Airmar DST810 Triducer with heel, pitch, roll and Bluetooth

[PaulRainbow]

I fitted one of these last season when my DST800 (now discontinued) expired. It fits in the same through hull fitting as the DST800, so fitting was very straightforward. It does the usual depth, STW and water temp, but new to the DST810 is heel, pitch and roll data, plus being able to connect to the transducer using Bluetooth and an iOS or Android device with the Airmar Cast app'. The app' can be used to configure the transducer and set offsets etc, as well as displaying live data.

Looks good on my phone:

I think i might need to buy a cheap Android tablet for some of this stuff.

Not sure what navigation electronics take advantage of this new data, if any, as it's not been out for very long at all.

 

[Tintin]

It potentially could be used for autopilots I guess. Maybe next generation.

 

[PaulRainbow]

It potentially could be used for autopilots I guess. Maybe next generation.

Newer autopilots from the big names now include multi axis sensors that do roll, pitch,heel, rate of turn and even acceleration.

 

[Neeves]

Heel, pitch and roll have been available on tablets for some time now, nothing new as recent models (and maybe older ones), tablets and phones at least have built in accelerometers.

Just download SCraMP (free) and you can be up and running in no time. There are a number of other apps - SCraMP, to me seems the best, but go to the App Store and look for accelerometers and it will come up with a few, try also VibSensor and Accelerometer, for example.

SCraMP has been around for some time and was developed to increase safety factors for commercial fishermen - so its development is fairly close to how we might use the data.

Now tell me where you find this useful

Jonathan

 

[RobbieW]

A device with accelerometers in the axes of roll, pitch and yaw is the basis for an inertial platform navigation system. Used in aircraft for 50 plus years. To my ear roll and heel are the same thing, I'd expect to see yaw, ie wobbling around heading, as the third axis.

Thinking a bit, you'd need other feeds to gauge movement from the initial location to build up the nav element. The basics of a steady platform would be covered by those three axes though. Used to be done with gyros measuring precession.

Note that I'm remembering stuff learned as an avionic apprentice 50 years ago, then never used as I worked short haul that didn't have these systems

 

[LadyInBed]

Heel, pitch and roll have been available on tablets for some time now

Now tell me where you find this useful

Jonathan

People with a delicate stomach can now point to it and declare that they have reached their threshold ?

 

[Ningaloo]

Many of the current leisure (as opposed to racing which probably have far more sophisticated inputs) autopilots now use something like B&G Precision 9 which is so much more than just a compass and puts heading, rate of turn, roll and pitch (no yaw?) onto the network. My 2015 boat missed out on this and had a more basic rate compass so I'll be interested to see if I notice a difference on the new one which has the Precision 9. I imagine that having additional data from the Airmar sensor at the bow of the boat could enhance the autopilot response further as long as it is aware of the relative positions of the sensors.
Not sure if any MFD have ability to display this so the Scramp app looks interesting - if only to tell you you should have stayed in port when things get lumpy!

 

[PaulRainbow]

Heel, pitch and roll have been available on tablets for some time now, nothing new as recent models (and maybe older ones), tablets and phones at least have built in accelerometers.

Just download SCraMP (free) and you can be up and running in no time. There are a number of other apps - SCraMP, to me seems the best, but go to the App Store and look for accelerometers and it will come up with a few, try also VibSensor and Accelerometer, for example.

SCraMP has been around for some time and was developed to increase safety factors for commercial fishermen - so its development is fairly close to how we might use the data.

Now tell me where you find this useful

Jonathan

Yes, some of the features are available on phones and tablets. The DST810 does still offer something new though, it tells me depth, STW and water temp, which my old DST800 did, but it now adds heel, pitch and roll data to my N2K network. The app can configure my depth transducer or my STW from a Bluetooth device, which certainly looks easier than using my plotter or a GMI20.

STW can also be calibrated for different angles of heel, although i don't think i'll be needing that.

Is any of it useful you ask, as i said, the calibration looks easier but other than that, at the moment, all does does is show you some additional data. The DST800 was very popular device, so as the DST810 also becomes more common, perhaps the electronics manufacturers will start to make use of the data ?

For anyone with onboard tablets at the chart table etc, it does at least look pretty