ST50 Wind gone mad!

[[2574]]

My ST50 Wind is reporting wind direction 180deg incorrectly. Is it knackered or does it need calibrating? The sensor at masthead seems to be pointing in the correct direction.

Has anyone else experienced this?

TIA

rob

 

[Talbot]

have you disconnected and reconnected wires the wrong way round?

 

[awol]

Mine is totally confused as to compass direction. The analogue wind direction display can be aligned - see Raymarine web site for legacy instrument instructions. My problem is with the digital repeater which claims the wind direction is about 100degrees out. Even revolving the wind arrow on its shaft doesn't solve this as the first thing I have to do is realign the analogue display and this puts the error back again. I've lived for many years without VMG, tack angle, true wind etc. and have given up worrying that these toys don't work.

 

[jimg]

I presume you are talking about Apparent not True?

 

[LadyStardust]

I found customer support very helpfull, a nice man in America told me how to measure the signals on the cable from the masthead sensors to determine where the fault was. Once that was completed it was simply a case of sending the unit back for repair along with my life savings.

 

[trouville]

I have a windex which has never gone wrong apart from when i bash it putting up the mast!

Its amazing how many boats have non working windindicators seems there not full sea proof?

I dream of haveing one (working) plus wind speed and a small apealco radar (sold in the 1980s)Just a dream!!!

I did have a good radar on my last boat and it was very very reasuring when approching land and anchoring.But my very expensive wind system never worked

 

[[2574]]

Both Apparent and true similarly affected!

 

[Albert Ross]

Rob, Mine did this .. it is worth checking you havent got it in "Boat Show Mode" .. hold down the left button on the display for about 15 seconds till you get to S0 or S1 ( looks like 50 and 51) "S0" is Boat show mode "off" S1 is boat show mode on . and that makes it look like it works till you tack and realise it's talking nonesense. The user manual doesnt give these extended settings.. While on the subject of ST50 wind, a local boatyard kindly broke my ST50 wind sensor when they took the mast down (my fault, I should have taken the sensor off) .. anyway.. ST50 wind masthead units arn't made now but I was assured that the ST60 is the same .. well, it isnt. I runs 30% faster so my ST50 now makes every breeze into a gale and every gale a storm .. .. useless, but at least it now points the right way .. does anyone know how to make the wind sensor spin 30% less fast ?.. it cant be calibrated in the software.

 

[simonfraser]

flat1,

it will spin less fast when the cups are smaller, or drill a hole in the base of each cup, now who is going to tell us what size hole ???

 

[steve_cronin]

Interesting....

When I fitted an ST40 chart table repeater it refused to display correct direction, always, despite repeated re-calibrations/linearisations being precisely 90 degrees out from the ST60 master.

The only remedy (Raytheon were clueless both at Anchorage Park & the US) it seems to me is to open the master unit, remove the pointer and araldite it back to agree with the repeater and then re-calibrate. Sort of fooling the Seatalk as it cannot possibly know which way the analogue pointer is pointing.

Steve Cronin

 

[[2574]]

Flat1,

Thanks for that - I'll give it a try.

rob

 

[Albert Ross]

Re: drilling holes in the cups

Simon
Yes, I'd thought about that too ..but what size holes to make it spin 30% slower .. alternatively .. a blob of blue tack or silicone in each cup .. but how much ? Difficult to calibrate something 13 metres up ..