Wireless wind instruments

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Neeves

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It looks as if I will need to replace my wind instruments. I've moved onto Navico so the obvious wired choice is B&G but I know that feeding the cable is going to prove something of an issue, even pulling it up when I remove the old one.

I wondered what the view was of wireless, wind, instruments. There are a number of players in the field now. Tack Tick, who were the originals (?), have been around now for a few years. I'm not particularly interested in integration with the Simrad plotter etc and am quite happy with a stand alone display (though apparent wind speed and direction would be nice). I'm not racing so accuracy to the nearest degree and 0.1 of a knot is unnecessary - but data is useful (as well as feel) - especially when reaching.

Any advise.

Jonathan
 
Tack Tick was bought a few years back by Raymarine, which appears not to have done any product development. It's still good kit, but I can help thinking that wireless technology (as well as internal electronics) must have moved on a bit since the original Tack Ticks were specced, and that maybe Raymarine is hoping wireless will wither, because it competes rather too well with its wired range.
 
Wireless wind transducers are not "fit and forget". If you're not happy to make repeated trips up the mast (or pay someone else to do it), the attraction of a one-time job of feeding the cable becomes obvious.
 
There is another player in the field Sailtimer, so hoping wireless would wither seems a lost cause, and I had wondered if there were others in the background who might have a track record.

But pvb puts a dampner on it all - I have no problems working up the mast, was there yesterday - but its not the sort of thing to need to do regularly, nor at sea (if possible)

http://www.sailtimerwind.com/

Jonathan
 
I had a terrible experience with TackTic wind. Bought at boat show 2011 but didn't install until 2014 Didn't work straight out of the box. Took it to Raymarine. Negative attitude. Out of warranty, no explanation, no discussion. They tested it (which took a week) and reported that the masthead unit was faulty. Asked what was wrong with it. Don't know doesn't work. So no strip down and test, just plug in, doesn't work, you need a new one. Complained bitterly at high level and got a new one at half price (still £50 approx.) Installed it and it worked. 6 months later it failed again. Took it back again and was told there was a known fault with them due to a dry joint on a board so again they replaced it. When I said I could have been in the middle of an ocean rather than on their doorstep the service engineer said "well it is the budget end of our range!" Incredible attitude especially as they admitted it was a manufacturing fault. I have frankly had this attitude with other kit too. I have been told that my radar is 10 years old now and although it has only ever had light use if it goes wrong "buy a new one, its obsolete and was manufactured in Japan" I contrast this with Standard Horizon who still update my 10 year old chart plotter with new software free of charge and Robertson who gave me superb service sorting out a 15 year old autopilot. For Raymarine read designed obsolescence. Anyones kit can fail. I judge companies on the service they provide when it does.
 
I have had Tacktick wind (and log/depth/compass) since 2009. Wind has been faultless, which is more than can be said of depth transducers although all were replaced under warranty
 
Had the Tacktick wind instrument and NMEA interface since 2010 - both have worked fine so far. I think ray marine took them over around 2011, which was a bit disappointing, but so far I have been spared any interaction with them.
 
Was lucky enough to win a Tack Tick wind instrument some years ago pre Raymarine and (so far) its been excellent. Visited Raymarine at the boat show a year or two back and the impression I got was disinterest. Sounded like a tactical buy out. Seems strange they are still flogging them.
 
rgarside said:
Had the Tacktick wind instrument and NMEA interface since 2010 - both have worked fine so far. I think ray marine took them over around 2011, which was a bit disappointing, but so far I have been spared any interaction with them.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the many posts.

There are mixed messages, many appear to have had a trouble free history, fit and forget (it works). A few appear to have had disastrous experience, possible further coloured by an appalling attitude from Raymarine (my experience with Raymarine and Navico in Australia has been superb). It does appear that though there are other competitive product TackTick is the only one to have made any traction - but maybe the others are too new.

rgarside - you mention the NMEA interface works - and I assume by that you mean it works well. Which instrumentation do you interface with, Raymarine? Navico. My limited experience with NMEA interface is only anecdotal - but the common comment is that unrelated instruments can display each other's data but have great difficulty interpreting or manipulating that same data when it is derived from a different manufacturer. When one queries this anomaly either manufacturer will blame the other - making a bit of a nonsense of the NMEA concept. The NMEA interface is not a major issue for us, I'm quite happy to have stand alone instrumentation - if something goes down I do not lose everything.

Jonathan
 
Neeves said:
rgarside - you mention the NMEA interface works - and I assume by that you mean it works well. Which instrumentation do you interface with, Raymarine? Navico. My limited experience with NMEA interface is only anecdotal - but the common comment is that unrelated instruments can display each other's data but have great difficulty interpreting or manipulating that same data when it is derived from a different manufacturer. When one queries this anomaly either manufacturer will blame the other - making a bit of a nonsense of the NMEA concept. The NMEA interface is not a major issue for us, I'm quite happy to have stand alone instrumentation - if something goes down I do not lose everything.

Jonathan
Click to expand...

I have integrated NMEA from my Tacktick instrumentation with my Garmin 751, SH GX1500 VHF, Yeoman plotter... The only conflict I experienced in the set up was connecting the NMEA output from the VHF to the network. That knocked out the data from the instrumentation, but SH only recommend that connection to their own plotters. Once removed, it's been faultless. Wind data onto the plotter showing lay lines etc is awesome
 
Nearly two pages of responses to this thread and yet nobody has mentioned NASA (I will now run for cover amidst shower of disintegrating wind cups and snooty comments about them being cheap and cheerful). In the last year they have released their wireless wind instrument but I suppose it is too soon for anybody to have had much experience with it.

I have had a wired NASA Clipper factory repaired unit on Bonsella for 9 years without problem until now. Am considering replacing it with the wireless option to have one less wire in the mast and one less through deck cable. For what it's worth my experience with NASA has been nothing but good so I think I'll give it a try.
Morgan
 
Tac Tic are an oddity - I have a complete set and when I bought the boat the wind masthead unit did not work but it may just have needed re-pairing - so I called Raymarine to ask the procedure as it wasn't online anywhere. Long story short I eventually got put through to the head of their tech services because no one else knew - or could even open a box, get out the instructions and read them to me - but this proved fortuitous as I managed to convince him to give me a direct line to him thus avoiding the 30 minutes of "press 1 if you want to be ignored" It turned out the unit was toast so I called to see what could be done and was told it was the first one to ever fail - to which I pointed out their own user forum on their own website was filled with failures. So talking to the head man again I was told there were battery issues with the early units and that they had a new version in testing - which I was then given (well sold at a fixed trade in price). This improved model in 2012 was supposed to address all earlier issues and so far has worked flawlessly ever since - even through 55 knot winds in Biscay!
I then added the depth and log combined instrument. This stopped working (depth only) within a week and again speaking to the head man was told its was probably the "hull transmitter" and they'd send me a new one (I actually called mid channel en route to France) - I persuaded him to send a new Airmar transducer too on the proviso that I'd send which ever part wasn't broken back but as I was having to turn back to the UK to collect them I wanted to have everything in place at once to fix it. He sent the transducer too but noted "these never go wrong - it will be the hull transmitter" to which I asked - "so its always the bits Raymarine make that go wrong? " To which he laughed and said yes, always... However in this case he was wrong and it was a faulty transducer - a bit Raymarine and almost everyone else buy in from Airmar in the USA. This too have now work flawlessly for 3 years but the lack of knowledge in the rank and file staff at Raymarine and the resigned acceptance that "its always the Raymarine part at fault" does make me reluctant to choose that brand again.
 
All wireless wind transducers share a common problem - they have a rechargeable battery, and this will need replacing after a period, necessitating 2 trips up the mast (this can be expensive if you're not happy to do it yourself). The quality/technology of the rechargeable batteries varies. The Garmin/Nexus transducer uses a NiMH battery, I believe, and Garmin say it lasts 3 years and is "easily replaced". Early TackTick transducers had lots of battery problems, but I believe newer models use a lithium ion battery which is supposed to last 10 years. I don't know what sort of battery is in the Nasa transducer.

An additional potential problem is radio interference, which can prevent the wireless signal reaching the instrument.

Overall, unless there's a really compelling reason to go wireless, having a simple wired unit seems to be much less hassle.
 
Neeves said:
It looks as if I will need to replace my wind instruments. I've moved onto Navico so the obvious wired choice is B&G but I know that feeding the cable is going to prove something of an issue, even pulling it up when I remove the old one.

I wondered what the view was of wireless, wind, instruments. There are a number of players in the field now. Tack Tick, who were the originals (?), have been around now for a few years. I'm not particularly interested in integration with the Simrad plotter etc and am quite happy with a stand alone display (though apparent wind speed and direction would be nice). I'm not racing so accuracy to the nearest degree and 0.1 of a knot is unnecessary - but data is useful (as well as feel) - especially when reaching.

Any advise.

Jonathan
Click to expand...
We've had a set of Tacktick instruments since 2006. The only problem has been the wind transducer which tended to develop friction and stop rotating. Had new bearings once but since then I've kept things under control by a squirt of Wurth Ultra 2040 plus a spell on top of a post in our garden during the Winter. Our boatyard takes the mast down every Winter which gives access to the transducer plus a chance to check and clean up everything that's mast-related. I like the ability to bring home the displays for the Winter and to store them down below when leaving the boat on the mooring during the Summer.
 
Climbing masts is not an impediment. I make a visit 2 or 3 times a year to have a look and check rigging so that is not an issue. If I had to carry a battery or 2, that's something that we can cope with. Loss of the radio signal, through interference, would be a nuisance - but its not something anyone, who has wireless instruments has commented on - so I have to wonder if its real.

The factor that does discourage me is that if wireless had a future we would see more usage but it remains a niche application. Apart from TackTick there is virtually no other user experience and most respondents have quite old installations, no-one seems to be rushing out to buy.

Jonathan
 
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