I'm looking for weather instruments (wind direction and speed) to mount on top of my mast. Any suggestions of brands or models people are happy with. I'm really looking for something basic.
Weather instruments
- Thread starter Corlis West
- Start date
the most popular are ..Raymarine...Garmin.....and i think simard........or you could look at Davis instruments
If you want the wind data to be of any real use, you need it to show true wind. In order for it to do that, it will need to interface with your boat speed instrument. Make sure what you buy will do that. Sticking with the same brand (in particular raymarine) will help there.
I'm very happy with my Simrad IS15 and it has been trouble free for at least 6 or 7 years by now. It can be networked with other instruments.
I think any of the major players are going to give you good results. Go for price.
I would stay as far away from Raymarine if I possibly could. I've had to replace the masthead sender recently after just 5 years and the boat speed is not even slightly accurate so the true wind is never correct. Unfortunately, Raymarine has horrible customer service and their support techs are of little use in most cases. They couldn't or wouldn't tell me the horsepower of the motors they use in their rotary drive units! Even their big commercial network systems are unreliable and their support on them is no better.
I've personally had great service from Garmin electronics, though admittedly have never used their wind instruments. Their customer service and tech support are great, as well.
I've personally had great service from Garmin electronics, though admittedly have never used their wind instruments. Their customer service and tech support are great, as well.
Look at the Airmar weather station. Small split cylinder that gives more data than you can think is possible. I have had the 150 for ten years and I regularly sail with the weather station talking to the autopilot. They keep a course on the wind better than I do over hours and hours.