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Old 22-08-2019, 12:03   #1
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Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Good compass data is crucial for autopilot performance, radar overlay, and other nav system functions.



When I renewed my nav systems 6 years ago, I bought what was supposed to be the best in class Airmar H2183.


It's performed pretty well, but one wants still better, and now my H2183 seems to be failing. So do I buy another one (£669), or do I take the next step and go to satellite?


I considered doing this last year before going to the Arctic, because magnetic compasses are not supposed to work well when you start to get close to the North Pole, but I did not notice a big degradation of performance.


Now I consider again.


The classic Furuno SC30, now available with direct N2K output as the SC33 is $2k in the States.


Then there are professional grade devices from ComNav, for example the G2 for $2200.


Such devices give heading data on a completely different level. So maybe finally that radar overlay will line up exactly, first time every time. And the pilot?


Thoughts?
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Old 22-08-2019, 12:24   #2
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Keep in mind that pretty much all are made by Hemisphere. https://www.hemispheregnss.com/

I really like ours, but at this point of accuracy they all seem really good. I cant tell the difference between the Maretron SCS200 I had before.

Edit: We did just have an issue with ours in a fjord. It couldn't get signal for awhile due to the mountains (I think) and it made us do a pirouette way too close to the cliffs for comfort.

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Old 23-08-2019, 01:25   #3
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

I love sat compasses. Dead-on accurate, and no interference problems. Worth every penny.


Having also discovered that most are made by Hemisphere, that's what I bought for my last boat. Worked great, and I plan to do the same again.
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Old 23-08-2019, 01:26   #4
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Quote:
Originally Posted by tanglewood View Post
I love sat compasses. Dead-on accurate, and no interference problems. Worth every penny.


Having also discovered that most are made by Hemisphere, that's what I bought for my last boat. Worked great, and I plan to do the same again.

"Last boat"? You got rid of Twisted Tree or whatever her name was?
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Old 23-08-2019, 01:47   #5
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

This looks perfect:


https://comnav.com/gnss-position-heading/


$1600, GPS and GLONASS, 0.5 degrees heading accuracy RMS, 50cm (!) position accuracy, NMEA2000.


That's made by Hemisphere and sold also as SiTex and maybe under Hemisphere's own brand -- I'll shop around.
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Old 23-08-2019, 10:27   #6
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

I have a SC-30 with my furuno setup and I love it. Super accurate - overlay spot on. No moving parts, no maintenance, quick start up and it makes my other stuff work better. Autopilot in downwind swell, no problem. Depth sounder in swell, no problem. It is a lot of money but the delta, compared to the total I spent for the rest of my electronics, at least for me, is worth it and I would do it again.
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Old 23-08-2019, 11:20   #7
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Quote:
Originally Posted by HBrew View Post
I have a SC-30 with my furuno setup and I love it. Super accurate - overlay spot on. No moving parts, no maintenance, quick start up and it makes my other stuff work better. Autopilot in downwind swell, no problem. Depth sounder in swell, no problem. It is a lot of money but the delta, compared to the total I spent for the rest of my electronics, at least for me, is worth it and I would do it again.
how does a satellite compass affect the depth sounder?
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Old 23-08-2019, 13:26   #8
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

The SC-30 can detect rise and fall of swell, so that when you are showing the bottom profile with your depth sounder over time the depth compensates for the rise of the boat, avoiding inaccurate hills and valleys in the bottom
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Old 23-08-2019, 14:38   #9
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Quote:
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The SC-30 can detect rise and fall of swell, so that when you are showing the bottom profile with your depth sounder over time the depth compensates for the rise of the boat, avoiding inaccurate hills and valleys in the bottom
What are you using for chartplotter/autopilot? None of my B&G equipment even reads the heave N2k PGN127252 sentence or does anything with the information.

One other thing Dockhead- Many (all?) of the Hemisphere sat compasses are not configurable or updatable with a chartplotter. Either you send it in to the manufacturer, or you need to purchase a PEAK Can-USB adapter to update it via your computer. Not a huge deal (and it's a cool tool anyway), but it was an additional $200 and a week or two wait for the adapter before I was able to correct a firmware issue.

There was a known issue where the unit would turn off with high N2k traffic and a firmware update was needed to correct this - which Hemisphere charged $150 for the privilege of having them correcting their issue.

Mine is the basic V104 model, so it explains my not noticing a difference to past heading sensors.

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Old 23-08-2019, 15:30   #10
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

I think where a sat compass is worth it is if you have MARPA/ARPA on your radar. You need the fast heading information that the sat compass puts out that a GPS or fluxgate compass does not. Not to say that GPS and fluxgate don't put this out, just not fast enough for marpa/arpa to be useful on your radar for target information, CPA, etc. AIS, while nice to have doesn't refresh fast enough to be true collision avoidance tool.
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Old 23-08-2019, 16:38   #11
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Completely Furuno setup - SC-30, TZ Touch 2 MFD, Furuno autopilot, Airmar (Furuno) depth sounder and Furuno radar with doppler target tracking. The whole setup works really well.
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Old 23-08-2019, 18:38   #12
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Would this solve most of your issues?

+/- 2 degrees. So not as accurate. But $650 vs $1600?

https://www.bandg.com/bg/type/autopi...on-9-compass3/
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Old 23-08-2019, 23:03   #13
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

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Originally Posted by FlyingScot View Post
Would this solve most of your issues?

+/- 2 degrees. So not as accurate. But $650 vs $1600?

https://www.bandg.com/bg/type/autopi...on-9-compass3/

Well, that's a pretty ordinary magnetic compass, worse than what I have now. I'm looking to have better heading data, not worse.
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Old 23-08-2019, 23:10   #14
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

Hemisphere has announced a new Vector V200 which appears to be positioned to replace the venerable V104 for the recreational marine market. It claims slightly better heading accuracy (1.5 vs 2.0 degrees) and is a mere 5 cm longer. However, it supports additional satellite constellations (GLONASS, Beidou, etc.) as well as the Atlas global correction subscription service (which may provide the "optional" claimed heading accuracy of 0.75 degrees as well as better positional accuracy). See:
https://www.hemispheregnss.com/produ...smart-antenna/ I've yet to see any pricing info, however....

Like Dockhead, I've been considering replacing my marginally functional H2183 with a GPS/Satellite compass, but so far I've been content to hide 'n' watch.

funjohnson--Thanks for the performance report on your V104! While I don't sail the fjords of Norway, we have much the same type of "fjord" here on the Pacific British Columbia coast, and I've wondered if the inclusion of GLONASS on the V200 might help mitigate against GPS drop-outs. Does anyone have performance experience using a satellite compass deep in a BC "fjord"?

FlyingScot--I think the B&G Precision 9 compass is basically the same technology as Dockhead's Airmar H2183. It is not a GPS/Satellite compass, and is subject to magnetic interference from objects on board.
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Old 23-08-2019, 23:45   #15
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Re: Satellite Compass -- Worth It?

There's also this:


Furuno announces new SC33 satellite compass - Ocean Navigator - Web Exclusives 2018


About $2k.


There are a great variety of models on the market, but it seems that only a few of them have been updated to receive other GNSS constellations (GLONASS etc.), which seems to me to be very desirable.


I wonder if the Furuno cannot be calibrated or firmware updated without a Furuno plotter?
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Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you."
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