiheke hanging from its cable and bashing against the mast. Remounted it afterward and no issues. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Bogan, those are not a bad unit, with lots of the sensors combined - GPS, Heading , WInd, Temp, Pressure etc. However, they are not inexpensive, nor are they recommended for yachts or small vessels. The stability of data is not good enough on a vessel that moves a lot/quickly, or rolls thru more than 30 deg. See www.airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/pb200.pdf It also used a rate compass, with software to compensate for pitch, roll and yaw. The latest and best way to do that is with a solid state compass, with 10hz or better heading outputs, also compensated for pitch roll and yaw. The great thing about these is that they are almost completely immune to movement, and give extremely accurate headings for APs, and for True WInd calcs, therefore currents, drift, and leeway. Both B&G and Raymarine are using these now. This is why, at this time, none of the high end race yachts use these. Yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ballystick 73 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Bogan, Do you refer the Cruzpro meter as the PB200 or is it another device? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 No problem with that Smithy, the raymarine stuff just expects the wind data on the bus in NMEA2000 format (Seatalk NG), provided your gear is, in fact Seatalk NG and not just the old Seatalk... Happy to help, when you're ready. Cheers Matt Hi Matt. I'll give you a call when I'm home. I think the ST60 is seatalk, but I can use a converter... I am looking at going to Evolution on the autopilot as well which is definately seatalk ng. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
El Toro 97 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I wouldnt touch Raymarine with a barge pole, their customer service is absymal and the warraty isnt worth the paper its written on. Most of my gear is Raymarine but Ill be replacing with B&G if and when the need arises. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 I wouldnt touch Raymarine with a barge pole, their customer service is absymal and the warraty isnt worth the paper its written on. Most of my gear is Raymarine but Ill be replacing with B&G if and when the need arises. The Marshall is all Raymarine and I have had very little trouble. Autopilot works OK for an older unit, log, windspeed, interfaces all good. Wind direction is out, and I had one issue with a software fault on an E7 plotter which showed true degrees instead of magnetic for Bearings, even tough it displayed magnetic. This was fixed with a software update. Connecting them altogether was easy and pretty painless compared to the nightmare I had with the isatphone pro trying to get data out of it.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bogan 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Bogan, those are not a bad unit, with lots of the sensors combined - GPS, Heading , WInd, Temp, Pressure etc. However, they are not inexpensive, nor are they recommended for yachts or small vessels. The stability of data is not good enough on a vessel that moves a lot/quickly, or rolls thru more than 30 deg. See www.airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/pb200.pdf It also used a rate compass, with software to compensate for pitch, roll and yaw. The latest and best way to do that is with a solid state compass, with 10hz or better heading outputs, also compensated for pitch roll and yaw. The great thing about these is that they are almost completely immune to movement, and give extremely accurate headings for APs, and for True WInd calcs, therefore currents, drift, and leeway. Both B&G and Raymarine are using these now. This is why, at this time, none of the high end race yachts use these. Yet. Yes the Airmar unit. Not that much more pricey than a typical wind unit. The pitch and roll compensation actually seems pretty good in practice - I believe it is based on accelerometers in the unit. They don't market them to sailors, but if you search the web you will find plenty who have installed them and been impressed. One thing I wouldn't trust is the GPS speed over ground reading from the mast head. That is completely unreliable in waves due to the amount of movement at the masthead. But it doesn't use that for any calcs anyway if you have a suitable log sensor. And your MFD can use a more accurate GPS signal from deck level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1paulg 17 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I have an Airmar unit - been really good until just recently but that was due to a connection issue in the wiring which was relatively simple to fix however since then my SOG and boat speed seem at a little variance besides that all good. In regards to roll - my unit is on a Cat so prob ideal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottiE 174 Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 not too many rolls through 30deg. then Paul !?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1paulg 17 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 not too many rolls through 30deg. then Paul !?! Lol hopefully not !!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sail Rock 28 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 For what it's worth I have a Nexus wind instrument that relies on a wireless connection. It's great when it is working but from time to time this connection fails which necessitates a trip up the mast to bring the vane down to reset it - a pain in the arse! Next time I will avoid purchasing a wireless unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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