Airmar PB200 WeatherStation

[Extemporaneous]

I was looking for a weather station and came across this.
It has a lot more which is a great bonus (pay for it though).
My question is mostly regarding the weather station features.
Has anyone used one of these and what what do they think of the weather station features, its accuracy and its feature set (is it missing anything?)? I don't know of a similar system but if you do, let me know that also.
Any insights would be appreciated.
Of course I like most are concerned with money but this is not my main concern in this case (but if someone know where to get it cheapest ...).
Share if you can.

Thanks,
Extemp.

[Ziggy]

Maretron makes a similar product (Maretron WSO100, Maretron : Marine Electronic Instruments). There have been a few reviews of both the Airmar and Maretron sensors, and, I thought, they both fared pretty well for a new product. It's not clear whether the accuracy would be sufficient for serious racing, though.

See article in September 2009 Cruising World

I would seriously consider either the Maretron or Airmar if I were in the market now.

[Roy M]

See: Panbo: The Marine Electronics Weblog: Airmar PB200 hands-on #1, & into the delivery box!

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Roy M

See: Panbo: The Marine Electronics Weblog: Airmar PB200 hands-on #1, & into the delivery box!

I have read through all of the Panbo stuff, but there is very little about the weather station aspect of it, mostly focusing on its other features, which seam quite impressive all on their own. As a matter of fact, I'm sold on the additional features, but the fact is I was looking for a weather station when I came across the PB200.
So, I guess the question is, am I sacrificing weather station features, reliablity or accuracy by buying the PB200 for use cruising and off shore?

Anyone?

Thanks,
Extemp.

[sandy daugherty]

I have one. I use it for navigation, but it seems to me that all the essentials for a weather station are there. except a rain gage. The unit is if anything too damn accurate. I have a catamaran sailboat, which has a sharper motion than a keel boat, and the sensor dutifully records all the little wiggles that mast makes! Since its solid state, no moving parts, I suspect it will hold up for a long time.

But if you are just interested in a weather station, there are a few much cheaper alternatives.

p.s. I display the data at the helm on a Garmin GMI 10. Sweet.

[Extemporaneous]

Hadn't noticed this before.
Kind of a cool feature.
Haven't seen any called a "Sailboat version" either.

Wonder if this model/version actually hit the market?

Sandy, did yours come with an led and windex?

Regards,
Extemp.

[s/v Jedi]

I researched this and decided to buy the Maretron WSO100 for the masthead and the combined GPS/heading sensor for deck level. Both GPS and heading sensor are better off at deck level instead of the mast head.

cheers,
Nick.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I researched this and decided to buy the Maretron WSO100 for the masthead and the combined GPS/heading sensor for deck level. Both GPS and heading sensor are better off at deck level instead of the mast head.

cheers,
Nick.

I agree with placement.
I'll have to give it some thought. It's only NEMA 2000 and no NEMA 0183.
The Airmar does both.

Thanks,
Extemp.

[s/v Jedi]

Extemp,

Yes, this means we are taking the step to N2K: it's time to do that, all the decent equipment supports it now and the compatibility issues have been worked out. A cheap converter from Simrad (the AT10) will sit between the two while we slowly migrate to the new network. One new cable but countless NMEA0183 cables will be pulled out.

Are you really gonna pull a NMEA0183 cable to the masthead? Program/calibrate the instrument through that?

Have a look at Maretron's N2KBuilder program. It's free and worthy to spend some time on. It opens eyes ;-)

cheers,
Nick.

[Extemporaneous]

Dammit!

[Extemporaneous]

Never did get my weather station.
Anyone know if there is anything new in this field?
Everyone's equipment picks working out as they hoped?

Would sure like to know.

Best Regards,
Extemp.

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

i have the maretron wso100 and it works great. I have a NOAA weather station near my slip and the readings are always comparable.

-p

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by sandy daugherty

I have one. I use it for navigation, but it seems to me that all the essentials for a weather station are there. except a rain gage. The unit is if anything too damn accurate. I have a catamaran sailboat, which has a sharper motion than a keel boat, and the sensor dutifully records all the little wiggles that mast makes! Since its solid state, no moving parts, I suspect it will hold up for a long time.

Your displays (chartplotters, wind instrument display, digital repeaters, etc.) should have a configurable damping feature which will average out windspeed in order to compensate for the sharp movement of a masthead-mounted wind transducer. In our case, we have a Raymarine ST-60+ wind instrument, which is SeaTalk, not NMEA 0180/2000. The problem is that though the ST-60 has a config parameter for wind damping, it's only applied to the display, not to the data transmitted via SeaTalk. Every device on the network capable of displaying wind data needs to be configured accordingly.

The same is also true of GPS position (in the case of an NMEA-attached GPS "antenna" receiver). The problem we have with our older Raymarine E-120 chartplotter is that setting does not get saved to non-volatile memory - gets lost when shut down...

[Extemporaneous]

Finally did it... well did most of it. Ordered the Airmar PB200 Weather Station to sit on top of my mast. Ordered it without cable. I need some help with that. I am going to run it by way of NMEA 2000, (not NMEA 0183) but also want to put my vhf antenna up there and a WiFi antenna also.
What I'm wondering is, can I go up with one network cable (poe?) and pickup both the WiFi and my new weather station (in series)? Or should I deal with those two via separate cables? Pretty sure the vhf has to be a separate cable.

Please be gentle with me (in terms of answers). I do read a lot... but don't understand much

Thanks for any advice good advice.

Cheers,
Extemp.

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

You're going to run three seperate cables:

Airmar
NMEA 2000 + a Terminator. If that means nothing to you, you're about to spend aroudn $1000 you didn't plan on spending to hook that Airmar up to an NMEA backbone and a display to show it on. Check out Maretron : Marine Electronic Instruments for more info on the basic of setting up an NMEA 2000 network. You might also enjoy my NMEA 2000 network installation posts: S/V Deep Playa – Pearson 424 - NMEA 2000
Also see the Airmar installation manual (especially page 16) http://www.airmartechnology.com/uplo.../17-461-01.pdf

VHF -
This one is easy, RG213U COAX

WIFI - depends on what you using. I have a Ubiquiti bullet which is attached to a Digtial Antenna WiFi antenna. The Bullet does connect to the boat's access point over POE. Here's a write up on my wifi setup: S/V Deep Playa – Pearson 424 - DIY Wi-Fi System


Best of luck and feel free to ask more questions!