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Old 12-02-2015, 19:07   #61
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

I've got videos that show all the gruesome details of the MARPA "issue" and will post them on the blog. I just need to balance that against other time demands like fixing the leaking heating system in my house now that the temp has dropped to zero F..... Boat's aren't the only things that break, though they sometimes seem more skilled at the art.

On the bright side, I have Simrad to thank for furthering my education on radar operation. To be sure I wasn't talking out of my ass, I went and got radar certified as part of this whole process. I'm now allegedly qualified to operate the radar on any ship, of any size, anywhere in the world. Tug, tanker, aircraft carrier, whatever. I'm not sure a I agree with the bestowment of that honor, but I definitely know more than when I started, and that's a good thing.
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Old 20-02-2019, 12:00   #62
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead View Post
When I did my new electronics two years ago, there were two types of data I really wanted to improve -- speed through the water, and heading.

I spent a fair amount of money on what I thought were state of the art sensors for these -- an Airmar CS4500 ultrasonic speed transducer, and an Airmar H2183 three-axis gyro-stabilized heading sensor.

Both are improvements on what went before, but not nearly as good as I had hoped....
:
So I am looking again at satellite compasses.....
:
All of these seem to be somewhat old models, and do not seem to receive GLONASS, Galileo, or EGNOS, which seems to me a huge disadvantage....
Any recent news regarding the initial questions posed this thread that you initiated? (The thread seems to have been "hijacked" for a general bashing of Navico technology and customer support--which, IMO, is entirely warranted although perhaps beside the point.
)

In particular, did you ever buy (or build!) a satellite compass to replace/augment your Airmar H2183? If so, what was your experience?

I, too, have an H2183 that does not consistently perform well. Or rather, consistently performs poorly. A satellite (GPS) compass is perhaps a good alternative.

And Hemisphere GNSS has recently released the V123 which provides GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo as well as GPS services. Which may be an advantage for those of us who voyage in the deep northern fjords of Norway (or British Columbia/Alaska).

Relating any relevant, recent experience with GPS compasses would be appreciated!
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Old 20-02-2019, 12:20   #63
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tugwit View Post
Any recent news regarding the initial questions posed this thread that you initiated? (The thread seems to have been "hijacked" for a general bashing of Navico technology and customer support--which, IMO, is entirely warranted although perhaps beside the point.
)

In particular, did you ever buy (or build!) a satellite compass to replace/augment your Airmar H2183? If so, what was your experience?

I, too, have an H2183 that does not consistently perform well. Or rather, consistently performs poorly. A satellite (GPS) compass is perhaps a good alternative.

And Hemisphere GNSS has recently released the V123 which provides GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo as well as GPS services. Which may be an advantage for those of us who voyage in the deep northern fjords of Norway (or British Columbia/Alaska).

Relating any relevant, recent experience with GPS compasses would be appreciated!

Thanks for the follow up.


I never did anything. The H2183 has performed more or less ok. I think I had some stray metal issues which I managed to eliminate -- my compass is located right at the motion center of the boat, under a settee and against the forward salon bulkhead, with a cabinet in the crew cabin just on the other side of the bulkhead. So if anything metallic gets stowed there, it throws the compass off.


I seriously considered a satellite compass this time last year, because I was planning to go to the Arctic, and up there magnetic compasses don't work very, supposedly. But I never got to it as I had a thousand other things to fix or upgrade, so in the event we went to the Arctic with the H2183, and it performed surprisingly well in those difficult conditions.


So I have to say I'm better pleased with it, than I was a few years ago when I started this thread, and it is not my main priority among instrument improvements. That would be wind -- I've got my second failure of WSO100, and I'm going to go to LJ Capteurs.
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Old 21-02-2019, 07:48   #64
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Thanks for the update.
I have a WSO100, as well, and fortunately it's still working. But I'm disappointed that Maretron has evidently discontinued the product with no replacement offered. I'll be interested in the LJ Capteurs experience....
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Old 18-08-2020, 03:17   #65
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

GPS compass relies on the difference between two points and can be affected by bad signals. an electronic compass needs to be located away from ac current and for that matter dc too and a few meters away from large iron sources. But they can compensate and will sort out the direction once it has been turned a few times. gps will show heading but not the direction the boat is pointed. Mag compass shows the direction the boat is pointing.
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Old 18-08-2020, 03:36   #66
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Here’s an update from my end: I have both the Airmar H2183 and the Maretron SSC300 heading sensors and both are doing great. As some of my plotters (apps) are too stupid to deal with two sensors, I only power up one and after using the Airmar last year, I switched to the Maretron this year. No noticeable difference
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Old 18-08-2020, 03:52   #67
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dmdelorme View Post
GPS compass relies on the difference between two points and can be affected by bad signals. an electronic compass needs to be located away from ac current and for that matter dc too and a few meters away from large iron sources. But they can compensate and will sort out the direction once it has been turned a few times. gps will show heading but not the direction the boat is pointed. Mag compass shows the direction the boat is pointing.

Didn't see this before, but this is false. Confusion between normal GPS receiver (which gives position, COG and SOG) and actual GPS compass, which gives heading (in addition to the other data).
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We must have a turn together . . . . I undress . . . . hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you."
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Old 18-08-2020, 03:59   #68
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by s/v Jedi View Post
Here’s an update from my end: I have both the Airmar H2183 and the Maretron SSC300 heading sensors and both are doing great. As some of my plotters (apps) are too stupid to deal with two sensors, I only power up one and after using the Airmar last year, I switched to the Maretron this year. No noticeable difference

No noticeable difference between H2183 and SSC300? The H2183 is supposed to be better. But I've had trouble with mine drifting out of calibration.



I finally got my H2183 calibrated recently and I'm waiting to see whether it now works correctly. It turns out that you have to have rather precise ROT during your turns during calibration so it may be that I had never gotten that right. I managed to do it in a dead calm on the Gulf of Riga at the beginning of a recent passage from Riga to Bornholm.


Nevertheless I am planning to acquire a satellite compass next time I'm in the States if not sooner. The new quad-antenna Furuno one, the SCX-20, looks like the dog's danglies -- https://www.furuno.com/en/products/compass/SCX-20. For around a Boat Buck, seems like you can't go wrong with this. In addition to all the other advantages, this will be great at high latitudes where mag compasses start to fall down.
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"You sea! I resign myself to you also . . . . I guess what you mean,
I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers,
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We must have a turn together . . . . I undress . . . . hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you."
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Old 18-08-2020, 05:14   #69
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead View Post
No noticeable difference between H2183 and SSC300? The H2183 is supposed to be better. But I've had trouble with mine drifting out of calibration.



I finally got my H2183 calibrated recently and I'm waiting to see whether it now works correctly. It turns out that you have to have rather precise ROT during your turns during calibration so it may be that I had never gotten that right. I managed to do it in a dead calm on the Gulf of Riga at the beginning of a recent passage from Riga to Bornholm.


Nevertheless I am planning to acquire a satellite compass next time I'm in the States if not sooner. The new quad-antenna Furuno one, the SCX-20, looks like the dog's danglies -- https://www.furuno.com/en/products/compass/SCX-20. For around a Boat Buck, seems like you can't go wrong with this. In addition to all the other advantages, this will be great at high latitudes where mag compasses start to fall down.
I have not heard about the H2183 outperforming the SSC300. The SSC300 is a newer design and the info I saw put it on par with the H2183. The older SSC200, which I also had, was supposedly inferior to the H2183 but apparently not for the conditions I have used it in because that one performed just fine as well. I also had that one used with the Simrad pilot, the RC42 and that one performed noticeably worse.
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Old 18-08-2020, 06:23   #70
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Re: Satellite Compasses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by s/v Jedi View Post
I have not heard about the H2183 outperforming the SSC300. The SSC300 is a newer design and the info I saw put it on par with the H2183. The older SSC200, which I also had, was supposedly inferior to the H2183 but apparently not for the conditions I have used it in because that one performed just fine as well. I also had that one used with the Simrad pilot, the RC42 and that one performed noticeably worse.

I may be confusing SSC200 with SSC300. Thanks.
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We must have a turn together . . . . I undress . . . . hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you."
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