Thoughts on solar powered wireless wind speed/direction units?

[kito]

Since my mast is down, I am toying with the idea of installing a wind speed/direction unit. I seen the Raymarine T101 (Tacktick) on sale and got me curious. The search here brought up some older hits but was wondering if anyone has any comments on their unit. It seems to have had problems with the wireless signal and the bearings in the sending unit going bad. It looks like the sending unit and the gauge panel is powered by a solar charged lithium battery. Just looking for some pros/cons.

 

[Stu Jackson]

My experience was sailing when I was a kid (almost can't remember that now, but I vaguely remember Beetle catboats), and our C22 (1983-87), C25 (1987-1998). None of them had these gadgets. My boat now has one for the past 18 years. I rarely look at it, even when racing.

Telltales, the back of my neck, and the Beaufort scale have done me fine for a looong time.

Your boat, your choice.

 

[KD3PC]

A great idea, that fails in the implementation. They have been hit or miss since day one, as you mentioned bearings, add in displays that fog - permanently, and the fact that they are not repairable for the most part. Swap out for a refurb/warranty issue, throwaway after a few years if you are lucky.

NOt sure about the last couple of years issues or not, I gave up on them a decade ago...nothing of use to justify the price, when you look at the big picture.

 

[berner73]

Have had Tackticks installed for 5 or 6 years now. Like them a lot, no issues for us. Have heard reports of problems from others so maybe we've just been lucky so far. Batteries on our units still fully charge and the displays look like new. Ours are detachable and we keep them below decks when not in use and bring them home in the off season.

 

[quadrille38]

A friend had them on his C30 and they worked OK for a week or two and then problems started. Replaced mast head unit a couple of times. System wouldn't boot up when started normally but if he used the remote it would boot.

Customer service was difficult because this was before Raymarime acquired it. He kept having to communicate back to the UK and still couldn't get help.
And this is a guy whose an electronics technician so he knows what he's doing and still couldn't get them to work reliably.

 

[NotCook]

To respond to your original question about wireless wind instruments, we installed a new Garmin gWind wireless wind transducer just prior to going offshore for 1700 miles. It works flawlessly. It includes a GND 10 black box bridge that allows shared communication of critical NMEA 2000 data between the Nexus Network and Garmin compatible chartplotters.

One thing I do recommend is that you use it in conjunction with a heading indicator so it has a frame of reference other than the GPS.

 

[druid]

I've ALWAYS had a "wireless, self-powered" wind direction instrument on my boats. It's called a "wind-vane" - look it up!

(They work great until an overgrown eagle parks his fat ass on it!)

druid