New Instruments

[paulk]

We are considering replacing the antique wind, speed, etc. instruments. Any suggestions of brands to check out or those to avoid? Reasons? (Rather than just a name list, which we could get from the advertiser's index of any magazine.) Have posted this here rather than the Gear forum because we need racing-oriented features and performance. Thanks for your input!

[Giulietta]

If you race BIG TIME, B&G. but $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ BIG TIME

If you cruise and race, Raymarine ST60's will do the job. $$ ALL RIGHT

Good support worldwide.

[sailingdog]

I like the TackTick gear, and it reduces the amount of wiring you have to run. It is now standard equipment on several boat lines, and heavily used in racing worldwide.

[Frenzy]

PaulK,
The older Takticks have issues with battery replacement...

I race on a J/120 with a full Okam set, nice but pricy and not accurate.

I personaly like B&G, the Carrera has a set of B&G networks, works great, as accurate as anything new on the market.

FRENZY

[labatt]

Tacktick also has a problem with upgrades. The units are fully sealed so can't take a software upgrade. As an example of a problem, when they came out with their masthead wind instrument, it was incompatible with the other head units. You had to buy a complete new Tacktick system to get them to all interoperate. For this reason, Tacktick gives a "trade-in credit" when going to newer models.

I've got Navman's on my Precision 23, and haven't had any problems with them. Apparently, other people have had some quality issues with them, but I actually like them (although they are impossible to read with polarized sunglasses). My new boat, a Passport 40, has Raymarine ST60's on it. If you don't mind cutting huge holes in your boat to mount your instruments, they are some of the higher quality instruments. Also, as Giulietta said, B&G has great instruments, but others are catching up. B&G has some amazing predictive systems that are in use on cup boats and the Open 60's.

For a new system, I would definitely look at NMEA2000 capable systems. Then you can interface several different manufacturers for speed/depth/wind/chart/radar/repeater etc.

Chris

[paulk]

Thanks for the input. Any word on Maretron? They tout having no moving parts in their ads. Since we already have wiring, running new (or using the old wiring) is not a major issue. The weight savings w/Tactick might be nice, though, if the power and programming issues have been resolved.

[sailingdog]

One other major advantage of the TackTick gear is that adding additional displays, like at the nav station, is not much of an issue.

[paulk]

So the question becomes has TackTick done anything about their software updating and battery issues? Thanks for all your input! I'll see what I can find out from them.