Question to the collective.

A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments located
in the cockpit bulkhead.

The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.

Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.


Matt

wrote in message
ups.com...
Question to the collective.

A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments located
in the cockpit bulkhead.

The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.

Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.


Matt


If the instruments talk to each other, you can know true wind, current,
drift, etc.

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

wrote in message
ups.com...
Question to the collective.

A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments
located
in the cockpit bulkhead.

The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.

Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.


Matt


If the instruments talk to each other, you can know true wind,
current, drift, etc.


You can know all that just by having a magnetic compass and a GPS. You
are so lame...

Wilbur Hubbard

In the simple configuration you describe there is no reason for the
instruments to communicate with each other, apart from the wind instrument
that can use the speed thru the water to calculate and indicate true wind
direction and speed. If apparent wind is all your buddy needs, no
communication is necessary whatsoever.
If he wants to use the auto pilot in "vane mode", the wind instrument would
have to be linked to the auto pilot as well.
Cheers,
Wout

wrote in message
ups.com...
| Question to the collective.
|
| A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
| instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
| pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments located
| in the cockpit bulkhead.
|
| The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
| instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?
|
| I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
| Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
| communicate with each other, escape me.
|
| Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.
|
|
| Matt
|

No, you merely guess at it with a magnetic compass and GPS.

"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message ...


You can know all that just by having a magnetic compass and a GPS. You are so lame...

Wilbur Hubbard

"Chuck Tribolet" wrote in message
...
No, you merely guess at it with a magnetic compass and GPS.

"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
...


You can know all that just by having a magnetic compass and a GPS. You
are so lame...

Wilbur Hubbard



Why use calculus when the instruments can do it for you? :-)

And weren't you leaving, Captain Kneel? Oh -- I forgot. The whole "Wilbur is
a liar" thing.

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:46:37 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

If the instruments talk to each other, you can know true wind,
current, drift, etc.


You can know all that just by having a magnetic compass and a GPS. You
are so lame...

And you know not of what you speak.

What happened to your departure plan?

"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
...

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

wrote in message
ups.com...
Question to the collective.

A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments located
in the cockpit bulkhead.

The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.

Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.


Matt


If the instruments talk to each other, you can know true wind, current,
drift, etc.


You can know all that just by having a magnetic compass and a GPS. You are
so lame...

Wilbur Hubbard
1) too many ignorant subscribers
2) too many off-topic posts
3) too much trash talk
4) people here are losers
5) most people don't even know what sailing is, they have pitiful little
motor boats, I've been to the rec.boats.cruising picture site. If you
liars can cruise in those ugly tiny little runabouts then you're
dreaming. There were maybe three or four boats shown that one would be
able to cruise in.
6) the most boring subscribers I've ever seen in any group.

Good riddance to all of you ******s.

Wilbur Hubbard

On Apr 10, 6:51 pm, "WBH" wrote:
In the simple configuration you describe there is no reason for the
instruments to communicate with each other, apart from the wind instrument
that can use the speed thru the water to calculate and indicate true wind
direction and speed. If apparent wind is all your buddy needs, no
communication is necessary whatsoever.
If he wants to use the auto pilot in "vane mode", the wind instrument would
have to be linked to the auto pilot as well.
Cheers,
Wout

wrote in message

ups.com...
| Question to the collective.
|
| A buddy of mine is in the the process of replacing most of the
| instruments on his sail boat (depth, speed apparent wind). It's a
| pretty simple installation with no repeaters, just instruments located
| in the cockpit bulkhead.
|
| The question came up what would be the benefit in having the
| instruments communicate with each other using Sea talk or NMEA?
|
| I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
| Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
| communicate with each other, escape me.
|
| Many thanks in advance for enlightening me.
|
|
| Matt
|

Wout

Many thanks for your reply. I had not considered the autopilot angle.

Thanks

matt

wrote in news:1176244717.431800.16850
@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

I am well aware of the benefits of having the GPS talk to the
Autopilot but any reasons for having the rest of the instruments
communicate with each other, escape me.



Until you add navigation computer software.....

The Cap'n, for instance, uses the wind, speed log, depth, and other data
in making its "informed" decision on what to tell the autopilot to
do....not just steer a course. It uses drift caused by wind and current,
extrapolated by the GPS as well as the wind to make course decisions,
putting in the appropriate crab angle to get the desired course over
ground, constantly adjusting the course it wants the autopilot to steer
as conditions change. At night, you can switch it into wind mode and
have it steer the boat, in the dark, to the relative wind, instead, IF it
has WIND data to use, of course....

Once filled with these sailing instrument outputs, it's like having a
ghost at the helm...a very well-founded helmsman ghost, indeed. Now, the
ghost is watching and plotting AIS aboard the ghost ship "Lionheart" with
the latest version. MO DATA!

In an effort to force you to buy THEIR brands, manufacturers are
proprietarizing (is that a word??) their "systems" to prevent, or at
least retard, your choices.

This is why we decided to add more B&G "Network" instruments to the ones
already aboard Lionheart (Amel Sharki 41 ketch) when my friend Geoffrey
bought her. B&G Network instruments, including B&G Pilot, which, itself
quite independently if you like, can read all the wind/speed/depth/etc.
sailing instrument data in its NMEA-0183 "loop" B&G ingeniously created
to get around the stupid ONE talker limitation of NMEA 0183, while
retaining all the data for external use. These instruments are no longer
produced, but they are available from many sources. A standardized
jumper cable goes from instrument to instrument putting all of them in a
loop, even the control head for the Network Pilot autopilot. The
standard NMEA-0183, standard speed, data jumps from instrument to
instrument around the complete loop, with each instrument retransmitting
what it has received, while adding and updating its own particular NMEA
statements and passing it all on to the next instrument. This works just
great! Independently from any external computer, you can simply switch
Network Pilot to WIND and it ignores data coming in the NMEA IN port from
the external NMEA network outside the B&G loop...steering the boat quite
happily from the B&G WIND instrument's speed/azimuth output inside the
loop. This gives us redundant steering from many sources, in case of
equipment failure or computer crash, instantly, with no changes other
than pushing a button on the Pilot. Works great and the "learning" the
Pilot's computer does to smooth out turns, etc, is uncanny. B&G's NEW
instruments all have a proprietary data network that's not friendly to
outsiders....on the NMEA network. I'm glad I'm not fighting that extra
conversion box they sell to translate it. With B&G "Network", you just
opened any wire in the loop and tapped the data out of the inside of it
and fed it to your multiplexer input (only 1 for all the B&G instruments
in the cluster). No translation was necessary...less boxes.

The coordinated turns in any REASONABLE wind/current/speed situation is
so smooth....no overshoot or undershoot....Ghosts don't oversteer..(c;

Larry
--