At $650 the B&G WS320 Wireless Wind Sensor is not exactly a bargain, and frankly, I wish it was much more robust in its design.
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“Trickin Pickin” performed by Doug Waterman
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I know it's just a cheap wind meter but could you run a small rope up the inside of the mast and go out the top and over down into a self aligning mount it gets pulled into I know I'm lazy too.
Damn that snatch block sounded like old dial up internet 😂
Doug do you have to do this every time the battery wears down? Guessing solar with a battery big enough to cover for cloudy days. I assume it goes to sleep when it's not in use?
Doug after I quit selling engine parts to machine shops and parts house's I moved to Roswell and married my wife.. went to work at her Dad's machine shop… the usual cyl. heads/blocks bored/honed/cranks turned.. we would get some engine or cyl. heads plus the cars or trucks where we did the R&R… we had a saying that any person that wanted to be a engineer they needed to spend 3-5 years working in the field before they would allowed to design any thing.
I wonder if you could fab solar for that weather station, so you did not need to change batteries.
Don't blame the engineer when the device was never marine rated to begin with.
Concrete boats are not strong, they are like eggs, and the fishing boats that raft up at a wharf, do not go on the outside of a concrete boat, because the boat will crush. I saw one in a boat yard, that had grounded on rocks, most of one side was gone. Considering that only one third of the cost of a boat is the hull, concrete was a stupid idea, because they have no resale value.
you have power to the lights on the mast! Why not connect the wind sensor to permanent power! There is adapters that can reduce power from 12V to 9 or what ever power the Wind sensor uses!
Doesn't appear that you'll have to put up with that sensor battery for very much longer. Once it wriggles out of the four or five wraps of e-tape you've got goin' on, nothing will stop it from flying into the ocean where it belongs
This rappel ring could kill someone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrKzvWMyCmE
HANGMAN -This is SPLAT – HA HA HA HA Good One Doug !.
A buddy and I had to climb the mast and walk out to the end of the yardarm on a navy minesweeper, while underway, to remove the wind speed direction indicator when the casting broke.
Salt air is hard on certain metals!
Only blue water under us!
Sure had a good view!
Really enjoying seeing Seeker come together, Doug. I definitely agree about experience and engineering, I worked the trades for many years and was fond of saying "No Scribbler should be allowed to pick up a pencil until he puts down his tools!" I could tell you some tales about the enginerding I've run into over the years! LOL
Doug, have you considered running a pair of wires down to the bottom of the mast so that battery changes could be easier? Just a thought and it may not be feasible.
Hey those cold solder connectors are junk. They don't hold up. Just FYI don't use them or you will be chasing broken connections!
Send you a usb power up the mast and plug it in.
I remember I didn't say "Hey, put the tractor seat on top of the mast", it was yourself and a darn good idea for a yourself idea. I'd never be able to sit up there, anything over 8 ft and I'm toast, fall all the way to whatever I hit and go "Smooshies"… Happy Holidays Ya'll!!
I'm currently in school for mechanical engineering so i can design sailboats, definitely noticed a difference between the product engineers and the mechanical engineers already. And it's kinda funny how many of my teachers have told me " you are not X engineer so you will never use this again" I'm glad they are honest with it.
So as an FYI you should tie up a fishing line harness on the Sender. they have a history of falling off. If you make a harness at least you will not loose it. If you get to St. Petersburg look me up I would love to help if needed.
I love the channel and have been following for years, but I do need to say that if you want something engineered for either your specific use case or a universal use case, then you need to pay for it.
Check out the Flora-Bama. I think you would like it 😊
A small pocket solar panel wired to the battery also would do the trick keeping it charged. 🎅👍👍
Can you put a solar charger on the anemometer?
The never ending saga.🙂🙂
Rock Exotica makes great blocks we use ours for cell tower maintenance and builds
have always enjoyed your channel Doug, think I saw that your wind instrument display is the triton 3 like mine, wanted to mention BandG put out an update that will put the A for apparent direction on your rose, just like the T
go online with your system, and it will offer to update for you
It's not a tractor seat anymore. It's the bosun's throne!
Doug, you could also try 'TriFlow Lubricant' on that lazyjack block to get the squeak out, most bicycle shops would have it.
Why do I picture Doug rigging up a line to control the hydraulics so he can lift himself? Then he will think about using the crane winch so he can use the remote.
Lord knows I might give it a shot.
NICE
You look happy, Doug! 🙂
I love your line re: children and play…. I agree with you the virtual world (vr, video games, etc) is a poor substitute for real world experience.
WD40 is not a lubricant. WD40 is short for "Water Displacement, 40th formula". Don't use wd40 for lubricating something. It will not last.
I finally figured out Neil's accent he's a Bluenose I have friends here in BC Canada from NS. Anything to do with marine costs a lot of money, a guy can't cheap out on navigation and weather monitoring equipment.
Another great video doug
And my rope work got in at the end cheers
merry christmas to you and your crew. many thanks for the entertainment over the last year.
Dpug, do you have any wind power to supplement the solar?
17.6°F and 14" of snow here.
"It's better in the Bahamas". Lol and Florida.
Drill a hole at the top and bottom of the mast and pull a wire to mount the battery at the bottom of the mast. no climbing needed.
up the battery voltage to 3.8 at the bottom. might pair easier.
Hello from Siesta Key Florida
I have a wireless spotlight on my boat. The '"ireless" part is only the control commands to the light meaning there is no wiring directly connecting the two. I provide 12 volts at the light and 12-volts at the control panel for it. I also have a walk-around battery powered remote controller for the light. So, for your anemometer let me suggest you might do like I did for my spotlight – tap off the voltage supplying something else (like your masthead lights) with an appropriate voltage reducer wired to the battery terminals in the anemometer so you never have to climb the mast to replace the batteries cuz that's just nutz, brother.
Best piece of advice for those people still raising children today…(3:01) Gotta love it!!
I use those shrink connections too, but mostly only when I need a quick fix or I can't get a soldering tool in there safely. Or when the length of the wires us to short to put on a conventional shrink. They work great. But first timers should get some extra because they work best if you heat them up just long enough, too cold and your connection isn't great, too long and you ruin the insulation, and they don't like reheating. But they are a must have in a tool box. You never know when you need them. That and a lighter and you're set.
I have been following you for a long time. I do actually work in R&D at Navico (we make the B&G products). I agree with your issues. I had similar issues with the WS320 on my boat because of similar reasons and I think you have a good solution which we maybe should recommend for those situations. But I can say that we have tried the WS320 on real life boats quite a lot 🙂 We always do before we release anything. But we do not always manage to test the same conditions as all of our sailors have unfortunately. And I do occasionally play video games but I have also lived on boats for a big part of my life, does those things counteract each other? I have forwarded your video to some of my colleagues. We appreciate the input!
Isn't the bad design more that the wind rotor doesn't charge the batteries
Enjoying the mast-head views of the gulf coast thanks!
Haha 😂 I actually know the guy that designed that wind sensor mount. I use to tell them that CAD is not King 👑😂😂