Raymarine wind instrument ST60 gives wrong direction by 90 degrees

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All you've done so far is alter the alignment of the instrument. You need to carry out a linearisation (power on the instrument under way and make 2 complete circles) then repeat the alignment procedure. It cannot be done whilst alongside. Check the handbook
 
Thanks for that /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I still need a bit of help with this....

My problem is that I can't get out to sea to go round in circles - the sea is much too rough - and I would like to get it to the stage where there is little or no doubt that it will work when I come to do the final calibration as I won't be able to order parts etc. once we have left.

I've read the manual and it isn't clear why they would need to linearise the wind vane to get it to be roughly correct. It must be a massive headache for professional installers and repairers not to be able to get things about right before going out to sea. How on earth do they manage as surely they need to know that things are working - albeit requiring final calibration - before signing the job off?

The manual says ".....the [calibration] procedure....compensates for any small errors which may exist in the alignment of the wind transducer". We are talking in my case of 90 degrees or more, hardly small.

I have now reset the device to Factory Defaults (which I did not do last time) and adjusted the alignment again so that it reads the correct wind direction today but the wind is forecast to be in the same direction for the next week so I won't be able to check it.

Sadly, it is that E wind direction that is keeping me in harbour fiddling with the wind instrument, instead of going cruising /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
It isn't very easy especially in a F5/6 in the summer with boats coming and going...the marineros would have to be called. Then there is the point that the wind is turbulent in the marina area, especially in easterlies as there are buildings up-wind and I think that might make the whole exercise pointless. I think that on balance I would simply decide to wait until we leave.

Rather than drive the boat in circles in the marina, it would be much quicker and easier for me to pop up the mast and turn the vane round in a couple of circles. Would that work, or does it need the fluxgate to be changing all the way round? The manual does not say anywhere that a fluxgage or other compass signal is required on the bus OTOH the Multi ST60 obviously cannot display wind direction as a compass direction without it. Nevertheless, since the manual does not require it for the basic "linearising and aligning" can I do it by turning the vane slowly in a circle, twice, instead of turning the boat?
 
I don't see any reason why you couldn't turn the vane for an initial calibration, provided you have an assistant below to keep an eye on the instrument head during the routine
 
Not so sure...

I'm not so sure about that. Doesn't the linearisation process require a gentle constant rate of turn? That wouldn't be possible by hand.
 
Back to basics...

Let's start again, because the calibration issue doesn't seem to be relevant to the fault you've described. You've said that 2 masthead transducers give exactly the same fault, so we might assume that there isn't a fault in the transducer. You've mentioned that "someone" looking at the wiring said "something" about the wiring, so it might be reasonable to check the wiring first. Your initial suspicion that 2 wires might be crossed over could be correct, and might produce the fault you're seeing. So have you checked that the wiring connections on the back of the ST60 display are exactly as shown in the manual? And have you checked the junction box (if you have one) where the wire from the mast enters the boat? If the wiring's OK, it's most likely the display head which is faulty.
 
Re: Back to basics...

The wiring is identical to that in the manual and I cannot see a junction box, though I can't rule it out. Is there some way we can test the display head?
 
Re: Raymarine wind instrument ST60 gives wrong direction by 90 degree

One point though....first time I did not apply factory defaults. This time I have. Unfortunately the wind is expected to stay in this direction for a week /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Back to basics...

[ QUOTE ]
Is there some way we can test the display head?

[/ QUOTE ]Assuming you kept the old masthead transducer as a spare, why not remove the display head and wire it direct to the transducer (and 12V power). Then turn the wind vane and see what happens!
 
Re: Back to basics...

There's almost certainly a junction box at the base of the mast, perhaps hidden inside a head lining so it's worth checking this out just in case. If you have a digital voltmeter you should read the following on the wires going to the transducer

Red to Screen: 8V
Blue to Screen: Variable 2 to 6V
Green to Screen: Variable 2 to 6V
Yellow to Screen: Variable 0 to 8V

There's an unpublished procedure for testing the ST60 speed head and I guess that a similar test can be used for the wind head (haven't tried it though!)

Raymarine ST60 Speed Instrument Test

Press the outer 2 buttons for about 4 secs until beep heard
Press buttons 1 &2 simultaneously to start Seatalk check
When completed press buttons 1&2 again to do the LCD test
When completed press buttons 1&2 again to do the transducer test
Spin transducer within 10 secs of start of test

However, my money is still on a calibration problem as you've replaced the wind vane which will def throw it out of kilter
 
Re: Raymarine wind instrument ST60 gives wrong direction by 90 degree

Ah yes, what a good idea! I can check the whole thing out on the bench....or can I? Can you calibrate by moving the vane in circles or does the fluxgate need to go round too?
 
Re: Raymarine wind instrument ST60 gives wrong direction by 90 degree

Thanks, I can easily check those volts and watch them over a while. The needle looks erratic at times as though there is some mechanical problem. Does the display head consist of a servo tracking the vane by analogue techniques and then digitised for the SeaTalk by a shaft encoder, or is the encoding up at the mast head?
 
Re: Re: Raymarine wind instrument ST60 gives wrong direction by 90 degree

[ QUOTE ]
Can you calibrate by moving the vane in circles or does the fluxgate need to go round too?

[/ QUOTE ]Doesn't need a fluxgate compass input for calibration.
 
Re: Re: Raymarine wind instrument ST60 gives wrong direction by 90 degree

Thanks...I'll have a good look over the whole system again and see what is happening.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Red to Screen: 8V
Blue to Screen: Variable 2 to 6V
Green to Screen: Variable 2 to 6V
Yellow to Screen: Variable 0 to 8V

[/ QUOTE ]

<span style="color:red"> Edit:- I've just learned that tome died last November. Very sad, he was always a helpful, knowledgeable and friendly poster. One of the very best. </span>

I've now set myself up extension wires from the instrument so that I can monitor what is going on with a scope and DVM under different circumstances.

All the voltages but one are in the range you specify. Green is 0.3V

The Raymarine service chap at Sheppards in Gib tested the instrument out for me and said that it is definitely fine, he checked it along a very long length of cable which, he said, could sometimes cause problems. Are blue and green the output from a dc bridge or pot of some kind? I always thought that these things would be done with ac?
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Red to Screen: 8V
Blue to Screen: Variable 2 to 6V
Green to Screen: Variable 2 to 6V
Yellow to Screen: Variable 0 to 8V

[/ QUOTE ]

Lemain and fellow posters on ST60 wind speed problems,

Did you resolve this 90 degree problem- what was it please and is there a PBO fix?
We have had a similar ST60 problem since we got Tringa last year, except that ours always pointed 180 degrees to wind direction.
We reset each time via "CO" mode, worked ok til next time switched off. Reverted to default settings?
However, since the blow on Monday, the analogue needle has stuck at 3 o'clock and the wind speed lcd has stuck between 15-18kts, moving only in that range on the bridge deck instrument and the repeater at the nav station.

"CO" does not reset it any more and "P7" appears on the lcd now and again after "CO & kts". This "P7" is not mentioned in the ST60 manual fault finding etc..
The wind vane tracks the wind direction ok, and the cups are all there and rotating freely to wind speed.

I've checked all the connexions behind the bridge deck for corrosion, and made and remade the power and Seatalk bus connectors to wind, depth and log/speed. Not done the nav repeater yet, and we'll check all the points/ tips suggested in this thread next time down too.

We had been doing other masthead work (unfinished) last Sunday, so will also check that arm and block are still linked ok and for corrosion up there as well as yearly silicon greasing etc. next time someone is up there.

SWMBO is electronically savvy, I'm very basic electrics( but learning fast!), so between us we can follow the fault finding tips you've given Lemain, much appreciated, given Greenham Regis hourly rates.

I think a Ticktack set including wind speed is our long term aim, but I note from another thread that Raymarine try to restrict NMEA access to their kit from other brands and their own older units via Seatalk changes.

So may have to forego our preferred piecemeal replacements, and a full swop to TickTacks is a lot of money/time in one go.

Anyone done such a part swop? further ST60 & Ticktack Windex advice, information, good or bad, much appreciated.

Thanks for all the useful gen so far.
 
Anonymous said:
I have had a persistent fault for some time; my Raymarine instruments all show my wind to be way off the correct direction. So much so, that I have not made any serious attempt to quantify it until I changed the head the other day. I changed the whole Wind Vane assembly by a brand new unused replacement at the masthead and the problem is the same. Presently, on a fixed heading in my berth, I am showing a wind direction about 90 degrees anticlockwise from the correct direction.

The system is a Raymarine Wind Vane head wired into an ST60 Wind and Close Hauled instrument. The vane wiring goes nowhere else and the only other things connected to that ST60 are two SeaTalk connectors that connect daisy-chain to a Raymarine Speed, Depth, two autopilot heads, course computer, radar and one ST60 Multi. There is no evidence of a bad connection - I have removed the spade terminals and replaced them and the signals are constant, not showing any sign of a bad connection.

I did have someone looking at the wiring some time ago around the ST60 for something unrelated and I think that I remember the man saying something about the Raymarine wiring but I didn't pay attention at the time. I can't say for sure whether the problem occurred after that as I go for long periods without bothering too much about the wind angle display as I tend to look at the Windex.

This error of 90; could it be a phase quadrature in the windings due to two of the vane wires being crossed over? The colours are all correct (i.e. colour to colour) but suppose this had been incorrectly wired in the original installation such that the correct wiring was, say, blue to yellow and yellow to blue and this fellow spots the 'error' while he is working in there and kindly puts it right?

I really don't know - I cannot be sure enough about the timing of the problem but not only is the indicator of the ST60 90 degrees wrong, it is sending the wrong direction along the SeaTalk bus to the other ST60 Multi and, presumably, the autopilot heads.

The windspeed looks fine.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi,

I'm having the same issue and not being able to calibrate:
there is a 90 degrees difference between what is shown in the ST50 Wind instrument and what is send to the bu.


For example:
ST50 Wind shows Apparent Angle 30°, but in the ST50 Multi (Repeater) or others instruments connected to the SeaTalk shows Apparent Angle 120°

If I do a calibration, I could decrease that 90° so the repeater and other instruments shows accurate, but the ST50 will show incorrect angle.

I was not able to fix it doing the calibration or "2 circles" with the boat. Do I need to do something in the equipment before doing the two circles?


Its important for me to have the correct information in the bus because I've interfaced the SeaTalk with a B&G triton to show the wind history graph, but for sailing, mainly use the ST50


Thanks in advance
 
Oldhand said:
No you have to have power on, press and hold the 2 left buttons together until the wind speed display shows CAL. Press the left hand button briefly and the wind speed display changes to zero. Then either press and hold the right hand button or the next to right hand button depending on which way you want the calibration to go, starboard or port. The numbers on the windspeed display will count up. Release the button being pressed when the desired calibration offset is achieved. in this case 90 degrees. Fine adjustments can be made by individaul presses ot the two right buttons as required. When the correct offset is achieved, again press the 2 left buttons together until wind speed is shown in the wind speed display, thus exiting calibration mode and storing the calibration.
Click to expand...
I did this a couple of days ago as I fitted a new transducer and it was off by 15 degrees or so. The instructions on calibrating in the manual are just as you say here and it worked fine. I tacked back and forth and adjusted it bit by bit until it showed the same angle off the wind on each tack.
 
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