Wireless vs Wired B&G kits.

[stevead]

FWIW, My partner's rig isn't terribly big, probably around 45-50'. I haven't had to go aloft for quite some while.

I've never worried about bird poo on the solar panel, the gulls would have to avoid the windex and I haven't noticed any interference when transmitting VHF (antenna at mast head) or HF (antenna inside dyneema backstay).

Wired vs Wireless ? Difficult question these days. I don't think the B&G wireless models have been around long enough to get any useful information regarding failures, battery life etc. On the other hand TacTick wireless transducers (now owned by Raymarine), have been around for quite some time so I think any concerns one would have over wireless wind transducers could be allayed. Probably make your decision based on a coin toss. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

I personally prefer wired, but that may just be a stubborn ideological bias of little merit. In anycase, you still have to go up the mast to install the transducer and whether you spend extra time (or money) running a cable up the mast is entirely up to you.

My partner also has a Vulcan 7R, I was a cheap bastard, it was on sale, so it became her Christmas present! The cockpit is very dry, so no problems with the touch screen. Everything works OK, the built-in WiFi is very useful as she can connect her iPad running Navionics to it to receive depth & AIS. Plus the B&G has some good features for yachts; sail steer, lay lines etc. I personally have no problems recommending a Vulcan (or Zeus if you want knobs to twiddle).

From a basic NMEA 2000 perspective, you can mix and match NMEA 2000 transducers (depth, speed, wind), GPS, AIS and MFD's from different manufacturers, however you can't easily do the same with autopilots as each of the manufacturers generally use proprietary NMEA 2000 messages to control their model of autopilot.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by stevead

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Wired vs Wireless ? Difficult question …

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There isn’t a thanks button (at least I can’t find one) on the IPad app, so, here’s a manual thanks instead. Great post, thank you, with lots of good info.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by hjohnson

IMHO, always go wired.


It's not that hard to run a cable down the mast, and if you do so, you don't need to worry about batteries wearing out, RF wierdness, or whether a bird has pooped on the solar panel.


I've done installations on both my own E27 (35' mast or so) and on a Moody 46 (70' mast). Gravity is your friend; it wasn't hard to runt the cable down, once you had someone up at the top of the mast.

Agree about the cable being no great drama, particularly since I’m planning to take the mast off soon.

Instinctively I am a little worried about wireless, but then a previous poster pointed out that the cable itself can be a problem. Unlikely I know, but I have actually had to replace the cable for my Raymarine ST60+. It is pretty old, so it was reasonable of it to fail, but it does form a counterpoint to concerns about reliability of RF signals.

[stevead]

since I’m planning to take the mast off soon.

I'd probably go for the wired option if it easy to run the NMEA 2000 cable down the mast and through your cabin top and to wherever it needs to end up, without creating the potential for water ingress and without creating a mess of spaghetti inside the cabin.

Keep in mind the wired wind transducer includes a NMEA 2000 terminating resistor and is considered part of the backbone, so it connects to the "backbone" side of a T-piece, not the "drop cable" side. You will then only require one other terminating resistor, at the other end of the backbone.

With the mast unstepped, I'd also suggest taking the opportunity to run new electrical cables to the anchor/tricolour/steaming/spreader lights and new VHF cable (assuming you have a masthead antenna).

And make sure all of your connections are well made (good solid crimps) and covered with good marine grade adhesive lined heat shrink tubing.

Good luck with your decision making...