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Old 18-07-2018, 08:23   #1
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Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Is anyone using one of these Airmar UDST800 ultrasonic sensors for speed/depth/temp? No moving parts - which is good for my marina as growth is pretty quick. Here is a link:

Airmar

imarine currently has them in stock:

http://www.imarineusa.com/AirmarUDST800P-N2.aspx

Here is some discussion on Panbo. Apparently previous attempts have not been that successful. Still early to know whether this will have issues as well.

https://www.panbo.com/airmar-2018-pa...s-new-udst800/

Seawind standard electronics package comes with a DST800, which has the standard paddle wheel for speed. Am looking for something I can swap to that fits same thru-hull housing, but can handle marine growth better.
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Old 23-07-2018, 19:18   #2
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

No one using one of these?
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Old 04-02-2020, 14:47   #3
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

So what's going on with people not using this (other than price)? I'm pulling my hair out due to an intermittent issue with my DST200 where it won't read depth on the B&G display. It can't even see there is a device for depth, but it reads speed and temperature just fine. Before I buy another unit (probably the DST800), I was going through my due diligence research and the UDST caught my eye. It came out in early 2018 and seems to have disappeared off the radar. I'm not in the market to drop a thousand bucks on it, but would like to know if people are using this or another ultrasonic device. It would be nice to have some assurance that an ultrasonic depth device is something that won't crap out on a regular basis. How hard can this be?
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Old 04-02-2020, 17:47   #4
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gamayun View Post
So what's going on with people not using this (other than price)? I'm pulling my hair out due to an intermittent issue with my DST200 where it won't read depth on the B&G display. It can't even see there is a device for depth, but it reads speed and temperature just fine. Before I buy another unit (probably the DST800), I was going through my due diligence research and the UDST caught my eye. It came out in early 2018 and seems to have disappeared off the radar. I'm not in the market to drop a thousand bucks on it, but would like to know if people are using this or another ultrasonic device. It would be nice to have some assurance that an ultrasonic depth device is something that won't crap out on a regular basis. How hard can this be?
Have you checked the nmea2000 bus errors on the bg diagnostic screen? I just debugged a friends boat with depth sensor issues. Problem turned out to be tbe nmea backbone install.
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Old 04-02-2020, 22:48   #5
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

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Have you checked the nmea2000 bus errors on the bg diagnostic screen? I just debugged a friends boat with depth sensor issues. Problem turned out to be tbe nmea backbone install.
Thanks for the suggestion, but it doesn't show any errors. I just did a global reset, too. No joy. It seems to me it's likely something to do with the backbone and maybe the order in which the devices are on it? I have two MFDs; one is slave to the other. The issue started after I added the second one. I tried B&G tech support. They couldn't help. I had recently been able to pull depth up when I made the slave the primary device, but now I can't replicate that. The DST200 just shows up as "off" when I auto select it in the sources list no matter which device it's on. If I click on the "[off] DST200," it disappears entirely and I have to run the auto select again, which still shows the DST200 is "off" with respect to depth
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Old 04-02-2020, 22:56   #6
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Hmm, now I ran the diagnostics again and it shows 6 fast packet errors. Googling that now.


[N.B.] I see you've been a busy debugger: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...rs-206120.html)
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Old 30-01-2021, 20:12   #7
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Does anyone have any experience with the ultrasonic speed dept temp

Raymarine UDST 800 ?

It’s seem it would negate the need to constantly cleaning out the paddle wheel

Which invariably will get gunked up, rendering it nonfunctional



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Old 07-09-2022, 17:14   #8
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Hi All,
This is long after the original question but thought I'd chime in.

We installed an Airmar UDST800 in 2021. Probably have used it for about 4-5,000 NM. I love it. It seems to be more accurate. I don't have to clean it (not much anyway -- just a wipe now and then).

The only problem is I have had times when it stops putting speed data out on the N2K network. Still outputting temp/depth but speed goes to zero. Trying to get an answer from Airmar about this.

A bit frustrating. Only happens once every couple of weeks for a couple of hours. At least I think that's what's happening... I haven't kept an accurate log.


The unit is on 24/7 as we are full-time cruising and leave the instruments on at anchor (need depth, of course).

So... a great product, but would love to have the intermittent speed bug solved.

Cheers,
Bruce
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Old 29-09-2022, 20:39   #9
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Bruce any updates?
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Old 29-10-2022, 15:49   #10
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Sorry to say things have gotten worse. Now there is more time wiithout speed data than with speed data -- although the depth and temp work all the time. Cannot identify a reason for it stopping. Have been in touch with Airmar and the only suggestion they can give me is to send the unit back to them. Very frustrating since I am in French Polynesia....
Cheers,
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Old 29-10-2022, 17:21   #11
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Thanks Bruce, and sorry to hear of your troubles becoming worse.

I was going to install one of these this winter, but I think I'll hold off for now. I'd love to no longer have to clean the wheel and having leeway info would be interesting.
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Old 29-10-2022, 20:00   #12
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

I have the older version, installed in 2018. Mine is not NMEA, but has an interface box to power the transducer, and provide an analog signal to my Raymarine i50 display.

Not long after I bought it, the interface box failed. I wasn't happy with the support process. I worked with an engineer on a bunch of tests, and after he concluded it was probably the interface box failed under warranty, I had to purchase a new interface box, and after they received the old one back and tested it as bad, they refunded me the money.

Anyway, stuff does fail, and you probably do have to send it back. If it is under warranty and intermittent, it might be best to ensure it isn't intermittent before you send it in.
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Old 13-11-2022, 12:30   #13
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Thanks, Warren. Another update: We replaced the UDST with our older DST 800 paddlewheel as we wanted to have some speed data even if it wasn't as accurate (we really like knowing the current when sailing between atolls and through passes in the Tuamotus). We are also in the water all the time and the fouling isn't that bad here, so keeping it clean is not much of a hassle.



One difference we noted is that with the DST we now have many more false depth alarms than with the UDST. We'd forgotten this was the case but it was evident as soon as we switched out. Whether from fish or thermoclines, we don't know, but it does seem to be the case.


We'll be sending the UDST back to Airmar when we have an opportunity... probably next year. Will post the results when we find out.


By the way, our UDST does have a processing box that connects to the N2K network.


Cheers,
Bruce
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Old 13-11-2022, 14:19   #14
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

I have the UST800 without depth, which replaced an old CS4500 ultrasonic.

The UST800 was less accurate and less consistent than the CS4500 and I was not happy with it. I was racing with it and the STW data was not good enough for the kind of true wind data we needed. So I replaced it with a DX900+ which is installed but not hooked up yet (and wasn't all summer -- I sailed the whole summer and a couple thousand miles with no STW and not even any wind data -- by the windex! Long story.).

The CS4500 was not perfect but was better than any of paddlewheel sensors I've ever had. I wasn't willing to accept less good than that so got rid of the UST800. We'll see how the DX900+ works. I've acquired a B&G H5000 Hercules to calibrate it -- yes, I'm frustrated with inaccurate STW data and am determined to get it to a higher level.
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Old 15-11-2022, 10:02   #15
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Re: Experience w/Airmar Ultrasonic Sensor UDST800?

Hi Bruce,

I had the exact same problem as you. Here's a LONG story short (somewhat)...

I've been through 3 different units, all did the same thing, and eventually Airmar replaced it with a DST810 and refunded cash. It was over a year battle with Airmar, made more difficult due to COVID, Airmar's reliance on a 3rd party for support issues, and my being in remote cruising areas. I actually ended up with an extra UDST800 unit through the process. Just yesterday I reinstalled it alongside the DST810 after a year of not using it. A change in the sensor in the thru hull and a quick switch of the N2K drop cable puts me on the other unit. But for reliability, the paddlewheel still wins out despite it's need for cleaning (currently in a vinegar bath).

When the UDST800 works, it's great! But it's scary when you're sailing along with the autopilot set to wind mode, and the unit walks down to 0 knots boat speed. Accidental gybe is just lurking at all times! It can work great for 10 hours of sailing, then suddenly cut out. We even had a span of months where it worked fine, then it started dropping out again. It's pretty random, sometimes will sit for long periods of time reading 0kts and other times walking right back up to proper boat speed.

Two of the three replacement units had an odd faint beeping at the JBOX, 5-9 beeps followed by a string of fast higher frequency beeps, repeat. You had to have your ear close to hear it. No idea if it was related.

The sensor installation is flush with the hull. There were no packet or NMEA2000 errors on the bus as reported by our B&G Zeus3 diagnostics menu. Also, I had used a Maretron N2K diagnostic test meter, and it showed that the NMEA2000 bus had no issues. Through the RMA units, I tried mixing sensors and JBOX modules, swapped in new drop cables, swapped ports along the NMEA2000 bus, and also moved locations where the JBOX was installed in case there was interference. No joy.

Airmar claimed they were unable to reproduce the problem in their test labs with my returned units. Swapping to the newest DST810 paddlewheel was their solution.

The ultrasonic unit is our backup now. When we cross the pacific for the Marquesas in March/April, the paddlewheel will be back in!

Here's a couple videos I took to show Airmar support:




Yours similar?




Chris
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