Masthead wind sensors/transducers?

[George Hackett]

So? Do I take it that masthead units are brand priority or are there manufacturers like Airmar for under the water line gear? 

 

[Dead air]

Davis Instruments, I've seen their sensors reworked a few tims into different brands, but there is usually a little more customisiation gone on than with the Airmar gear

 

[DDW]

There are a couple of N2K ultrasonic masthead wind instruments. The Airmar doesn't have the best rep for accuracy, there is a French one that is supposed to be better. 

 

[Notquitecapnron]

This is the french sensor Dead refers to...https://lcjcapteurs.com/en/

No experience.

 

[DDW]

Actually was thinking of a different one, can't think of it or find it right now.....

 

[Dead air]

As i understand it, LCJ have the patents and basically are a step ahead of the rest of the market.

Calypso instruments do a mini version, wired and wireless, and maretron have an option as well 

 

[Notquitecapnron]

LOL...sorry for the confusion, I was referring to "Dead Down Wind"s comment, which apparently I had the wrong one anyway.  Didn't even notice there was another moniker aboard with "Dead" in the screen name.  Apologies.  Carry on.  

 

[steele]

A friend has the calypso ultrasonic sensor from Spain. He has had trouble getting it to play nice with his Garmin nmea system and I think had to resort to also purchasing the calypso mutiplexer for over $200. Second issue has been calibration. There was no software to set wind direction so the only way to do it was to go up the mast and rotate the sensor by hand. This is harder than it seems since the sensor is round so figuring out which direction is 0 degress apparent is not clear.

The company may have updated their software so if interested I would check with them directly.

 

[George Hackett]

Thanks for the responses, but.  I am talking about who makes the tall carbon masthead units that come with brand electronics like B&G?  Or do these brands make thier own? 
 

the reason I ask is that I am looking at doing a swap of B&G stuff to Raymarine.  Raymarine says that as long as the Masthead Units puts out NMEA2000, it will work in their system.  And this tall masthead units will keep the sensor higher out of air flow than their Long Arms will. 

 

[Snowden]

The only non-OEM vertical MHU I can think of (i.e. not B&G, Garmin on NKE) is Diverse:

https://diverseps.com/product/carbon-vertical-masthead-instrument-units/

 

[Pelle]

Veratron makes a vertical NMEA2000 wind sensor. No idea if it is any good but it is available https://www.veratron.com/marine/product-overview/sensors/

 

[George Hackett]

Thanks Snowden and Pelle. 

 

[ILYB-Todd]

WSO200 Maretron Ultrasonic Wind Sensor

Anyone have any experience with this unit? Specifically in a racing sailboat application? How does it compare to a B&G or Garmin/Nexus style wind sensor in terms of performance, weight and drag aloft?

 

[slug zitski]

WSO200 Maretron Ultrasonic Wind Sensor

Anyone have any experience with this unit? Specifically in a racing sailboat application? How does it compare to a B&G or Garmin/Nexus style wind sensor in terms of performance, weight and drag aloft?

Don’t think it’s suitable for mast head sensing on a sailboat

it would be in bad, disturbed air

this is why a masthead sensor is mounted on a tall wand

 

[willsailforfood]

Thanks for the responses, but. I am talking about who makes the tall carbon masthead units that come with brand electronics like B&G? Or do these brands make thier own?


the reason I ask is that I am looking at doing a swap of B&G stuff to Raymarine. Raymarine says that as long as the Masthead Units puts out NMEA2000, it will work in their system. And this tall masthead units will keep the sensor higher out of air flow than their Long Arms will.

A+T Instruments makes an improved version of the older 213 style B&G vertical MHU.

In my opinion the A+T, 700 series B&G, and NKE vertical sensors are the goto units if you want to do anything that requires a stable accurate wind solution for things like serious pilot work downwind.

If that's not your goal, a host of other sailing specific MHU's will get the job done. I'd avoid brands like Furuno, or even Garmin (my backup Furuno MHU was 10-15° off downwind, and about as accurate as putting my wet finger aloft in any kind of sea state).