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Thread: communication and navigation equipment

  1. #11
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    Sep 2007
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    Great to see all your posts Chris - I think you've got the bug.

    I've been throwing good money after bad (well hopefully not) and updating my Raymarine stuff. Their new displays are SeaTalkNG (compatible with NMEA 2000) and are bright and very readable. Last year (for Pacific Cup) I bought a new Garmin 7" chartplotter that's visible in the cockpit via a swing-arm mount just inside the companionway. It has a feed from the AIS (in my VHF radio) so the AIS targets are in both places. With its AIS alarm the Garmin also takes the place of my old stand-alone AIS that's now aboard Stink Eye.

    Anyway, I'm regretting the Garmin chartplotter purchase - I should have bought a Raymarine MFD instead. I can't update the firmware in any of my new Raymarine components without a Raymarine MFD - I have to ship them off to Ray's service facility. (Whereas I can update the Garmin stuff via computer and Garmin cable.)

    If any of you have a Raymarine MFD (with a card slot) and are willing to have me come aboard with my Ray components and a data card, I'll be able to update everything.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    92

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    Quote Originally Posted by CRC1965 View Post
    I am curious if you have purchased the NKE system. I went way over the top on my J/88 and did. I think you will find if you look at B&G it comes in quite a few flavors and they offer similar systems for similar dollars. I love my system.....but the interface is not a clean as the B&G; and support is further away and in French ;-).
    The pilot drives the boat beautifully in waves with the kite up (Waves being 4-6 foot coastal Coastal CA and SF Bay)..so far.
    The reason I purchased the system is the remote....it offers a "fail safe" mode that puts the boat head to wind if separated from the system by 50 feet or so. I have not tested it yet...it gives me some peace of mind. Realistically if you fell of the boat with the kite up, even if the boat went head to wind it would probably drift aways faster than one could swim.....but I try not to think about that.

    Also, they Raymarine Products offer a lot of bang for the buck and don't forget to look at Pelagic Autopilot!!!!!

    I have gone so far as to send off a request to Euro Trading to spec out a NKE system for me, and have not received a reply as of yet. I told them that I wanted a system that would steer to true wind, and give me the information to create polars. I would be very interested in hearing what specific parts of the NKE system you got on your J88, and what it is capable of . Did you use an NKE hydralic drive, or somethiing else. What is the current draw? I would also be curious as to its cost, and what, if anything you would want to add, or subtract, and why. So far, you are the only person I have heard from that has actually put one on their boat and used it. Any other advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
    Jim Bates

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Jim, there's also a local J/105 owner who installed an NKE system awhile back and seems happy with it. He's done some SSS races and may watch this board. Doug Bailey who owns AKULA. Doug, are you lurking?

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    BobJ,
    Thanks, I really want to get all the info I can, as I have about two months to put it together and then two months to sail and use it. Incidentally, Since I broke the mast at the mid-point sleeve when I flipped it, we are in the process of putting it back together, and the young man, Ryan Finn, who has been doing the work for me, is doing a beautiful job. He found some "sheave-less" exit boxes at colligo, ao there are only two sheaves (the two main halyards) in a six halyard mast. Also, the only metal is the mast tube itself, and the headstay, and the wire headstay with a harken furler on itt, plus the diamond stays. The headstay is attached to a dynex dux loop syspended between two "cheeky tangs" from colligo. It may be that I am just showing my age, and that everyone already knows about all that stuff. But is is new to me for sure.
    I have decided that I am going to ask B&G for a spec sheet for my mission just to keep NKE honest.
    Jim

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
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    56

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    Bob Congdon is the NKE guy....San Diego based. Super nice, super helpful! My boat is light 5,000 lbs...so went with a morse cable connected to tiller (transom hung rudders have all sorts of challenges). Current draw is in the 3-4 amps range (so far.....beam reaching 25-30 knots, heavy seas). But again my boat is light and tiller is pretty well balanced. Similar draw with kit up and gain up so pilot making a lot of changes. True wind steering is easy with the system, toggle compass to true to apparent. I have two multi function displays..because they are a key part of the autopilot system..they do some of the processing.....also two incase one is damaged...though two almost necessary to avoid having to toggle constantly. It outputs a NMEA data stream wirelessly so you can capture all the data you want and more.......Part of the system includes there high end compass, and the usual speed/depth transducers, autopilot brain/cpu, GPS, I am sure I am forgetting something. Again I am happy......but you really should get a quote for B&G to compare....they are not that different. Cost of installation is about 50% of the electronics cost unless you plan to do it yourself........keep in mind that would be a very large project and installation issues are the most common source of autopilot failures......so I have read ;-)

    IF i had a bigger boat I would go B&G and interface with one of their beautiful chartplotters at a NAV station...overlay radar etc.......

    I link to a microsoft surface pro wirelessly.....works nicely (small footprint and current demand for a small boat)
    I also have a ipad as a second device also wireless link both display AIS information.

    FINALLY.........get a Vesper Watchmate. AIS transponder, GPS, wifii hub etc. The company is from down under they are incredibly responsive, the product works great out of the box. If you are going to spend NKE/B&G buck this is a no brainer safety issue.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    92

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    Chris,
    My boat is 6500 pounds, plus or minus. I just got a Farrier 33 rudder that we are replacing my homemake NACA 12 foil with. It is twice the size and depth. Did you go with a NKE hydralic drive? If so, which one. I am thinking about their "32" model. Your amp draw is going to create a power challenge, but I half expected that. I really really appreciate the equipment suggestions. Perhaps you could email me bob congdon's email. Unless your wife hasnt been told what it cost to get where you are, I am curious as to how much I need to prepare to spend.
    Thanks,
    Jim

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Jim, say Hi to Ryan for me. He raced the SHTP in 2004 with a J/90, a little carbon rocketship that has similar "accommodations" to a J/80. He got some bad routing advice (like we did in last year's PacCup) and didn't do too well, but he's a world class sailor. Ryan also gave me some help remotely before my SHTP's. I'm sure the class of 2004 would like to see him come out and give it another go.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    92

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    I will tell him hello for you Monday when he comes back to work on the boat. I met him prior to his 2004 SHTP effort, and again when he was putting together his mini prior to his European sailing campaign. Finally he is the owner of a custom made quarter-ton designed by Lonnie Stoner for me in about 1978 which was originally named "coonass", with appropriate graphics. I did not cover myself with glory with that boat, but Ryan is kicking light-air butt in the local races. I have looked at his MaxSea routing program and it is pretty impressive. He just used it to deliver a his father's J160 to its new owner through the canal from florida, and up to San Diego. Incidentally, he will be the one who will be doing the auto pilot installation.
    Jim

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    56

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    Ooops. AMP draw is less. Typical 2.5 amps seldom 3. 4 amps is total draw with every electronic item on the boat running (VHF, AIS Transponder, Surface Pro Tablet, Charging some electronics, a few LED lights). The picture attached shows the basic installation. Under the tiller is a second stub tiller (this connects to the morse cable...which then routes through the hull to the electric motor mounted safely below. I have quick disconnect for the autopilot that leads to the end of the tiller. The black plastic block mounted on the deck puts the morse cable at the same level as the stub tiller. It would have been nice to be lower and avoid this....BUT...had an access panel I wanted to keep available.Name:  Tiller Pilot.jpg
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  10. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    92

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    Chris,
    I would not have thought of a stub tiller. My set-up is a bit more complex, as my boat has a 4 foot hull extention with an oil derrick looking affair on it to hold solar panels. The transom mounted tiller is in back of the original transom, so a linkage had to be made to connect the two. but the push-pull cable is a neat idea. The forum has already given me a couple of ideas that I may be able to use. What a great resource.

    BobJ,
    I have a Petrson 1/2 tonner that won the North American CHampionship in the mid-70's when sailed by O.J. Young, in Gulfport, Mississippi. It was named "Mouth" with a big shark's mouth on the front. Everyone knew it was named after O.J. however as he was quite a screamer. The boat is sitting on a trailer, and needs a total restoration for racing. I will offer to pay for the parts and let Ryan bring it to the SHTP, if he has the energy to put in the labor to do it. I dont have the time. I bought it thinking that it might be a good Bermuda 1-2 boat, with water ballast, but I have been too afflicted by the multihull bug, and only have time and mental energy to devote to the multihull at this time.

    Can someone tell me the basic layout of a wireless system on a boat? Is that a separate item that all the other gear connects to, for purposes of transmitting data, or is it contained within the various pieces of electronic gear such as the versper, ipad, nke etc. It is the connectivity between the various items that has me confused.
    Jim

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