Nasa Clipper Wind & Raymarine ST1000+

Tintin

Tintin

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Hello,

I've got a Raymarine ST1000+ autopilot and a Nasa Clipper Wind and am trying to get the wind instrument to talk via NMEA 0183 to the autopilot. Has anyone had similar problems and if so what was your solution?

The wiring is correct.

The autopilot is receiving GPS data from my chartplotter (Garmin 3006c) via NMEA.

The wind instrument is the NMEA output version (earlier versions did not have this).

Nasa have confirmed the NMEA sentence is WMV.

The ST1000+ manual (and Raymarine support) say that it just accepts VWR (apparent wind speed and angle).

So may be this is the problem and I've answered my questions?

Rather than junk the Nasa wind (and start climbing the mast again and re-routing cables - eugh) can anyone suggest any solutions?


Thanks
chris
 
We had a similar problem with that wind instrument, and the ST2000. The autohelm annoyingly won't recognise the WMV sentence. The solution was to get an interface that converts the wind data from NMEA to Seatalk. Now the autohelm is wired up to accept GPS data via NMEA and wind data via the Seatalk bus.

The model number of the interface is E85001. It also outputs seatalk data (depth, log speed) as NMEA.
 
Thanks

Thank KWB,

That was the conclusion I had come to - kerching for the chandlers.

Isn't it a shame that Nasa didn;t ensure that the unit outputted both sentences and a shame that Raymarine didn;t ensure that it received both?

Off to spend some more money......

chris
 
[QUOTE
Off to spend some more money......
[/QUOTE]
If you want my advice, which you probably don't, I'd keep my £100 or so for something better. My Raymarine kit allows steer to wind as part of the package. I sometimes use it, for no real reason other than to play, but IMHO, it's really not very useful. If close hauled, it's nowhere near as good as a human in following wind shifts, it's response is far too slow, so you need to sail off the wind to avoid being taken aback, then you might as well sail to compass.
 
Bit of an update.

I saved my money and haven't really found a need to sail with pilot set to wind. However the ST1000 has been playing up (weird noises, turns itself off etc...) so have been looking at other suppliers (Raymarine response being the unit must be water damaged etc...etc...).

It appears the Simrad TP's accept both NMEA wind sentences so the Nasa should work with them. Will update if I get one.

chris
 
Comrade Red said:
Bit of an update.

I saved my money and haven't really found a need to sail with pilot set to wind. However the ST1000 has been playing up (weird noises, turns itself off etc...) so have been looking at other suppliers (Raymarine response being the unit must be water damaged etc...etc...).

It appears the Simrad TP's accept both NMEA wind sentences so the Nasa should work with them. Will update if I get one.

chris
Click to expand...
On previous boat had Nasa "talking" to Simrad tillerpilot OK. However I put a 2 way switch in circuit so Simrad received either GPS signal or Windvane, not both, so it didn't get confused. Not sure if that was necessary but it seemed common sense at the time.
 
Kurrawong_Kid said:
On previous boat had Nasa "talking" to Simrad tillerpilot OK. However I put a 2 way switch in circuit so Simrad received either GPS signal or Windvane, not both, so it didn't get confused. Not sure if that was necessary but it seemed common sense at the time.
Click to expand...

Glad to have seen this KK, I'm doing a below deck install of an st2000 on my MacGregor 26M at present and have been wondering how to overcome the "1 talker 4 listener" limitation of NMEA0183.

Realising that the issue was "garbled serial messages" I had also been toying with the idea of a simple switch which would effectively avail me of EITHER of two virtually separate NMEA0183 backbones.

Since the st2000 autopilot itself has a mechanism to switch between (among other modes) 1. Steer by wind, and 2. Follow chart-plotter/gps track, it follows that they don't have to be available simultaneously.

Not sure what this sort of switch is called, perhaps someone knows.

Anyway, many thanks!

By the way, whilst we're on this subject, do you know if it's possible to use the NASA Clipper Wind sensor without it's display screen? My hope was that I could link it directly to the autopilot (via said switch) BUT reading the manual you seem to need the display to do the initial calibration - ie. Where exactly is the bow?
 
Mike, how are you planning to disengage the ST2000 when you want to steer by hand say coming into a harbour? The ST2000 doesn't have a clutch.

Pete
 
Pete7 said:
Mike, how are you planning to disengage the ST2000 when you want to steer by hand say coming into a harbour? The ST2000 doesn't have a clutch.

Pete
Click to expand...

Hi Pete,

Check out http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=25657 for an entertaining and very helpful case study of this topic. A number of Mac sailors on that forum have successfully installed versions of this mod in different configurations and they work.

The Mac 26X & M are wheel steering but a lot of people have found the Wheel Pilot ap to be too noisy.
 
Couple of updates on this installation:

1. I've successfully added a hard wired remote control for the st2000 using small waterproof momentary buttons added to a side panel on my binnacle. Total cost £6 using an old Cat6 cable I had lying around.

2. The most commonly reported problem with the st2000 is water ingress as the unit is designed for cockpit tiller installation. Installing it below deck avoids this issue.

3. Wireless remote with two fobs for £11 (inc p&p) arrives tomorrow. Because of the mod I've done internally to the st2000 this new remote will be plug and play. Could even use one remote if MOB to steer boat and even shut off motor if needed.

Will update when all installed with link to MOD pics & instructions
 
Kurrawong_Kid said:
On previous boat had Nasa "talking" to Simrad tillerpilot OK. However I put a 2 way switch in circuit so Simrad received either GPS signal or Windvane, not both, so it didn't get confused. Not sure if that was necessary but it seemed common sense at the time.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I am trying exactly that and it's not working. Any advice?
 
Hi DazedSkipper,

Could you say what your setup is, ie which devices are involved and how are they linked.

A diagram would be helpful if possible.
 
MikeFloutier said:
Hi DazedSkipper,

Could you say what your setup is, ie which devices are involved and how are they linked.

A diagram would be helpful if possible.
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

There are three conductors for the windvane, +12v, data and common. These are connected to the +12v feed and -ve for the Tillerpilot and the dedicated NMEA input. The AP navigator is also connected to the NMEA input on the pilot and that works fine.
 
Hi DazedSkipper, can you tell us the actual names of the devices, also you mention an AP navigator, what is this; I'm assuming it's a chartplotter...also I'm assuming each device is communicating NMEA 0183 rather than 2000, is this correct?
 
MikeFloutier said:
Hi DazedSkipper, can you tell us the actual names of the devices, also you mention an AP navigator, what is this; I'm assuming it's a chartplotter...also I'm assuming each device is communicating NMEA 0183 rather than 2000, is this correct?
Click to expand...
Sure, the windvane is a NASA nmea unit, the tillerpilot is a Simrad TP32 and the AP navigator is an AP GPS navigator ( not graphical plotter). NMEA is 0813.
 
Hi DazedSkipper,

Ok well looking at the tp32 manual the NASA MWV sentence will be heard ok by the autopilot.

So, assuming the autopilot and the Wind transducer are both working ok it must be a wiring issue.

I take it your connections weren't in the order you gave them and that the common was connected to common and the NASA data was connected to the tp32 NMEA0183 in/+.

Just looking at the wiring connections in the tp32 manual I can see a possible problem:

You will notice that the NASA unit has 3 wires (2 for power and 1 for data)

However the tp32 has 4 wires (2 for power & 2 for data)

What is normal with most NMEA0183 gear is that there are two data wires. The + wire is always present but the minus (-) wire (which is actually connected to ground/common) is either:

1. Missing, externally (as with the NASA unit), because it's connected to the ground/common within the unit, or

2. As in the case of the tp32, it appears externallyy (as the blue wire) and needs to be connected to the ground/common wire.

So firstly check that the red NMEA wire on the tp32 is connected to the NASA NMEA wire AND that the tp32 blue wire is connected to ground/common (ie the negative 12v connection)

Out of interest, how is the navigator wired to the autopilot?

The other possible issue is your switch, the one used to select whether wind or track data is sent to the pilot. What sort of switch have you used? Presumably SPDT on the + wires since the commons can be left connected.
 
Thanks for your thoughts Mike. I can't remember the wiring but will check at the weekend. I haven't fitted a switch but have tried with the navigator switched off and it made no difference. The navigator is simply wired nmea out to the TP32 nmea in, common to common.
 
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