ID Old VDO Instrument

[JohnT]

Hi, can anybody tell me what this instrument actually is? I am told it comes off a sailing boat.

[GordMay]

Can you read the number, and post a pic of the face?

[Hesti]

I guess an electronic compass. The thing has a forward direction, can be adjusted a bit for installation angle and doesn't look like its a through hull. That leaves compass.

[JohnT]

@GordMay - unfortunately the photo’s were sent to me with the sender unable to clearly read the number. There is no face, just the sensor. He was told that it was a wind sensor, which I doubt.

@Hesti - I thought it was a fluxgate compass, but have no knowledge of VDO equipment other then their old mechanical dials, which I have not seen on boats for many years here at the pointy southern end of Africa.

[GordMay]

“Luftfahrt” is a German noun, which translates/pertains to “aviation or aeronautics”; and gerate translates/pertains to “devices or appliances”
Hence, I’d suppose a “Luftfahrtgerate” to be an aviation instrument (avionics).
As Hesti noted, the orienting arrow might suggest a compass, or perhaps air-speed indicator.

[JohnT]

Ah, Google just found a reference to one:
http://www.2040-parts.com/vdo-adis-3...led--i1430948/

Thanks for your help.

[Hesti]

The badge says vdo aircraft equipment plant, marine section ... I guess it is marine. I just bing-ed vdo fluxgate compass and one of the pictures shows this very unit.

[Wanderlust]

Confirmed. The VDO name for it is Magnetic Sensor.

I am giving away the installation and wiring instructions for this and other instruments.

Free: VDO Instruments installation/wiring schematics - circa 1980's - Cruisers & Sailing Forums