ST50 Wind to ????

[fastjedi]

My ST50+ masthead unit was showing end of life signs last season .... I had to recalabrate the wind direction + the annometer was reading low. I went down to the boat yesterday and found the cups had flown away in the gales
/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

So ... What to do next? I'm not keen on paying circa £160 for a s/h masthead unit as they are likely to be well into the second half of their life by now. I guess I am looking at

1. Raymarine ST60+. Will link in with other instruments, but expensive)

2. Raymarine ST40. Massively cheaper! Will link in with other instruments, but only available with a rotovector head?

3. Nasa Clipper. On the basis that all wind instruments are rubbish so go cheap.

I am out of love with Raymarine for not offering a repair or replacement mesthead unit for ST50 / 60

My questions are ....

1. What's involved in swapping an ST50 masthead unit for an ST60+? Will I need to run a new cable in / spend hours filing the mast etc (I have never been within 10m of a masthead unit)

2. Whats the score with the ST40 rotovector head? Is it unsuitable / too difficult to fit as a masthead device?

3. I am happy to do the electrical work, but not convinced about going up the mast on a Ranger 245 (Tall fractional rig with small winches) Whats the least painless way of getting the masthead unit changed ... Mast down? Rigger? Marine Electronics Co? Boatyard crane? (Boat is in Baltic Wharf Boatyard, Totnes)

 

[[2574]]

I tried to run ST50's and ST60's on the same network and whilst it is said that they co-exist they don't really. All kinds of horrible confilcts. In the end I removed all the ST50's and went wholly ST60. Expensive. I believe that the mounts for the ST60 windvane will fit on the ST50 base though so swapping over the vane unit should be easy. And yes get a rigger to go up the mast and change the nead unit (unless you are young, light and agile) as brining the mast down would be expensive. My electronics supplier did the masthead work himself.

rob

 

[davel]

ST 50s seem to be coming to the end of their working life. There have been numerous threads on here over the past year regarding failures and the subsequent problems of compatibility. I had a failure just about a year ago and ended up replacing the whole lot with an ST60 (mast head anemometer and display). This is compatible with the rest of my ST50 instruments.

If you've just lost the cups from yours, I have the old set cluttering up the garage and you're welcome to them if they'll help.

PM me if you want these.

 

[CSFenwick]

Have you spoken to Raymarine? - they may offer you a trade in (25% off) if they can't offer a fix for your existing masthead unit. Pretty sure the ST60+ masthead will screw into the same socket as the ST50 one - no need to change any wiring. But, the ST60+ masthead will give a 30% too-low (think it's low) a reading on an ST50 display. We had the alternate problem, display unit failed but masthead OK. They gave us 25% off a new ST60+ display which works fine with the ST50 masthead because you can user-calibrate the ST60+ display unit to compensate for the different rotation speed of the two mastheads. The ST50 displays can't be user-recalibrated for a different masthead unit so it’ll only give the correct reading with an ST50 masthead.

The only other thing to mention is that the cups should be available in a servicing kit (may be obsolete but someone may have one, usually some on Ebay) and you used to be able to get a new bearing for the cups that included all the electronics. We had ours done mid 06 by Rowlands Marine Electrical at Pwllheli for around £50. So if you can find a local shop with the bit it should be serviceable. Worth phoning around some Raymarine dealers on the off-chance?

 

[grimmy]

hi I have an ST40 with a rotovector which is mounted on a post attached to the pushpit. I inherited this arrangement which actually works very well. The instument readings are accurate when I have been able to check them and of course the transducer is very easy to get at. However, as far as I can see and I would quite like to be proved wrong here, although the st40 unit seems quite compatible with the other instuments, mostly st50's, it does not appear to give a true wind reading only the apparent wind.

 

[patrickmowatt]

I had an ST50 masthead unit that I sent back to Raymarine, they told me it was beyond repair, and that they could build me a new one for £250 with no guarantee, or I could purchase a complete ST60 for £380! I have been looking for a second hand unit, but one went on ebay today for £205, so I think I'll try to get Raymarine to make a new one for me. It just seems a ridiculous amount to pay!

 

[patrickmowatt]

Raymarine still supply service kits for the ST50, they cost around £25, I bought one last year, and they include the cups and the vane. A lot to pay for a couple of bits of plastic, but it should get you going again.

 

[patrickmowatt]

Forgot to mention that the ST50 and ST60 are interchangeable at the masthead, but one needs the change the display to the ST60, as it apparently will over read on the ST50 display unit. I have been told that the ST40 is not a good replacement. As for getting the replacement up the mast, I think you meant the "most painless" way of getting it up the mast. I'd say chat to some people in the yard, until one offers to do it for you for a drink.

 

[DaveS]

In response to your last point, I fitted a ST40 with rotovector last year. One of the things I liked about it is that there are only two cores in the mast cable. It seems to work OK and, while I've not been able to calibrate it above hull speed (flat calm motoring), the numbers seem sensible. It lets the Autohelm (2000+) work in wind following mode, but since I don't have anything else on Seatalk it can only show apparent wind speed & direction.

 

[tinley]

We produce a Mast Head Unit that is 100% compatible with ST50

We offer two options:

1. You send old ST50 and we use the connector and build it onto a new Stowe unit which will plug directly to the top of your mast... no setup require.

2. We supply a new unit c/W new cable and bracket.

We can also service your existing ST50 in most cases and carry spares