Looks like its opening up a bit of a can of worms but has anyone replaced their wind instruments?
Looking at
Nasa clipper wireless
Tacktic wireless
Or raymarine i60wired...
Wireless seem to work ok for a year or two then become troublesome?
I've got the NASA wired and it's s*@+.
Pretty pissed off actually. When it failed the 1st time I paid for the masthead electric internals plus shipping. They had corroded out. 6mths out of warranty, $60 bucks I think. Recently the magnet for The direction finder rusted out. They sent the 50c piece for free. Told me I should paint it. Why didn't they originally.
Either way it hasn't fixed the issue.
$600 wasted.
I bought a 2nd hand i60 off a Seabreezer. Installed one year ago still going well. I do feel it over reads speed by a few kts, but the wind up there might really be that strong.
i put anew ribbon on the shrouds every six months it annoys me they fall apart and cant get a warranty
My Brother has the raymarine wireless and loves it. Been going at least 2-3 years no problems.
I am about to buy one as well.
Noting the wind instrument is only useful for bragging rights in the bar afterwards, I wouldn't spend a lot on it.
We have Tacktick. I believe it's the original unit from 2006, however we replaced the masthead transmitter about 2yrs ago. Batteries are replaceable which we initially did in the masthead unit until the solar panels then failed. The display unit is now hard wired for power since the batteries failed. It all integrates with the plotter/autopilot etc so the autopilot will sail wind angles and overall has been very reliable.
I would probably go wired if starting from scratch and could be bothered running the cable.
www.littlebird.com.au/products/mini-lcd-display-weather-station
www.jaycar.com.au/touch-screen-wireless-weather-station-with-usb-pc-link/p/XC0348
I've seen the odd boat with these on board
I suppose it becomes a need vs want senario.
Its nice to have a pointer telling you are pointing well. Its nice to have a number to confirm you should have reefed by now.
I see if you are running down wind and the wind is picking up it may alert you sooner.
Otherwise it sounds wireless still is tempremental....
It's nice to have when night sailing. Last Friday would have been great but nada. Wind direction was shifting as the land cooled down and zero moon.