# TackTick Instruments



## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

About six weeks ago, the Raymarine ST60 wind instrument on my boat went out on me. The problem seems to be in the seven-pin connector at the base of the mast.... and every time I've cleaned it...using a fine wire or fiberglass brush, it works for about a day, and then it craps out again.

When I originally bought my boat, I was planning on getting TackTick instruments for it, but the manufacturer didn't have a reliable vendor for TackTick at the time, so I ended up with the Raymarine ST60s. So, I figured, this was a good time to be ordering the TackTick gear that I had originally wanted.

So, three weeks ago, I ordered the TackTick 104 kit, which includes the Wind, Speed, Depth, and Temperature transducers as well an analog wind display and a dual line digital display. The two hull transducers are wired to the Hull transmitter, which sends the information to the displays wirelessly.

The 104 kit also comes with an NMEA interface transmitter. This allows the TackTick instruments to display GPS and autopilot data, as well as send depth, temperature, wind angle, wind speed, and other data back to the autopilot.

Two weekends ago, I decided to install the new TackTick gear. The installation was pretty simple. I removed the ST60 displays, and bolted a board over the holes. I'll be patching the holes this winter. I then mounted the instrument mounting clips to the board and put the displays in basically the same place the ST60s had been.

I sent my chief boat drudge up the mast with a cordless drill and had him remove the ST60 wind transducer and install the TackTick one. Nice to have a boat drudge.

Since the boat was in the water, I decided to try and cheat. Airmar makes a majority of all the depth and speed transducers used in the recreational marine industry. They made the ones in the TackTick kit, and the ones in the ST60 kit as well. They might be different, but I didn't think so.

My main reason for thinking they were the same was the wires for both the ST60 depth and speed transducers were the same color and number as the TackTick ones. Since both sets of transducers were made by Airmar, I was guessing that the wiring scheme was Airmar's, not TackTicks or Raymarine's.

Given the fact that the transducers should be electronically very similar, if not identical-and probably used the same wiring setup and the wiring appeared identical-it seemed a good bet that the Raymarine transducers would work with the TackTick hull transmitter.

So I connected my ST60 transducers to the TackTick hull transmitter. *Voila... I'm a genius... *the depth, temperature and speed functions all worked perfectly.  I could delay installing the new transducers until after I haul the boat for the season... or never change them if I'm feeling really lazy.

Now, I was back in business. Took the boat drudge and another henchman out sailing to test the instruments. Well, the TackTick instruments are excellent. The displays are far more versatile than the ST60 gear they replaced.

For instance, the analog wind display can be switched from a standard wind display to a close-hauled wind display, where the range coverage drops from 360˚ to about 120˚. This really allows you to see the differences in boat performance on both tacks.

The dual display unit also has a lot more data available on it. It can display GPS information, like latitude or longitude, even though I don't have a TackTick GPS unit. IIRC, the ST60 can only do that if you have Raymarine GPS gear. The dual line display can also display the battery voltage at the hull transmitter. This allows me to quickly check the battery charge level.

Adding additional displays, like having a set for the nav station, is really simple. All I have to do is buy the units, and then put them within a foot of the existing instruments and turn the system on and tell it to find the new displays. No wires necessary.

Another bonus is that the NMEA and Hull transmitters also seem to have an internal battery. This allows them to operate, even if the house battery switch is shut off. The Hull Transmitter appears to be able to power the two transducers for an extended period of time as well.

The batteries in the two transmitters charge off the house bank when the house bank is switched on. The displays and wind transducer have small solar cells that charge their internal batteries. According to the literature, the instruments should operate for 300 hours without exposure to sunlight. The displays also have a provision for hardwiring to a 12VDC power source.

Overall, I think the TackTick instruments are good choice, especially if you're looking to replace your existing instruments. You don't have to worry about external wiring connections, and the majority of instrument problems appear to be wiring related from what I have seen. Two other benefits are the reduced electrical loads on the boat and the reduction in weight aloft. You can also reduce the number and size of the holes in your cabintop with the TackTick instruments. Finally, adding additional displays is really simple for once.

TackTick also offers a mast position sensor, a compass and a GPS receiver. I might get the compass, but don't see a need for the mast position sensor or GPS sensor.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

*Let us know how you fair...*

Let us know how you fair in your first thunder & lightning storm. The wireless Tack Ticks seem to be very, very, very, sensitive to stray EMI from lightning. I guy at my boat yard watched a tree a 1/4 mile away, on an island, get hit by lightning and when he looked up his Tack Tics were toast. He sent them back for repair and they were NOT covered even though this was clearly not a direct hit. Believe me I'd love to buy a set of Tack Tics but until they build them to with stand 1/4 mile away hits I'm sticking with wired..


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## SEMIJim (Jun 9, 2007)

Hmmm... I wonder if that ST60 can be rescued...


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

SailingDog,

That sounds like a nice set-up. I like the idea of the wireless Tacktick system, mainly because it seems like it would be so much easier to install. But you made an additional good point I hadn't considered -- i.e. that malfunctions in the typical systems tend to trace to the hard wiring. 

We have a functional knot meter and depth sounder (Datamarine), but no windspeed/direction indicator. Which I take it is more-or-less where you were with the malfunctioning Raymarine wind unit. So I am wondering, why did you not just get the stand-alone Tacktick wind instrumentation? Was it simply because you had always wanted the ENTIRE Tacktick system, or are there other considerations? 

I ask because I have been contemplating the stand-alone Tacktick wind unit to complement our speed and depth units. Would I be missing out on some functionality?

P.S. Clever thinking on the depth sounder wiring!


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## VMacDonald (Sep 25, 2006)

I'm also thinking of going with Tacktick instruments to replace our faulty depth instrument (a 20 year old Navico system). I was ideally wanting to fit a mushroom shaped sounder as it would fit into the existing faired position in the hull and contacted Tacktick to ask if other instruments would work. They replied to say:

"The T121 Hull transmitter is compatible with most Airmar transducers speed
and depth. The Depth Frequency must be 200 KHz and the speed a voltage
pulsed with 3 wire or 5 wire including sea temperature."

Though as a word of caution they did suggest that I confirm the relevant part number with them first if possible.

I was interested to hear that the wind display is clear as I was concerned that an LCD wind display might be less user friendly than the traditional mechanical needle perhaps owing to the screen smearing when the 'needle' moves (much as some older LCD monitors are prone to do).


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

SEMIJim-

The ST60 gear works just fine... it was the wiring that was the issue... right at the base of the damn mast... UGH. However, someone else on sailnet has requested first dibs on it...


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## GeorgeB (Dec 30, 2004)

How about sensitivity and response times and or lags? I was wondering if they were slower because they are transmitting over air and not wire. I'd kill for some. I like the idea of having a set of repeaters at the mast base so everybody has the same access to the data and not just the helmsman.


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## SEMIJim (Jun 9, 2007)

sailingdog said:


> SEMIJim-
> 
> The ST60 gear works just fine... it was the wiring that was the issue... right at the base of the damn mast... UGH.


Yeah. I figured re-conectorizing it and Bob's your uncle.



sailingdog said:


> However, someone else on sailnet has requested first dibs on it...


Ah well, it was worth a shot 

Jim


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

George-

Radio waves travel at about the same speed as electrical signals over wire... no real lag...and they work...  Adding additional displays is really simple. 



GeorgeB said:


> How about sensitivity and response times and or lags? I was wondering if they were slower because they are transmitting over air and not wire. I'd kill for some. I like the idea of having a set of repeaters at the mast base so everybody has the same access to the data and not just the helmsman.


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## GeorgeB (Dec 30, 2004)

Thanks, I thought that they might have slowed down the baud rate to insure a better capture. My E80 sends data either over a high speed or low speed (NMEA) bus, both wire. I still want those tick tacks.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Wind, depth, speed and temperature data doesn't really require a high data rate. If you think about it.... updating the wind speed, direction, water speed, depth, and temperature is only a few bytes of data total.


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## Gary M (May 9, 2006)

I think the Tic Tac are really nice but I had not thought about any lightning issues? However I have fairly new Raymarine depth and speed instruments so I am looking at Raymarine wind instruments. 
I believe that if I go with them then I can hook up the speedo to the wind instruments I can get true wind and direction? 

How is the Raymarine quality and service? I think I have heard here that it is not the greatest.

Thanks
Gary


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Raymarine's service is spotty...sometimes they're quite good, and others you gotta wonder. I had the ST60 gear on my boat, and got rid of it. The problem wasn't the hardware itself from what I've been able to tell, but the wiring.


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## Idiens (Jan 9, 2007)

SD - Any idea how many TACKTICKs can share the same marina without interfering with each other?


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Considering that some charter fleets have taken up using TackTick instruments, as have some boat manufacturers, I don't think it is much of an issue. The main problem you'd have with other boats in the marina having TackTick instruments is when setting up an installation. _You'd have to be far enough away to not have the instruments accidentally network to an adjacent boat. _This is also the case if you're adding displays. Aside from that, I don't think there's much of a problem.


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