DIY windvane.

[michael_99]

I clearly stated that it was work in progress, not the final product. I have not copied any of Bill's ideas, and the other books I don't know about. Not for sale it my local boatbook shop. I havn't posted "here and there and every" only two forums, and I'm looking for POSITIVE feedback, and ideas from other people who are trying to make one themself. I do have a autopilot which will be connected to the setup. I'm sorry, I am not a " latest gadget freak", and my bank balance don't allow for that.Horses for causes.If you have any ideas of your own, please SHOW me. I can only do so much thinking myself. I'm open to other people ideas. I could copy a Monitor, but that it not the idea of the project.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

QUOTE
If you have any ideas of your own, please SHOW me. I can only do so much thinking myself. I'm open to other people ideas.
UNQUOTE

I thought that was precisely what I had tried to offer, earlier on up this thread.

 

[Joe_Cole]

Michael,

Making a vane is one of those jobs I've been thinking about for ages, but haven't got round to yet. Well done for actually making a start!

FWIW my understanding is that, these days an inclined vertical vane is regarded as most effective. Usual angle appears to be of the order of 7-10 degrees.

I would look at the UPVC building material for the vane. I assume you have it in Aus, in UK it is commonly used for soffit boards etc on roofs. It's light, strong, easy to work and waterproof. It stands up to our summers; don't know about yours!

I must admit that I agree about not using tensioned rope to make the thing work. I would prefer mechanical linkagespush rods etc)

I do like the idea of the mushroom fitting for the central pivot on the adjustment plate!

You've probably gone beyond the point of no return, but you may be interested that there is a small book on Self Steering published by the Amateur Yacht Research Society. It costs £7. It's not a lavish publication (it has a amateur feel about it!) but it's quite well done nevertheless. They did have a website, but my link produces nothing so I suspect that the site has moved.

At the moment my stumbling block is to properly understand how differential linkages work. I know I will need one; indeed it's fundamental to what I have in mind; but working out how to do it is proving difficult!

 

[BrendanS]

http://www.ayrs.org/
http://www.ayrs.org/ayrslist.htm

 

[michael_99]

Wally, my last pose was in responce to the post from Kinnever, who totally missed the point of the tread How are you going with yours?

 

[michael_99]

Joe, thans for your reply.The vane was made of ply for no other reason then the fact that I already had it and plenty of it, and yes, it is a little on the heavy side. Reading through one of my old PBO mag, I came across someone who had made his vane of polystyrine and covered with carbon fibre, and that had lasted some 10 years, so that may be the way to go. At the time of me posting the pics, I had been searching high and low for some flexible solid linkage, I had the idea but could not find anywhere around here where I could buy it. However, at the last boatshow I did find many of the things I was looking for, so I will be making some changes. Half of the challange is to find the things you want in SS, as no hardware store has it. The things I found at the boatshow was from a shop not in my city, so the phone book was of no use.The SS fittings which could be used instead of the brass fittings, was also from out of town. When I'm finished I'll know everything.
Again, thanks.