What a lovely valentines day for me. I
had my instruments installed and boy am I chuffed with them.
Having used Garmin before, I knew full
well what they looked like and how they worked, however, I had not
played around with one to see the full extent of its functionality.
All our instruments were in pretty dire
condition. The depth sounder display was no longer readable , the
cups on the mast head wind instruments had long since become brittle
in the tropic sun and one of the cups had vanished meaning no wind
speed. Wind direction still worked fine, however the display was
starting to look a bit tired like the depth and speed display.
Rather than replace each one
individually, I bit the bullet and replaced them all. We got a
Tri-ducer (depth, speed and temp) – why have 2 holes in the hull
when one will do...and the mast head wind direction and speed. As
finances were a bit of an issue considering our recent acquisition
(of the boat) we only got one display.
The main reason I went for this system
was that it is a NMEA 2000 system. The latest marine protocol and therefore probably stay more current than a NMEA 0183 system that is being phased out. Being a bit of a computer guy, I
could see all the benefits of the standardised links, protocols etc.
It reminded me of the old token ring / coaxial networks we used to
have in school, with T pieces that plugged in the network cards
(before the days of ethernet and TCP/IP).
The nice thing about it was that the
Airmar Triducer (Garmin range) was that it fitted exactly into the
existing Airmar through hull. It even came with an instruction guide
on how to retro fit it in the old style of through hull (AKA, the
“one that does not have the quasi non return value that still leaks
water but is better than nothing”). We fitted this in the yard to
avoid messing around with getting a new triducer into a little hole while
an ocean tries to make its acquaintance with the inside of your boat.
So, our first issue was replacing the
wind instruments on the mast. We hired a guy to come and do the
electronics as I am not very familiar with marine electronics and I
wanted this done properly.
We sent him up the mast to remove the
old instruments, set up the new one and chase the new cable down the
mast by pulling it through on the old cable.
Old off, new on, cable in mast being
pulled through and...
The splice came apart and I pulled all
the old cable through minus the new one. SHIT!
Each minute this guy spends on the boat
is costing me a hell of a lot of money!
Plan B – send a mouse down (not a
real one...too hard to train).
Dangling a lead sinker and line from
the mast head, I am trying to hook it with a coat hanger (ALWAYS have
a wire coat hanger on a boat...Always!).
I hook it, and we pull it all through.
The lovely thing about the way Garmin
has done this (other might have this too, but I will speak of their
instruments), is that the wind instrument connects to the cable by
way of a connector. If the wind instrument needs to be replaced one
day, I can just disconnect the mast cable and put it on a new
instrument. No need to replace the cable (or have a nasty splice at
the top of the mast).
 |
| Not Orion's actual network (or devices) |
At the one end is the wind instruments
cable connector where the female termination piece would usually go
(this is the only one not connected as a T). The first T has the
Triducer (with the end connected to the wind instruments cable and
the other end connected to the next T piece).
The next T is the power and connected
to that is the display T with a male terminator at the end to tell
the system that those are all the devices in the network.
The absolute beauty of the system is
that if I wanted to add GPS, another display, engine gauges etc etc
to the system, it is as easy as removing the male terminator at the
end and adding another T piece (no power cables, nothing!)
What was even better, and testimony to
the electrician who was doing the work was that it all worked
beautifully when we flicked the switch. Sure it cost me 6 hours of
labour, but it is a good job, will last me a while and I know I can
personally add further devices if I wish at a later date without
having to hire a “sparky” to run power cables etc.
So now you must be thinking...”only
one display, how will you ever see all your data from only one measly
display?”
“Simples!”, says I. Garmin systems use a series of pages that you can scroll through. We set our to have Apparent Wind (direction and strength), Depth and Speed pages.
“But sometimes you need to see all
the data!” you cry.
So I set a custom page which consists
of 4 mini screens. On it we have Depth, Speed, Wind Direction and
Wind Speed (apparent).
It was so incredibly simple to set up
and configure, it is like using many of the other Garmin products
(car SatNav etc).
This is the first major purchase we
have made for the boat (read upgrade) and boy are we happy with it.
Time will tell if it lasts us, does not break and customer support etc, but for now I am
one satisfied customer!
Garmin, I love you!
PS: There is loads of other data that
we have on the system too. Barometer, Sea Temp, Air Temp, etc all
additional useful stuff!
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