Electronics on a ds1

[PassingWind]

Has anyone installed a wind meter or speed meter on there ds1 was looking at the tick tack units that are wireless. I already have a handheld gps and a handheld wind indicator but i was thinking it would be nice to mount on the ceiling of the cuddy. Pics if you have installed one..

Thx

Rob

[jdoorly]

Hi Rob,

I installed both a speed/depth/temp and an apparent wind indicator on my DS2, They are both Raymarine ST40 series and were the cheapest I could find. The wind speed sensor was a vectron type, which I didn't like because there is no fly for direct visual reading ( the 3 cup rotor is unbalanced by design and the goofy signal is interpreted for wind direction. It was necessary to run the sensor wire up the mast. I never was able to get it accurate though I tried many times to calibrate and adjust it. Just the other day I got to the boat ramp and fount the mast top sensor mysteriously missing, and I decided not to replace the $250 sensor.

The speedo came with a depth and temp sensor- all that works fine. These required 2 through-holes in the hull. The paddlewheel speed sensor needs a fairly specific position and orientation and I was lucky that the trailer didn't interfere with it.

These 2 devices were connected via a network with the Tiller Pilot (so I could feed the wind direction to the Pilot for beating.

Wireless instruments sound like a good idea, I hope for your sake it is! But I don't hold the combination of electronics and boats in high regard at this point.

[GreenLake]

The only electronics I have on my DS1 is a handheld wind-speed indicator. I use it occasionally to confirm my wind-speed estimate based on wave state. I find the latter usually accurate enough for my purposes.

At one point I rigged up a log by making a small paddle wheel with magnets and used a bike computer to convert that to speed. To calibrate, we had to make it assume some odd wheel size. It was a fun project, but I realized that my rough speed estimates from the state of the wake were accurate enough for my purposes, so I stopped bothering.

I'd hate to mount any expensive sensors on the mast - I lost two Windex vanes to overhanging trees over the years, that was painful enough. Also, with the boat on the trailer there's further risk for damage every time the mast is down, unless the sensor could be taken off like the Windex. But then, it's easy to forget to replace it on launch - a common occurrence with the Windex (and the most recent little cruise without it up there was a good reminder that it's possible to sail quite well without one).

I have this thing about not getting gadgets that are pricier than the boat itself, or nearly so. Rather spend money on sails, frankly.

But aside from that preference, the more dials you have on board, the more your focus of attention is in the cockpit and not out on the water.

[PassingWind]

Yeah ive ripped off 2 windexs already.

I am mainly wanting a knot meter for speed.

Jdoorly, where did you mount the thru hull fitting for the st40?

[jdoorly]

Rob, I'm not ignoring your question, I just keep forgetting to measure...

[PassingWind]

Rob, I'm not ignoring your question, I just keep forgetting to measure...

Lol no problem. No rush next time you are out an eyeball measurement would be fine

[jdoorly]

Sorry to continue to take so long but I was hoping to measure, as well as check the manual's suggested location. But having done neither so far, let me just say that the speed sensor (paddle-wheel type) is about 5 inches to starboard of the mast step (DS2).

[jdoorly]

I was just uploading pix when I noticed I had this one...


The paddlewheel is to starboard, to port is the depth.