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I am faced with a partially failing Raymarine wind transducer at the top of my mast. It is from the ST series vintage, and was originally connected to an ST60 wind display. I am using an ITC-5 converter which is directly connected to it (and it alone) to get the data onto my NMEA 2000 network where everything else happily consumes the data.
I am already having to drag new cable for my VHF radio to the top of the mast, and it is proving very difficult. I do not want to step the mast right now to fix this.
As a result, I am looking for wireless wind sensors that could fit the bill. I am not a racer, so I don't need any crazy features.
I originally had Tacktick wireless sensors on another boat, which Raymarine bought a few years ago. They did not perform well due to interference, and had a lot of trouble with the solar charging wind instrument failing repeatedly. It doesn't look like Raymarine has done much with that product line other than slap their logo on it.
The Garmin GNX looks pretty close to what I want, but I would also have to add a GNX wind instrument which would connect to it wirelessly, and then convert the data to put on NMEA 2000. That's not the end of the world, as I could displace one of my Raymarine i70s displays - they don't have great sailing/wind features anyhow.
I've looked at other smaller manufacturers but haven't found any that seem that great. Are there other manufacturers that I am missing?
Ideally it should be wireless and either provide native NMEA 2000 or have a way to send it.
Editor, SeaBits.com
I have selected the LCJ Capteurs CV7 combined with a WindyPlug and will be installing it when the mast comes down next week. Ben Ellison had the pole version and did some testing in 2017. I've had mine for a week and been pretty impressed with its accuracy over my existing sensor, and compared to a Maretron WSO100 ultrasonic.
Excited about having a reliable wind device up on the mast for the first time on Grace. Will post an update when I've had it working for a while.
Editor, SeaBits.com
Did you consider the sensors from Calypso? I’ve been pondering something for my Olson 25 and looking for a simple low hassle install.
I did not consider them. They do look to have some pretty nice products. Are you considering a wireless solution? I did a lot of soul searching on whether to go wireless or wired, and after a lot of reading and considering my previous wireless sensors, I decided against it.
I did want a solution with as little maintenance required, hence the ultrasonic solution.
Editor, SeaBits.com