Raymarine ST60 Wind

[tdw]

Our girl has ST60 speed, depth, wind and graphic display all inter connected with auto pilot.

A while back we seemingly lost the wind instrument calibration. Direction was all over the place and there was no speed reading.

Wind speed reading on the graphics display was OK and the masthead gizmo looked fine from the deck.

Went into user calibration and reset the wind instrument to factory default at which time speed reading reappeared but direction still seemed out of kilter, roughly by about 20 degrees.

We've tried recalibrating while heading into the wind but it doesn't seem to be making any improvement.

Now, I've seen another thread here from some time back discussing the ST60Wind but that centred around wiring connections. Given that we do have direction (albeit inaccurate) and speed (seemingly accurate) I'm wondering what the problem might be.

I havn't gone up and checked wiring at masthead but deck level connections are all fine and dandy.

Anyone have any thoughts ?

[Tempest]

do you see any differential between True and Apparent ? Or is the direction constant?

[night0wl]

From what I recall, for user calibration, you have to do more than head directly into the wind. You have to start heading into the wind, then do 2 slow circles in order for the instrument to calibrate. Its damn hard to do right, and in the end, I had to use the manual calibration offsets...but my instruments have never been right.

[tdw]

do you see any differential between True and Apparent ? Or is the direction constant?

Interesting point and not one I can answer as we always leave it on 'apparent'. Interestingly enough though, the problem first appeared when the display was changed from 'apparent' to 'true'. Direction was out from there on and when switched back to 'apparent' was when speed disappeared.

From what I recall, for user calibration, you have to do more than head directly into the wind. You have to start heading into the wind, then do 2 slow circles in order for the instrument to calibrate. Its damn hard to do right, and in the end, I had to use the manual calibration offsets...but my instruments have never been right.

I'm not sure about the two circles. Certainly that is required when calibrating new out of the box but the manual does not mention circling for re-calibration. I intend trying to redo calibration next weekend in clamer conditions than we had on Sunday.

[Faster]

Is it the same 20 deg out all around? If so there should be some kind of 'zero' or 'offset' that the user can enter to get rid of it. If it's a variable error around the scale then it might be connections.. they are worth checking anyhow, esp if you have a junction box near the mast.. they will be conventional terminals and screws as opposed to the end fittings from RM on the units themselves.

Best of luck...

[night0wl]

From a manual I found online:

4.2 User calibration
The User calibration procedures:
• Linearise and align the wind transducer.
• Select the required wind speed units

Linearising and aligning the wind transducer

This procedure ensures that the sensors in the windvane transducer are
correctly calibrated to record rotation of the windvane, then
compensates for any small errors which may exist in the alignment of
the wind transducer.
To do this:
1. Power-up the ST60 Wind instrument.
2. Slowly turn the vessel through two complete circles. This
procedure automatically linearises the windvane. A successful
linearisation is indicated by the digital display flashing and the
buzzer sounding three beeps.
3. Hold down the disp and true/app keys for approximately
2 seconds to enter User calibration then use the disp key to select
the wind angle screen (see the User calibration flow diagram).
4. Sail directly into the wind and adjust the analogue pointer to zero,
using the vmg and tack keys. If you are unable to achieve the
required degree of accuracy due to sea conditions, and errors
become apparent during subsequent tack operations, repeat this
procedure to achieve alignment accuracy.
5. Display the wind speed units screen.
6. Use the vmg and tack keys to select the units you want, either
knots (KTS) or metres per second (M/S)

[tdw]

Fast ... methinks I'll go double check those mast base connections.

NightOwl - you are absolutely correct. That is what it says but I was uncertain whether that was procedure for recalibration or only for calibration on new installation. I'll check it out again on the weekend.

Thanks for all the advice.

[aeventyr60]

Try unplugging the connection at the instrument head, sometimes moisture makes a fuzzy connection here as well....

[szigi]

The readings from the masthead transducer are all analogue signals, so a flaky connection may very well cause problems. First check all connections, especially between the masthead unit and its base (unplug and plug in few times). There is a simple test to check the operation of the masthead unit, you only need a voltmeter for that. It is described on Raymarine's site: https://raymarine.custhelp.com/app/a...ead-transducer

(You might not get the described results with the speed signal, az it is infact a square wave signal, the faster the wind blows, that higher its frequency. Depending on the meter you use, you might get alternating values or the described voltages.)

If you do not get these values, suspect the transducer or the cabling.

[tdw]

szigi ... my apologies, i missed your reply but you were absolutely correct in your assessment.


So .... we've done a lot of playing around with no results until yesterday. First up we put a voltmeter across all connections and they were all good bar one which had signal but it didn't waver, which it should as the wind moves around. This was the same at instrument and at deck connector. Ergo, the problem was up top so we sent the Wombet up the mast to dismount the transducer.

Testing of transducer showed that a thing called a "Hall Effect Sensor" was kaput so its either replace the whole assembly and/or replace the HESs which is doable if you are dabbish of hand with a soldering iron. New HESs are now coming from the US for the repair but I'm thinking to get a replacement full assembly as well.

So .... the problem becomes one of which transducer ? The original



or the newer version ..



Anyone have any thoughts ?

The newer btw is twice the price of the old.