Does anyone have a Nasa Clipper GPS repeater?

[seanfoster]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of buying a Nasa Clipper GPS repeater (such as this one here: http://www.cactusnav.com/nasa-clipper-repeater-p-689.html)

I've been looking at the descriptions and even downloaded the manual, but can't seem to see if it can show speed over ground.

Does anyone here have one and is so can you confirm if it does show SOG?

 

[macd]

I fiited one to my previous boat, over ten years ago. It definitely showed SOG. And, like most NASA kit whithout whirly bits, it proved 100% reliable.

 

[seanfoster]

I fitted one to my previous boat, over ten years ago. It definitely showed SOG. And, like most NASA kit whithout whirly bits, it proved 100% reliable.

Brilliant, thanks for the reply, I'll get one ordered!
Got to say I've always been impressed with Nasa kit, very reasonably priced and does everything i need it to. The only problem I had was the mast head wind equipment which fell apart twice in three years.

 

[macd]

...and just to confirm it, see the initial graphic here:
http://www.nasamarine.com/images/GPS Repeater.pdf

(If you've ordered one, you may as well download that pdf, anyway.)

 

[[3889]]

Had two on different boats. A great instrument.

 

[lw395]

Had one on a previous boat.
It was a while back, so I could be wrong on this.
Does it only show SOG and COG when it is getting BRG and Distance from a waypoint?
So you have to set a goto waypoint on the GPS to get COG?
Mine might also have been an early version....

 

[{151760}]

Had one on a previous boat.
It was a while back, so I could be wrong on this.
Does it only show SOG and COG when it is getting BRG and Distance from a waypoint?
So you have to set a goto waypoint on the GPS to get COG?
Mine might also have been an early version....

No.

 

[PhillM]

Had one on a previous boat.
It was a while back, so I could be wrong on this.
Does it only show SOG and COG when it is getting BRG and Distance from a waypoint?
So you have to set a goto waypoint on the GPS to get COG?
Mine might also have been an early version....

I never use waypoints n the GPS it's attached to but I always get dog and cog on the display.

I find it helpful to compare cog and the compass to help estimate leeway.

 

[NickRobinson]

Ditto others comments- mine interfaces to a Garmin 128. Eats NMEA only not Garmin proprietry data, not a problem if you know, a few hours head scratching as I didn't..

 

[dedwards]

I agree with all the above.. My only criticism is that it doesn't display VMG.

 

[lw395]

I agree with all the above.. My only criticism is that it doesn't display VMG.

VMG seems to cause a lot of confusion on some boats, some people are talking VMG towards the waypoint, some are talking VMG to windward or Leeward.
Unless you have a really well calibrated system to calculate windward VMG, it tends to be a farce anyway.

I remember having to set a WP to get COG, but that might have been a quirk of the GPS, and as I said, mine was an early unit.
We just got in the habit of setting a goto on the GPS.

 

[YachtAllegro]

Well, mine must be about 10-12 years old, and interfaces with a Garmin GPS128, but does definitely need to be going to a waypoint before it will display SOG. Fortunately the GPS seems to remember the last "goto" between power downs, so we're permanantly "going to" our mooring. As a result its not a significant problem, but it would be if you had to enter a "goto" afresh each time.

 

[MM5AHO]

I have two, one inside one out on deck.
Great instrument. It does read SOG, without any reference to a plotter etc.

 

[macd]

Great instrument. It does read SOG, without any reference to a plotter etc.

That's my recollection, although a little hazy three years after I sold the repeater (along with the boat). After all, a GPS outputs SOG (even if it just calls it 'speed') whether it's going to a waypoint or not.

 

[Hydrozoan]

I fiited one to my previous boat, over ten years ago. It definitely showed SOG. And, like most NASA kit whithout whirly bits, it proved 100% reliable.

+1 On the boat when we bought her, which means 12+ years reliable performance.

 

[lw395]

That's my recollection, although a little hazy three years after I sold the repeater (along with the boat). After all, a GPS outputs SOG (even if it just calls it 'speed') whether it's going to a waypoint or not.

That may not strictly be true, the GPS has a few options of what NMEA it can chuck out, I suspect SOG can be buried in a sentence with other parameters, or it can be a sentence on its own.