B&G Zeus T8 and Barometric Pressure

[Andrew G]

I am helping a friend install his new B&G Zeus T8 chartplotter, instruments and broadband radar (we are heading offshore shortly). It can graph various instrument readings vs time. He is particularly interested in plotting barometric pressure (to watch weather systems come and go). Page 72 of the Operators Manual says “. . . Barometric Pressure is retained on the unit even if power is switched off . . .”. This is the only reference to B. pressure I can find.

1) Do any of you know if the T8 has a built in pressure sensor or does this sentence refer to the optional extra piece of kit at £590.
2) We have the Operators and Installation manuals - these are pretty low on detail - are any of you able to point to more detailed documents?

Thanks Andrew.

 

[J Neeves]

Hi Andrew,

Obviously not many have bought the B&G Zeus unit yet.

I checked, there is no internal sensor to detect barometric pressure, you need to buy the external unit, part number 000-11552-001. The price you quote seems quite expensive for a 'simple' barometer and Airmar produce a mast head weather unit (which - when I looked was even more expensive). It has an NMEA output, internal GPS, measures wind speed and direction, humidity, temperature etc and if you had need to buy a new wind sensor it might then look interesting. As I say it was expensive but was much cheaper in America, with the obvious disadvantages of buying offshore. I vaguely recall there were a number of reviews for the Airmar unit (I do not remember how it was coded or named) in Practical Sailor and maybe Panbo.

If we had to replace our wind sensor I'd have a look at the Airmar unit again - but in addition to having one already it was simply not justifiable.

Jonathan

 

[J Neeves]

I progressed this a bit further and Navico provided the following further information:

The B&G sensor (the one I list above) is a precision instrument for use with h5000 and WTP3 systems( the same equipment used on an Open 70 Race boat )designed for use at sea in the worst conditions so that normally comes at some cost to ensure the reliability and accuracy required.

You could use the Airmar unit ( with the NMEA2000 Connection) with the Zeus 2 and have many of the extra features -this would be a nice setup giving some extra redundancy as well.

The Baro sensor in the radio was with the Simrad RS25 series radio ( this has been retired now ) and would display when the radio was switched off but still had power connected. The new series of VHF for B&G is the V50 it does not have the baro sensor, but instead has N2k,dual wireless handsets and AIS built in.

Jonathan

 

[Norman_E]

The NMEA 2000 Garmin wind masthead unit also outputs barometric pressure, which the B&G one does not. If I was buying my NMEA 2000 setup now, I would have the B&G Triton instruments but include the Garmin masthead unit.

 

[J Neeves]

Norman E, good to know, I'm waiting for my old Raymarine wind to give up and I was to buy the B&G unit - nice to have another option, but its all about price! Having the B&G unit which will take all weather and the Southern Ocean is fine, if you are participating on an Open 70 with its accompanying budget - but few of us need anything quite that robust and I have this suspicion we make up the bulk of the market - maybe things will change

Jonathan

 

[Norman_E]

I have a B&G wind unit that came as part of the set with a Triton and a log/depth unit made by Airmar. I have not fitted the B&G masthead unit because I am still using my old VDO Logic instrument, and connecting into the NMEA2000 setup via an Actisense NMEA0183 to 2000 gateway. The B&G masthead NMEA2000 masthead unit is made of plastic and not at all like the old high end ones. The Garmin will be similar, but I did note from the Garmin literature that it comes with a base from which it can be quickly detached for winter removal. If I ever have to fit my B&G masthead unit I will attach it to the stainless steel quick release base of the old VDO unit. You may not be able to find a copy but I wrote an article for PBO magazine on my new instrument setup (published last year, but I cannot remember which month). I could not find space for a ZEUS unit, but they certainly look the best sailing multifunction displays about, and "sailsteer" looks very impressive. Good luck with it, and please let us know how you find it in practice.

EDIT: None of these things are bulletproof, and if you look at my post headed "Another one bites the dust" you will see what happened to my anemometer. Hailstorms or birds can break these things.

 

[J Neeves]

Cockatoos eat anemometers for breakfast. Who ever called it 'The Lucky Country' did not have masthead wind gear.

Jonathan

 

[Andrew G]

Hi All. Sorry to have gone quiet but I have been 3+ hour’s drive away working on my friend’s boat for the last couple of weeks. I have ordered the bits to make up Angus McDoon’s YAPP which measures and plots Barometric Pressure on a 2.4” touch screen. At the limit of my expertise but I’ll give it a go. Andrew

(As Jonathan says the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cocky), which can get up to 50cm long, can be very destructive. They destroyed my anemometer and vane, bent my VHF antenna to 45deg and were gnawing their way through all the cables (within flexible conduit)).