Autohelm ST60 Wind Instrument way off

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Oct 26, 2010
2,144
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
1994 Hunter 40.5

The wind instrument is an Autohelm ST60.

It is reading way off from the actual true or apparent wind. Seems like almost 180 out but not exactly. When the wind is coming from dead ahead, the apparent wind may show 160 or so.

I have the Autohelm Product Support handout for the wind instrument that shows the calibration procedure.

I have tried the calibration procedures and it doesn't seem to effect much. The wind speed seems about right (hard to tell for sure but seems okay). Its just the direction that is out of wack

I'll probably take the readout off the binacle this week and see if I have loose or corroded connections. Does anyone else have any experience with this and can offer some sollutions/suggestions. I can sail without it but its convenient to have and I just don't like having something that doesn't work!

Smokey
 
Last edited:
May 24, 2004
7,174
CC 30 South Florida
Everytime the wind transducer is disconnected the indicator needs to be calibrated. The instructions are on the manual. If they don't seem to work check the transducer connections. (yes, up the mast)
 
Jun 2, 2004
31
Hunter 356 springfield, va
I had the same problem with the same instrument on my H356 about 5 years ago. Called Raymarine and they gave me proper voltage readings for all of the wires that come through the mast. On my boat, wires are and a connector block above a wood trim panel that surrounds mast tube compression post. All of my voltages were OK so that was not the problem. Called Raymarine again and they gave me a slightly different calibration procedure then what is in the manual - mainly some of the settings in the instrument set-up. That solved the problem. I don't have that information any more but I do remember that the Raymarine tech support guy called that set-up the "Catalina" calibration - something to do with the rudder characteristics. Worth a try before you go up the mast. BTW, if the wind speed looks OK and the wind angle works but is not accurate, it means that the instrument at the mast head is probably OK. Recently, my wind speed was OK but the wind angle did not move. Problem was that some f@%&ing bird used the wind angle sensor to do pushups. We were able to rebuild unit with a $30 kit from Raymarine and one trip up the mast.
 
Jan 7, 2011
5,615
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
I have the same unit, and I took it off the mast to clean and lube the anemometer (it was not spinning freely). In the process, I took off the vane also. When I commissioned it in the spring, I realized that the wind angle was way off...had not thought about the fact that there was no index (flat spot ) on the wind vane shaft. I was able to calibrate the wind angle following the instructions in the manual...from the helm.

Greg
 
Jun 4, 2004
1,087
Mainship Piliot 34 Punta Gorda
Go to Raymarine Tec forum and post your question. The moderator is a Raymarine guy and he will help.
 
Jan 22, 2008
319
Hunter 29.5 Gloucester, VA
You can do a search on this site for the voltages there have been several posts on the subject.
 
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