wind instruments - what type should i go for?

Burnham Bob

Burnham Bob

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my trusty autonnic unit looks like it's on its way out and they are now obsolete.

what do forumites recommend as a replacement?

the great thing about wind instruments is that SWMBO can see the wind direction easily - she never got on with a windex

the autonnic read out is like a speedometer for wind speed and is calibrated in knots, mph and beaufort. I like beaufort and having to translate the figures of a digital readout into force 4 or 5 is something i'd like to avoid but do they all read in digital figures for wind speed?
 
I do have a sense of humour, but I'm replying to this post myself so that it gets to the top again and I may get some helpful replies this time........advfice would be greatly appreciated
 
I guess it all depends on your budget, and whether you need the wind system to integrate with other instruments.
I use a Garmin GWS10 with 2 x GMI10 multifunction displays, mostly using one display for coarse wind speed and the other for close hauled/running. However, there's lots of other information available, including barometric pressure, and the displays will show graphical displays of data over time, useful for windspeed as well as pressure.
This system also integrates with my Garmin chart plotter and GPS, so it can integrate course and speed with the wind info to give true wind as well as apparent wind data.
 
I have fitted Tacktic for the 2nd time. This time I went for the entry level as I found the display relying on solar power got shaded and sometimes had to be moved to recharge the battery. As it doesn't use much power and the other instruments have to be powered next to the Tacktic unit.

My setup is not integrated, I have standalone wind (tacktic), log and forward looking sonar from Echopilot. The log display also functions as a GPS repeater. Stand alone chart plotter and radar and soon to be stand alone AIS reciever (probably a Vesper watchmate).

Autohelm is via an old autohelm wheel pilot when motoring and a hydrovane when sailing.

I am a strong believer in the KISS principle.
 
Raymarine, as said before will give you kph, mph, knots or Beaufort at the push of a button. Will not intergrate directly with NMEA instruments though you will need to buy a box of tricks or use a raymarine autopilot to convert the Seatalk to NMEA if you wish to do that.
 
djbreeze said:
Don't buy a NASA one...
Click to expand...

Well you could buy a Nasa one, the display I used for many years on one was fine, but the mast head sensor seemed to only last two years. But maybe all the manuafacturers have a short life for the mast head unit. Or maybe it was the jolting action of a mulltihull that caused them to fly to bits. I now use experience (wind on face sea state and boat feel) and a handheld unit for a figure to record in the log. Maybe for racing, and multihulls you need to have proper masthead and readout at the helm, and suffer the maintenance hassle.
 
Worth considering whether you want a 'proper' analogue dial with a needle (e.g. Raymarine) or an LCD screen showing an image of a dial. In my view the latter is less attractive and less easy to read, but you can make your own mind up.
 
I fitted NASA wind instruments to my boat back in January. They're OK I guess. I would give them a 4 out of 10 but they were VERY cheap. The masthead unit is pathetic quality and no doubt I will have to nip up there and change it every so often. I think they're about £150 to replace.
Before getting a silly cheap price on the NASA units at the boat show I was investigating Stowe instruments. If I had the budget then I think I would have gone for these.
If you have the money then B&G are still the best in my opinion but you pay top whack.
 
Burnham Bob said:
I do have a sense of humour, but I'm replying to this post myself so that it gets to the top again and I may get some helpful replies this time........advfice would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...

The weak point of most wind instruments is the whirly bit at the top of the mast. Buy a cheepo NASA and thats where it will fail. On the other hand, a decent masthead unit can be serviced and repaired at home replacing things like bearings and seals.

I would go for Raymarine or Simrad.
 
Channel Sailor said:
Well you could buy a Nasa one, the display I used for many years on one was fine, but the mast head sensor seemed to only last two years. But maybe all the manufacturers have a short life for the mast head unit.
Click to expand...

I think other manufacturers make better masthead units with a more respectable service life expectancy. I cannot speak for other makes because my instruments are VDO Siemens, and date from 1998. The wind masthead unit is still going strong, it is the LCD screens in some of the displays that are beginning to fail.

As far as I am concerned the issue that separates the better masthead units from the not so good is the type of bearing used for the anemometer cups. These bearings are "on duty" all the time. On the VDO unit they are stainless steel miniature ball-bearings, running dry, and can be cleaned with nothing more than fresh water to remove any grit or salt that gets in. I had the boat nearly five years before I had to do that. I expect that most makes have similar arrangements of either sealed ball-races or dry running ones.
On the Nasa unit there is just a simple plain bearing.
 
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