Azimuth 1000 fluxgate compass

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Joined
Dec 24, 2019
Messages
886
Location
United States
Vessel Name
M/V Intrigue
Vessel Make
1985 Tung Hwa Senator
https://www.amazon.com/KVH-Kvh-Azimuth-1000-Compass/dp/B07BNGMNST

Still relevant and/or useful? My boat had one installed. Its currently removed but it does seems to work just fine. I am getting ready to do a Garmin install as soon as the Reactor 40 gets here. Any benefit to interface this to the Garmin for heading info? It seems these are older units but they still seem to sell them and they aren't cheap.
 
I'm also interested in the performance of these units. I'm considering replacing an old leaking compass with one.
 
I have had them in 5 or 6 boats and they work great. At the time we used our boats for CG training and ran hundreds and hundreds of SAR patterns. They were great for that. I never interfaced them with the electronics but just used them as a standalone compass.
 
As I recall the KVH device is pretty expensive. With sat compasses now available for $1000 or less I wouldn’t consider anything else, especially considering that it’s both a high quality GPS and a high quality compass.
 
Ok..good deal. I nearly tossed it. It's such an antiquated looking thing. I'll hold onto it and see if I can't integrate it where possible. Thanks a bunch.
 
Definitely reinstall the KVH. 1 wire hookup to your Garmin will give you boats heading info as compared to course over ground. Very valuable info in fog especially coupled with radar. Be sure that you have the lubber line correct when installing. You will have to re-compensate after installation.
 

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I selected the KVH 1000 to install on the swept minefield lane guide light my employer built for the US Navy Beachmaster units. I took it to Camp Pendleton in the mid 1990s and tested it with LCACs (aircushion landing craft) homing in on the tri-color light beacon with the KVH attached to the top of the light. One time I stood behind the Marine unit firing an inert lane breaching line charge into the water and then aimed my light right down the blown lane taking the bearing from the KVH which was then transmitted to the LCAC approaching from offshore. The LACA skipper used the reverse bearing he had been given to help him find the very narrow red/white/green lane marking light. Once in the white center of the beam he was good to go for an approach to the beach. The KVH was rugged and reliable and exactly what I needed at the time. When the system I helped design, build, and test was approved, I traveled with the completed systems to hand them over the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet beachmasters, and the KVH was always a big point of interest to the officers and enlisted men of the units. I would not hesitant to have one on my boat and in fact had two of them on Calypso, my GB 42.
 
Pretty cool Rich. Too bad that line charge was inert...would have been a hell of a show. Actually watching LCACs do anything is always a hell of a show. I got to work with them and watch them do their thing doing amphibious assault ops during Team Spirit in South Korea sometime around 1989. Those are some crazy machines.
 
Pretty cool Rich. Too bad that line charge was inert...would have been a hell of a show. Actually watching LCACs do anything is always a hell of a show. I got to work with them and watch them do their thing doing amphibious assault ops during Team Spirit in South Korea sometime around 1989. Those are some crazy machines.

At one point in testing with the guide light right down on the beach, I dug a foxhole on the off chance the LCAC would overrun my position. Riding in them is a bumpy experience unless it is flat calm. Amazing how the buffeting of the skirts is transmitted to your butt.
 
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