May 25, 2022
On our passage, our anemometer failed (the wind sensor that tells us the wind speed and direction). This wasn’t a great problem but I really missed it and while Cyndi was amazing at guessing the wind speed from conditions (verified with a hand-held anemometer we have aboard), I wasn’t as good.
I also really missed the true wind direction and speed calculated from the apparent wind speed and direction and the boat course and speed. Getting a new sensor was a priority in New Caledonia.
AltoMarine to the rescue. They run a great marine electronics store in Noumea that sells B&G and Simrad gear. They’ve helped us before and they came to the rescue again.
But the sensors have changed. B&G has a new line called the WS300 series. We decided to go with the WS320 despite my reservations about a solar powered, wireless sensor at the top of the mast.
It seems that while this series isn’t new, the marketing and marketing materials are using the chaos marketing theory – tell your customer nothing and let them work it out!
A Bluetooth receiver is also needed, pictured below…
I was reluctant to use a wireless sender. I was even more reluctant to use a Bluetooth device for this. I bought it anyway for about $900 USD.
The installation was pretty easy. It is assumed that the receiver should be mounted outside, in clear view of the sender on top of the mast. Some posts on CruisersForum.com suggested that it might work mounted below decks so I thought I’d start there.
I printed a little box/mount so that I could fasten it to the top of a cabinet. The receiver slides into the box which is two-sided taped to the top of the locker. The signal seems to go through the deck just fine.
So far, so good. The signal is shown to be between 50 and 70% signal strength. It initializes pretty quickly and the data looks solid. We have a six day passage coming up soon so we can see how it works with extended use.
B&G claim that this unit is a new, more reliable sensor. From what I see, it is exactly the same as the sensors that have only lasted me two or three years, with the addition of a little solar cell. I hope I get more than three years our of this! -Rich
