Cheap wind instruments

Kestle

Kestle

.
Jun 12, 2011
702
MacGregor 25 San Pedro
Love the wind instruments on the race boat, but on my Mac, the hull speed doesn't justify the $2-6k.

All I want are four things: true & apparent wind direction, and true & apparent wind speed.

Any of you folks come up with a cheap solution to getting these four in the cockpit?

Jeff
 
Doc_holiday

Doc_holiday

.
Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
Or you could just wet your finger and hold it up like I do. Heave to to get true wind. :)
 
P

Piotr

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Dec 6, 2010
848
MacGregor 25 Rock Hall, MD
I use shroud telltales. $14 from WM. For wind speed I use a hand-held anemometer. It was a gift from Admiral. It cost about $45. For true wind speed and direction I check the current conditions on internet (but, frankly, I can guesstimate it to within 1-2 knots by looking at waves). Works like a charm.:D
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

.
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Also,

To get true wind the boat must also have a NMEA networkable boat speed instrument. The wind instrument uses boat speed and apparent wind speed and direction to calculate true wind.
 
py26129

py26129

.
Oct 25, 2011
576
Island Packet IP31 Lake St. Louis, Montreal
If you can deal with apparent wind strength only there is a $20 solution.

A few years ago, I built an anemometer on the cheap, using three table spoon measuring spoons as cups ($3) and a cap from a black spray paint can (free). This was mounted on a piece of old stantion (free) using a bearing scrounged from a dead VCR (free) and mounted on my stern rail using a BBQ mount I found in the garbage at our club (also free). To display the wind speed, I used a bicycle speedometer ($10 - 15). The wheel magnet for the speedometer was hot glued on the inside of the paint can cap and the pickup mounted on the post . Claibration was done by adjusting the wheel size of teh bike speedo, using a borrowed hand held anemometer and my wife's hair dryers as a wind source.

Worked like a charm. Depending on the featuresof the bike speedo you will also be able to get average wind speed, max wind speed etc.

Cheers

Matt
 

Attachments

MrBill_FLL

MrBill_FLL

.
May 4, 2005
4,062
Macgregor 26d Ft Lauderdale, Fl
py26129 said:
If you can deal with apparent wind strength only there is a $20 solution.

A few years ago, I built an anemometer on the cheap, using three table spoon measuring spoons as cups ($3) and a cap from a black spray paint can (free). This was mounted on a piece of old stantion (free) using a bearing scrounged from a dead VCR (free) and mounted on my stern rail using a BBQ mount I found in the garbage at our club (also free). To display the wind speed, I used a bicycle speedometer ($10 - 15). The wheel magnet for the speedometer was hot glued on the inside of the paint can cap and the pickup mounted on the post . Claibration was done by adjusting the wheel size of teh bike speedo, using a borrowed hand held anemometer and my wife's hair dryers as a wind source.

Worked like a charm. Depending on the featuresof the bike speedo you will also be able to get average wind speed, max wind speed etc.

Cheers

Matt
Click to expand

impressive! how close to accurate do you think it is? (ever check against a real anemometer)
 
justsomeguy

justsomeguy

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Feb 20, 2011
8,036
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Depends on the incremental adjustability of the bicycle speedometer, I would suppose.
I'd bet it'd be close enough for our purposes.
 
py26129

py26129

.
Oct 25, 2011
576
Island Packet IP31 Lake St. Louis, Montreal
When I calibrated it, I borrowed a fairly expensive handheld anemometer and my wife's hair dryer. Ther adjustments on the bike speedo were fine grained enough that i was able to get both to read exactly the same, on both the high and low setting for the hair dryer fan.

Real world comparisons with other boats throughout the season usually had it in the same ballpark as other boats around us..

What complicated the comparisons a bit was that I had it mounted fairly low on the aft end of the boat as I was limited by the length of the wire on the speedo. (see pic, it's the black thing above the kayak next to the canadian flag) As a result readings with the boat pointed straight into the wind were not very accruate due to the dodger and other stuff.

In terms of function vs. $$$ it came out waaaay ahead of the curve ......and it didn't look too bad either.

Cheers

Matt
 

Attachments

justsomeguy

justsomeguy

.
Feb 20, 2011
8,036
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Nice "Malibu Barbie" spinnaker! I have a parachute with those colors...
 
py26129

py26129

.
Oct 25, 2011
576
Island Packet IP31 Lake St. Louis, Montreal
justsomeguy said:
Nice "Malibu Barbie" spinnaker! I have a parachute with those colors...
Click to expand
LOL. I have never heard it described that way. That chute used to be on a J-80 until they retired it. It did just fine in its second, cruising life.
 
Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
That's just about the coolest thing on the planet. :) A quick search on Ebay yielded a whole bunch of wireless ones for under $10. The cups could go up to the bow rail.
 
Doc_holiday

Doc_holiday

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Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
justsomeguy said:
Nice "Malibu Barbie" spinnaker! I have a parachute with those colors...
Click to expand
My main canopy is black, blue and pink. I had to trade the pink risers and slider in for black tho. Bought it used but every time it opened it was a beautiful sight.

Never saw my reserve but it is brown and tan. Yuk!

since retired. After never having a reserve ride it 17 years, this last rig was having trouble and my end cells wouldn't inflate for the last 7 jumps without shaking and climbing the risers I decided to call it quits while I was ahead.

I wonder if I could out my son in the harness and tow him behind the boat in close wind?
 
justsomeguy

justsomeguy

.
Feb 20, 2011
8,036
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Doc_holiday said:
My main canopy is black, blue and pink. I had to trade the pink risers and slider in for black tho. Bought it used but every time it opened it was a beautiful sight.

Never saw my reserve but it is brown and tan. Yuk!

since retired. After never having a reserve ride it 17 years, this last rig was having trouble and my end cells wouldn't inflate for the last 7 jumps without shaking and climbing the risers I decided to call it quits while I was ahead.

I wonder if I could out my son in the harness and tow him behind the boat in close wind?
Click to expand

Dang, you are/were a good packer! I've got around 8 reserve rides out of about 4500 jumps over 20+ years. Most cutaways were under that Malibu Barbie-colored Jonathan. It always was a squirrely-opening canopy, especially when it got out of trim. Now I mainly jump "Spinettos" ;)

Sorry for the thread hijacking!
 
K

Knuttle

.
Sep 25, 2008
295
1970 Venture by Macgregor 21 Clayton, NC
py26129 said:
If you can deal with apparent wind strength only there is a $20 solution.

A few years ago, I built an anemometer on the cheap, using three table spoon measuring spoons as cups ($3) and a cap from a black spray paint can (free). This was mounted on a piece of old stantion (free) using a bearing scrounged from a dead VCR (free) and mounted on my stern rail using a BBQ mount I found in the garbage at our club (also free). To display the wind speed, I used a bicycle speedometer ($10 - 15). The wheel magnet for the speedometer was hot glued on the inside of the paint can cap and the pickup mounted on the post . Claibration was done by adjusting the wheel size of teh bike speedo, using a borrowed hand held anemometer and my wife's hair dryers as a wind source.
Click to expand
I would like to nominate py26129 with his wind speed device and calibrating equipment for the Rube Goldberg Award for the year 2014.

It sounds like a valid working device, made from what he had on hand.
 
Doc_holiday

Doc_holiday

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Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
I second that!

Was a great packer, most of the local instructors had me pack theirs, I packed a lot of student rigs too. I would drop in and pack for a day. I got like 6 bucks a pack and it piled up in my account so I could jump all weekend for free

When my rig would come back from a reserve repack, I learned the main pack was crap so I always unpacked and replaced the main.

The funny thing is, I didn't do anything special, just paid attention to what I was doing. Sometimes I wonder if a perfect pack was any better than just stuffing.

I too am sorry for the hijack
 
Tymadman

Tymadman

.
Sep 25, 2013
23
Farr 6000 Brisbane
Kestle said:
Love the wind instruments on the race boat, but on my Mac, the hull speed doesn't justify the $2-6k. All I want are four things: true & apparent wind direction, and true & apparent wind speed. Any of you folks come up with a cheap solution to getting these four in the cockpit? Jeff
Click to expand
I'm working on it Jeff!
 
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