Standalone wx station?

[Juliet 15]

ooking for recommendations for a decent wx station that works without internet (away from the dock). I prefer one that operates on blue tooth or similar - I just finished running the wiring for a 4 camera system and really don't want to have to do that again... Ideally a 12v display with a remote mounted wind/temp/humidity, etc sensor that transmits to the display wirelessly.. Recommendations

[kindredspirits]

I have one by Ambient Weather on our boat and have been happy with it. Mine will connect to wifi if you want to monitor it remotely but you can use the included display to view data while on the boat. The display is 120V but I run ours off a small inverter like you would use in your car. If you call them and explain that this is for a boat they will guide you through what options you want. They have great customer service.

I have no affiliation with them, just a happy customer.

[Cigatoo]

Following
I too am looking for a weather station that will give me wind speed with TRUE wind direction while underway. Without spending thousands. I will check with Ambient

[ksanders]

I have a davis vantage vue weather station.

Works wonderfully.

[kindredspirits]

One more thing about the ambient stations. They are not designed for mobile applications and don’t know which direction the boat is facing. I have mine oriented so that north is the bow of the boat. When it shows a wind direction from the north it is actually telling me that the wind is coming from the bow(regardless of which direction the boat is facing).

[Jeff F]

Originally Posted by Cigatoo

Following
I too am looking for a weather station that will give me wind speed with TRUE wind direction while underway. Without spending thousands. I will check with Ambient

Many modern mfds will give true wind using data from simple apparent wind sensors. My Garmin has a pretty good set of tools and displays that I use on my sailboat, using AWA and AWS from the NMEA 2000 network.

[Benthic2]

Originally Posted by Cigatoo

Following
I too am looking for a weather station that will give me wind speed with TRUE wind direction while underway. Without spending thousands. I will check with Ambient

Is that possible ? Doesn't the motion of the boat make a true measurement impossible ? ie, if you are headed north at 8 knots and the wind is from the east at 8 knots, won't your wind indicator say 5.7 knots from 45 degrees ?

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by Benthic2

Is that possible ? Doesn't the motion of the boat make a true measurement impossible ? ie, if you are headed north at 8 knots and the wind is from the east at 8 knots, won't your wind indicator say 5.7 knots from 45 degrees ?

They have instruments for sailboats that do this.

They can read out in wither apparent or true mode.

My little Davis weather station reads out in apparent mode only and it does not taker a heading sensor input so it thinks the bow of the boat is due south because that's the direction of my slip right now.

It reads out while on the boat, and remotly.

[Island Cessna]

Originally Posted by Benthic2

Is that possible ? Doesn't the motion of the boat make a true measurement impossible ? ie, if you are headed north at 8 knots and the wind is from the east at 8 knots, won't your wind indicator say 5.7 knots from 45 degrees ?

Nope. 11.3 knots from 45° off the starboard bow, assuming the wind vane is oriented with N facing the bow..

[Benthic2]

Originally Posted by Island Cessna

Nope. 11.3 knots from 45° off the starboard bow, assuming the wind vane is oriented with N facing the bow..

You're right.....I rushed the math.....I was really more concerned with the direction than the speed but thanks for catching it. -Greg

[Cigatoo]

Most wing instruments used on sailboats will give you true wind direction and speed and also apparent wind and speed. Apparent factors in the boats course and speed. I dont care about apparent wind speed. Just the direction.

[Cigatoo]

Kindredspirits setup will allow for true direction if you add or subtract the wind direction in degrees from the boats heading in degrees……… Me thinks.

[mvweebles]

For those with fairly modern MFD systems, why not add an Airmar weather sensor (as Jeff F points out upthread) ? Has an integral GPS and can calculate apparent and true wind? N2K plug and play. The only thing it doesn't do is rain gauge. Yes, more than a few hundred bucks (around $1k), but an elegant solution.

https://www.airmar.com/sensing-weath...EaAmlHEALw_wcB

Peter

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Cigatoo

Kindredspirits setup will allow for true direction if you add or subtract the wind direction in degrees from the boats heading in degrees……… Me thinks.

I had an early version of the Davis total wx station aboard. In theory, you can do the math. In practice, heading is always changing so math goes from simple add/subtract to differential equation calculus. These systems are designed for terrestrial applications where they are calibrated to North and do not move. Most useful in your home berth.

If you want a wind gauge to detect gust strength and direction (useful for docking in a pilot house), you really need the Airmar sensor I linked in previous post.

Peter

[psneeld]

Overall, never had much longevity out of the inexpensive ones on the boat and the last several wireless ones seem to quit working in higher winds when I really wanted them.

Not sure how accurate true wind (direction and speed) can ever be on a moving, pitching rolling, boat.

You can guess at the average but it does constantly fluctuate or if delayed is still just and average of all the motions.
I never worried about it...even less on power than sail.

Just poking my head out and looking at my heading/speed can estimate good enough. Well.... not on 20+ know boats but my trawler no problem.

Have the the graphic Starpath wind calculator on my older computer. It calculates that with a couple simple entries. It's good for calculating a lot of trig problems.

Here is the modern one with no graphic.

https://www.starpath.com/calc/Weathe...tors/wind.html

[Dougcole]

In all seriousness, a weather station that shows current weather on a powerboat, while nice, is not as important as it is on a sailboat. A 20 or 30 degree wind shift or 10 knot change in velocity doesn't really change your plans much while underway. I guess it could be helpful in an anchoring situation, though it's pretty easy to tell wind direction close enough for anchoring.


I'd still like a weather station though, just saying that aren't all that important. Not like an accurate forecast.

[Jeff F]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

For those with fairly modern MFD systems, why not add an Airmar weather sensor (as Jeff F points out upthread) ? Has an integral GPS and can calculate apparent and true wind? N2K plug and play. The only thing it doesn't do is rain gauge. Yes, more than a few hundred bucks (around $1k), but an elegant solution.

https://www.airmar.com/sensing-weath...EaAmlHEALw_wcB

Peter

I was actually trying to point out that true wind can be calculated by the MFD, using a less expensive sensor. No need for a GPS enabled sensor, assuming the MFD has this feature.

This one would work, for example, at under $500. Or the less expensive Airmar unit that provides apparent only.
https://www.defender.com/product.jsp...831&id=6867869

[MYTraveler]

Originally Posted by Cigatoo

Following
I too am looking for a weather station that will give me wind speed with TRUE wind direction while underway. Without spending thousands. I will check with Ambient

If you want true direction (and/or true speed) while under way, since the machine can only measure apparent direction (and speed), it will need the boat's actual speed and direction to deduce true speed and direction. Many MFDs do this calculation, of provided the necessary data.

[Northern Spy]

Apparent wind is easier to calculate on a powerboat than a sailboat. Little heel, not much leeway, no sails to mess up apparent or true wind sensed at the top of the mast.

I'd bet there's an app that can instantly calculate true wind based on known apparent wind and boat velocity. So a home unit could be used as an inexpensive substitute.

Check out Tempest weather instruments.

https://weatherflow.com/tempest-weather-system/

I have one at home and love it.

Also great for checking out local weather with the shared systems on the map.

https://tempestwx.com/map/62.7402/-113.0051/3

[HTurner]

Originally Posted by Northern Spy

Apparent wind is easier to calculate on a powerboat than a sailboat. Little heel, not much leeway, no sails to mess up apparent or true wind sensed at the top of the mast.

I'd bet there's an app that can instantly calculate true wind based on known apparent wind and boat velocity. So a home unit could be used as an inexpensive substitute.

Check out Tempest weather instruments.

https://weatherflow.com/tempest-weather-system/

I have one at home and love it.

Also great for checking out local weather with the shared systems on the map.

https://tempestwx.com/map/62.7402/-113.0051/3

Interesting, there are two boats in my marina with this system:


https://tempestwx.com/map/39175/27.794/-97.3857/15