So, I'm a neophyte compared to you guys when it comes to electronics and instruments etc. But I wanted an inexpensive electronic wind instrument for my boat this year, and chose the SailTimer Wind Instrument ( http://www.sailtimerwind.com ) over the basic Raymarine i40. Given Raymarine's announcement, maybe I made a lucky choice. :) I chose the SailTimer Wind Instrument because I liked the idea of a solar-powered bluetooth-enabled (no wires) masthead vane sending data to an inexpensive iOS app.
I was already familiar with the SailTimer app ( http://www.sailtimerapp.com ) from last year, and sold on its features - optimal tacking routes, boat-specific (even sail-specific) learned polar diagrams, etc. But to be most effective, the app needs real-time wind speed and direction information, so I bought the instrument. For the kind of sailing I do with my boat - club racing on a lake in Colorado - it made the most economic sense to have a commodity device and OS (iPad or iPhone) in the cockpit running an app from a potential marketplace thereof, consuming an industry standard data stream over bluetooth, instead of custom display hardware in the cockpit cabled to sensors and running custom firmware / OS / application software. Who knows, maybe the SailTimer approach is the way of the future. I'm just now installing and really learning the whole setup - I ordered the instrument in April and received it in August. So I'll write a more thorough review later, once I've had some experience with the app and instrument together. I'll be using the combined system for the first time in the coming week (on Friday it's forecast to be blowing 20 gusting 30 at my lake - woo-hoo!). But the instrument is compact and solid, and the initial setup has been straightforward. Best Regards, Randy Stafford S/V Grenadine C&C 30-1 #7 Ken Caryl, CO ----- Original Message ----- From: "John McKay via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: "cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: "John McKay" <jmckay...@yahoo.ca> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 10:36:48 PM Subject: Re: Stus-List Raymarine exits the instrument, vhf and autopilot business! I bought an EV100 autohelm this spring. A few weeks ago, I got an email from Raymarine talking about a software update. I call their tech line asking how I could get the update since the autohelm is stand alone. The rest of my electronics are Garmin. He said I was out of luck. I pointed out I could update my Garmin with an SD card. He did not give a shit! John on Enterprise On Monday, September 19, 2016 10:07 PM, Dave S via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: LOL, OK, should not have implied ALL other vendors, but my cursory search found this this N2K to USB cable for your (?) B&G triton/navico/simrad. Looks like its used in conjunction with a laptop and free dowloadable software. You can also use a MFD,but are not forced to. http://www.marine-electronics-unlimited.com/blog/?page_id=98 The Windows 8 software tool http://www.bandg.com/de/Products/Triton-Display/Software-Upgrade-Tool/ I also checked ICOM, Furuno... It did appear that Airmar required one of their weather stations as an interface to update their sensors,but I did not explore this,nor how other manufacturers update their Airmar-made sensors. I'm sure there are situations where manufacturers attempt to promote a proprietary, closed-shop approach to updating but most of those i found did not. Dave. From: G Collins < cnclistforw...@hotmail.com > To: " cnc-list@cnc-list.com " < cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Raymarine exits the instrument, vhf and autopilot business! Message-ID: < BN6PR14MB16342BBD0080C7410736 EDBAD8F70@BN6PR14MB1634. namprd14.prod.outlook.com > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Other vendors don't take this approach? Sure they do. I've got B&G Triton displays - can't do any updating on them without a B&G MFD. Same is true with all that I'm aware of. And I'd love to buy a Maretron ultrasonic tank level sender, it is N2K - but to calibrate it I also have to buy one of their displays, which I have no other use for. Graham Collins Secret Plans C&C 35-III #11 _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions are greatly appreciated! _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
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