NASA instruments. Any good?

[ColinR]

Trying to choose between NASA clipper wind, combined log and depth and GPS repeater, or the Raymarine set for over twice the price. I've been happy with the NASA stuff I've got except for irritating little economies like no on/off switch on the AIS Radar or Navtex which means a lot of extra hassle fiting them. But all the kit has done what it said and lasted well. How do people find these instruments? Especially the depth which on cheaper models in the past I have found to give erratic readings. Or maybe I should just stick with the 20 year old Stowe instruments which look a bit dated but still work fine. Thanks for any feedback.

Colin

 

[mormargh]

NASA kit has a reputation for being pretty robust and also doesn't have convoluted menus with a load of functions you only need for the Americas Cup. Also, when you phone them up you speak to someone who designs or builds instruments and not a call centre type.

That said and re the Stowe gear, if it works........ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RestlessL]

I put NASA kit in last year. This year I have started to swap it out, starting with the Duet Log/Depth. I wont go into all the reasons. NASA have some good designs (e.g. the GPS repeater and the Battery Monitor), and their support is good, but I have lost faith in the actual bit of kit I installed - the last straw was 2 weeks ago when the depth gauge decided to show "Out" just as I was entering a marina, dredged to 1m, at low water springs and an expected height of tide 0.2m. I have not been able to get it going since.

If you want the duet head unit, PM me with an address, and you can have it for a donation to the RNLI. I cant let you have the transducers as these are filling the holes in the bottom of the boat !

John

 

[dmayes]

Very small point but one which may make a difference. The combined only has limited on/off for the backlight while the other displays have a stepped menu brilliance. This will only make a difference at night and only if you choose an intermediate intensity for the backlighting. Nasa said something had to go to get all the combined functions in. This was a few years ago now and may have changed but read all the specs carefully for the combined versus the seperate ones as you may decide to go for seperate Log and Depth.

 

[Danny]

I'd like to second what Mor_Margh says about NASA. They're a small company producing budget instrumentation but it's robust and seems well engineered. They gave me good technical advice over the phone and when I visited their site in Stevenage they were most courteous and helpful.
(No connection except as a satisfied customer.)

 

[Lee_Shaw]

I wouldn't buy the Wind because the mastbead unit is too flimsy and if (more likely "when") it breaks it's all the way up there on top of the mast. The rest of the kit's ok. It's more the budget end of the scale and quality is therefore lower thhan some of the other makes but as long as you're aware of that then that's ok. You get what you pay for. It's unlikely to all be still working in 20 years like your Stowe stuff.

Bottom line is that whilst I have NASA stuff, which I'm happy enough with on my wee bathtub for the money, I wouldn'y buy another NASA Wind Instrument, I'd buy a better make for that particular job because the cost of a mast-off, new masthead unit and mast-on again every couple or three seasons means you might as well have bought a Simrad or a Raymarine one in the first place.

 

[davidbains]

It doesn't really make sense to replace quality instruments with budget instruments unless you're not planning to keep the boat much longer. Raymarine should last longer.
But I have fitted a Nasa battery monitor and a RTTY display and a depth sounder, and they seem fine. However I replaced the Nasa navtex with a Furuno, and I'm glad I did.
As others have found the masthead unit for the Nasa wind speed is fragile.

 

[ColinR]

many thanks for all this useful feedback.

Colin