Are Tacktick entry level any good?

[jpcarter30]

It's come to that time where the autohelm kit is just too old and is letting me down and I have to replace my depth display immediately, the others too but this is most pressing.

I really like the idea of a wireless set up and I wonder if anyone has experience of Tacktick gear - plusses and minuses? All thoughts welcome.

 

[alan_d]

A problem with the entry-level stuff is that it is not as wireless as their standard kit.

 

[Twister_Ken]

A problem with the entry-level stuff is that it is not as wireless as their standard kit.

OTOH the OP already has power cables in place, so that's one job less.

I now use pukka Tacktick. Good (so far) but the menu system for calling up the data you want to display is fiendishly complicated and the operating manuals are not especially helpful.

 

[r_h]

Two further things in favour of Tacktick:

The power usage is minimal compared to many other systems and the units are fully submersible (to 10m IIRC), which help enormously with long-term reliability.

 

[Strathglass]

It's come to that time where the autohelm kit is just too old and is letting me down and I have to replace my depth display immediately, the others too but this is most pressing.

I really like the idea of a wireless set up and I wonder if anyone has experience of Tacktick gear - plusses and minuses? All thoughts welcome.

I finished fitting a standard Tactick system yesterday (Wind, Dual and inside repeater)

The displays themselves appear quite robust, The masthead bit appears much stronger then my own NASA assembly. The housing and the log/depth sensor seem ok.

The log /depth transmitter still needs a 12 volt supply.
The mechanics of removing the old instruments and finding how to mount the new bits just takes as long.
The Tactick instruments arrive with uncharged batteries and MUST be charged before you can play with them or try to set them up.
Setting up - The hard copy of basic setting up procedures has just enough info on it to allow this. But it has been written by someone who knows the product very well - Not the easiest of manuals to understand.
After I had succeeded in setting them up the owner then told me there was a CD supplied with more explicit instructions but, as I did not have my laptop with me it's only use on the boat was as a bird scarer.

Once they were set up they were very easy to use although I did mark the back of them with their boat positions as two of the displays seem to look identical. There appears to be no way of telling what each unit had been pre-programmed to function as until switched on.

They certainly seem a big advancement on the old autohelm instruments I replaced and I am sure the owner will very quickly become familiar with their operation.

I would like them on my own boat if I could finacially justify them especially as last week I was perched on my own mast 55 feet above the ground reconnecting the five wires then refitting the repaired NASA wind assembly (it had lost it's cups).

Iain

 

[Greenwichman]

It's come to that time where the autohelm kit is just too old and is letting me down and I have to replace my depth display immediately, the others too but this is most pressing.

I really like the idea of a wireless set up and I wonder if anyone has experience of Tacktick gear - plusses and minuses? All thoughts welcome.

Had to face this expense last year. Fitted Tacktick and have used it ever since in all weathers and through the winter with low sunlight for re-charging the displays. All well so far and I really like the kit even though not cheapest on the market.

No problems with maintaining charge. The units have stayed in synch, too, although a friend had difficulty with that on his boat and had to re-synch (no more complicated than ordinary Bluetooth, except that one unit is 35 feet up in the air!).

Only snag to date has been failure of the non-return valve in the skin fitting (which is a spring-loaded flap). Not really Tacktick kit, as universal fitting for transducer. Resolved easily once dried out on a grid.

The printed guidance material is a bit basic, but the on-line information is fine and the company and its east coast fitting agent offer a friendly and efficient after-sales service.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lizzie_B]

Have the standard log and depth on the dual display and wind onto analogue display. Was very straightforward to set up provided you read through instructions carefully and do it step by step. A friend had no end of trouble because he decided to do it 'intuitively' and spent days tearing his hair out trying to tune the display unit at home 54 miles away from the transmitter unit on the boat! whereas they all need to be synchronised within a few feet of each other.

Have been very happy with performance. I find the ability to unhook the display and take it home with me a bonus.
Initially the depth reading was a bit erratic but this settled after a couple of days.
Bought mine for about $1200 from defender.com in the states on special offer so can't complain about the price.

 

[thedoc]

I have had tacktick for 4 years and very pleased with them. Looked forward to removing wiring from the mast but one bit was terminally jammed in there so is still there! Units work very well and keep their charge all winter (i do short winters!) as long as you put them away fully charged. The only gripe I have had has been with the wind instruments. I am now on my third in 4 years, one jammed completely after 9 months use and the other wouldnt read above 24 knots even in a force 8. Tackctick replaced the units but it was hard work getting them to do so and I had to pay half the sum for one of them (which I am still a bit bitter about). I have tried to find out if there is a reliability issue with the wind instruments.......anyone else had trouble?

 

[Hermit]

I have had the Tactick log and depth dual display (with separate transducers) for a couple of years now. Found them very easy to fit and use and never had a problem. (which will probably all change now I have said it!)

 

[jow]

Good kit

Hi,

I had Tackticks (wind, speed, depth, NMEA) on my last boat for four years and I loved them.
They worked without any trouble despite one spot near the Dublin harbour where the wind instrument always lost connection to the system. I blame it on some kind of frequency overlays or whatever.
Beside that, I had three displays, the NMEA was interlinked with the chartplotter and all ran very smoothly. I loved the possibility to clip them on/off and take them home after the sailing as well as take them down to monitor wind speed at the mooring.

I bought a full set for my new boat again.

Regarding the need to charge them when you buy them: Can't agree on that. Both sets I purchased (the one four years ago and the new one) are fully charged. Maybe you got an old one?

Regards,
jow

 

[jbweston]

I had them on the old boat. |I thought they were excellent.

Fitted them myself to replace B&G kit as I wanted to interface with a modern autopilot and also was replacing the mast so wanted to avoid having to run new wires through the boat. The B&G's came from the culture of 'keep the customer in the dark about interfacing as it is (or we'd like it to be) a job for professionals'. Interfacing with the Raymarine autopilot and Furuno GPS was a piece of cake with the Tacktick kit because they were properly documented.

Yes, you do need to supply 12v to the sounder and log transducers (but not to the masthead). No trouble setting up and calibrating. I found them reliable - waterproof, easily keeping charge between visists to the boat, charging OK under the sprayhood and on dull days etc. Never malfunctioned or gave spurious readings. Well lit and lighting level adjustable at night.

I had the sounder, log and wind transducers, the interface box (to connect to and from NMEA), the analog wind indicator and three multifunction displays (one for chart table). I never bothered with 12v supply for the chart table display as I simply swapped it with one from the cockpit when the bettery ran low.

Also they have a really good simple bracket that holds the display tightly but allows you to dismount it in a moment to stow below. The way to tell which is which before they are turned on is you can't - you turn them on and that tells you. Best to turn them all on as they lie on the chart table before you leave the mooring and then fit the 'right' ones in the right slots in the cockpit.

I used to run with my cockpit displays set to show depth and speed on one display, and GPS info (usally distance to waypoint and ground track) on the other, with the third display being the wind speed and direction.

Any negatives? I don't think the digits on the displays are quite as clear as on my Raymarine ST60s on my new boat. That's partly because there are two lines of medium-large figures on the Tackticks, whereas the Raymarines are dedicated log or depth and so the digits are bigger. Also the Tacktick displays will show you anything that's available on the system, so once your start scrolling through it can take a while to rotate to the point where you started, and I can see that might confuse some people - but that's the other side of the coin from being able to get exactly what you want on each of the digital displays.

 

[Searush]

Just curious, Tacktic are radio senders - right? They use rechargeable batteries - right? And "they last all season" - so I have to take my mast down, or climb it to recharge them do I - or do you put 12v cables up there to power them (which rather defeats the object to me).

I gave up on Bluetooth computer ancilliaries because of the unpredictability of rechargeable batteries & the need to keep changing them, so how do Tacktic deal with this issue?

 

[jbweston]

Just curious, Tacktic are radio senders - right? They use rechargeable batteries - right? And "they last all season" - so I have to take my mast down, or climb it to recharge them do I - or do you put 12v cables up there to power them (which rather defeats the object to me).

I gave up on Bluetooth computer ancilliaries because of the unpredictability of rechargeable batteries & the need to keep changing them, so how do Tacktic deal with this issue?

They don't 'last all season'. The masthead transducers have solar photoelectric chargers. In my experience it just works from one year to the next without any attention. I don't think anyone with any brains would buy them if they needed to recharge the sender at the top of the mast. As far as I know there isn't even an option to run a 12v supply up to the masthead transducer.

 

[Searush]

They don't 'last all season'. The masthead transducers have solar photoelectric chargers. In my experience it just works from one year to the next without any attention. I don't think anyone with any brains would buy them if they needed to recharge the sender at the top of the mast. As far as I know there isn't even an option to run a 12v supply up to the masthead transducer.

Thanks, must be better than my garden lights then!!! But as I didn't pay a grand for me garden lights . . . .

err, but how do you clean the seagull poo off the solar panels up there?

 

[WALLY]

As far as I know there isn't even an option to run a 12v supply up to the masthead transducer.

There isn't - even the entry level wind system has a wireless MHU

 

[Plevier]

I have had tacktick for 4 years and very pleased with them. Looked forward to removing wiring from the mast but one bit was terminally jammed in there so is still there! Units work very well and keep their charge all winter (i do short winters!) as long as you put them away fully charged. The only gripe I have had has been with the wind instruments. I am now on my third in 4 years, one jammed completely after 9 months use and the other wouldnt read above 24 knots even in a force 8. Tackctick replaced the units but it was hard work getting them to do so and I had to pay half the sum for one of them (which I am still a bit bitter about). I have tried to find out if there is a reliability issue with the wind instruments.......anyone else had trouble?

A friend of mine installed full set of TackTick 3(?) years ago and is now on his THIRD warranty replacement windhead. Other than that it's brilliant.

 

[Vara]

Entry level wind fitted a year ago, no problems.(TW)

Space to put the rest of the kit when my Navman suite finally gives up the ghost.

 

[jbweston]

Thanks, must be better than my garden lights then!!! But as I didn't pay a grand for me garden lights . . . .

err, but how do you clean the seagull poo off the solar panels up there?

Good question. The panels are small and sit underneath the windvane, so it's possible they seagulls can't perch. Also British rain and wind might have something to do with it . . .

 

[ditchcrawler]

I also had problems with the wind instrument.It failed after 3 seasons.I had a quote on the internet from Tacktick for a new masthead unit of £115.I was not happy as I bought the unit(£550) on the basis of reliability.Tacktick only offered me the replacement top of mast unit with no discount.When I came to pay it was £135 as they "forgot "to include the VAT.Although I had a quote which said "Fixed price of £115" they were not interested in honouring this.The new top of mast wind unit is a different design to the old one which leads me to believe that it had a known problem.Friends with the same unit had it fail but theirs was within the 2 year guarantee period.No such luck with mine.
They have a bit to learn still about customer relations in my humble opinion.

 

[Sequoiah1]

OTOH the OP already has power cables in place, so that's one job less.

I now use pukka Tacktick. Good (so far) but the menu system for calling up the data you want to display is fiendishly complicated and the operating manuals are not especially helpful.

I agree about the complications and the manuals are just plain ridculous. We had a whole trip to the azores to get used to using ours and we still struggle now!