Quote:
Originally Posted by rgleason
So you think I should consider selling the ST60 Tridata-Depth/Temp/Speed and ST60 Wind ? and replace them with N2K instruments?
I have an old Autohelm Wheel Autopilot ST4000 which I repaired the control head several years ago after it started leaking. It still works. Have had motor apart too.
It is Seatalk too.
I think I am going to run out of money on this and will have to do it incrementally.
I was hoping not to buy a Multifunction, but what you say makes sense.
Maybe Defender will have a sale.
|
Defender may do a "fitting out discount", and also this stuff could be bought used on Fleabay.
If I were you, I would sell the ST60 stuff while there is still demand for it. It's good stuff, but the multifunction displays are a huge leap forward, and ultrasonic wind is far more accurate and stable.
The Triton displays (which are not the only ones; Garmin and Ray also make nice ones) have a huge variety of useful screens which you will really like. The wind display gives you True and Apparent speed and angle in one screen, with the angle in digital as well as analogue form -- it's the t*ts. No need for close hauled wind now.
Speed and Depth on one highly visible screen.
Depth with graphic display of
history for when you're negotiating skinny
water.
Wind
history for 60 minutes showing how speed and direction trends of the True Wind are developing -- invaluable for sailing.
True Wind speed and
compass direction, temp and barometer.
GPS with all the data you used to get from a traditional hand held GPS, including distance to waypoint, ETA, bearing to waypoint, SOG, COG, etc.
An excellent compass screen.
Autopilot control (no need for separate pilot head, but works only with Simrad pilots).
Incidentally, a Zeus MFD is also not only a plotter, not only a radar screen, but also has a variety of screens for different kinds of instrument data, wind trends, etc. So if you are navigating with OCPN, there are still tons of things it will do for you.
I'm not particularly advocating
Navico gear; it's just you were talking about the Navico 4G radar. I have had problems with bugginess of this gear. A simpler network than mine should be better, but
Furuno, Ray, etc., might also be worth a look. But I think the Navico integration with WiFi is probably the state of the art at the moment, so might be the right choice for you in any case.
You CAN do it gradually. If you get a
single stream of data from your ST60's, the Zeus can accept it via its 0183 listener port (you might have to convert from Seatalk to 0183, but no need for anything else, and no need for any MUX). You can even use a Triton or two with the data which comes out your ST60 instruments.
So you could start with the radar and Zeus (there are often
cheap package deals on this), heading
sensor, and GPS, and gradually replace the pilot and other instruments, if finances demand. Or you could just brace yourself and do it at once, offsetting the cost with selling your old gear. Install it all yourself to save money (as I did) -- N2K is very easy and no need for professional help.