# feedback on the tacktick t101 wind system



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I am considering this wireless wind system on my sabre 28. Has anyone installed one and if so are you happy with the system or would you go with the raymarine wind system?


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

Im interested also...seems pretty pricey though..


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

I have the TackTick instruments on my boat, which I installed to replace the Raymarine ST60 instrument set (tridata and wind). The T104 setup comes with the Tridata and the Wind instruments as well as an NMEA 0183 interface. I am very happy with them... it was very worthwhile as upgrades go. The problem I was having with the ST60 instruments was repeated problems with the wind instrument failing to operate properly.

BTW, the TackTick wind instruments have a nice feature, since the display can be used for both normal wind instrument use as well as used as a close-hauled wind instrument. The normal use gives you 360˚ of wind angle, the close hauled mode only reports ±60˚ off the wind. 

I finished a new mount for them earlier this week, where the instrument display heads are actually mounted to the port of a Beckson 5" x 12" port, to give the cabin additional ventilation, while allowing the instruments to be in a highly visible location. I'll post a photo of the installation later this week.

BTW, if you're feeling a bit lazy, the ST60 Raymarine tridata transducers actually work with the TackTick hull transmitter, since Airmar makes the transducers for both Raymarine and TackTick.


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

Thanks SD...one concern I had about them was the wireless reliability...At the same tome thats what attracting me to them...no more cable runs...how would that work using the old transducer though?


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

The instrument displays and the wind transducer are wireless. The hull transmitter and the NMEA 0183 interface are wired. The hull transmitter is wired to the two transducers (depth/temp and knotmeter) as well as power. The NMEA interface is wired to NMEA and power. Works with the existing Raymarine transducers just fine, though I'm swapping in the TackTick one—mainly because it has a flap to slow down the water flow into the boat when swapping out the transducer for the plug.  

BTW, the displays and the wind transducer will operate about 300 hours after being fully charged without any additional sunlight charging them...


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## rjdesborough (Jul 24, 2009)

*Tacktick wind instrument experience*

We installed a full Tacktick system in 2006 and had good service but in July 2009 the wind transmitter stopped sending a signal/data. The Tacktick feedback was that a life span of 3-5 years is typical which was a little disappointing. Do others have similar experience re the mast head transmitter need:mading replacement within a 3-5 year period?


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## Diva27 (Nov 2, 2007)

*tactick system*

I installed the entry-level tactick wireless wind system for cruisers (T033) this season. it has been a great asset, with one peculiar weakness. Twice, when sailing in the lee of Beausoleil Island at Georgian Bay Islands National Park on southern Georgian Bay near my home port of Midland, I've lost the wireless signal. Nothing but waiting gets it back.I've never lost the signal at any other time or place. I have no idea what signal interference might be causing this. It could be land-based, or it could be something on a large motor yacht anchored at the park, for all i know. I wonder if anyone else has had location-specific problems with signal loss.


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## rjdesborough (Jul 24, 2009)

*Tacktick wind instrument experience*

So far the response from Tacktick has been quite positive although there is a cost to obtain a "reconditioned transmitter" which has been upgraded with all the latest improvements. I have shipped the defective transmitter to Tacktick and will need to wait and see what the final cost and delivery time will be for the replacement unit.
RD


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## jbondy (Mar 28, 2001)

I had to replace the wind instrument at the second year. They must not have had the experience they have now - they asked me to send back both the transducer and the display so they could debug the problem. They determined I needed a new transducer, which they sent (well, actually it appeared to be reconditioned). But they claimed I never sent the display. It took the entire season to get a display sent back. I still lose signal occasionally (as in every time I sail), but only for a few moments before it comes back. It also freezes infrequently, which requires me to restart the display to get it working again.

Not recommended.


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## rjdesborough (Jul 24, 2009)

*Tacktick wind instrument experience*

It looks like Tacktick have a new support company based in Guilford , CT. 
I have had similar loss of signal and on occasion "re booted" to restore/stabilize. The rest of the system has worked well so I'm hopeful the reconditioned unit will provide improved service for wind info.
RD


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## Diva27 (Nov 2, 2007)

*signal failures*

It's disheartening to hear others having the signal failure problem. As I said, both of my losses occurred on the same particular leg of a passage south of Beausoleil I., but maybe that's just probability: I make that passage a lot. The first time, I had to reboot twice. The unit would reacquire the sig, then lose it in a minute or so. On the second time, it went down and just stayed down, and I gave up rebooting till I was past the island. Then it reacquired and stayed that way for the rest of the leg home (a little more than an hour). In my case, the wind arrow freezes in position and the knot readings go to dashes. My mast is 33 feet tall so it's not like the sig has a long way to go.


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## rjdesborough (Jul 24, 2009)

Have you described your problem to Tacktick, Steve in the UK and Fred in Guilford, CT?
[email protected], 
[email protected]


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## Diva27 (Nov 2, 2007)

Thanks for the contact info. The second instance was just at the end of last week and I haven't had time to do serious follow-up, but having heard from others, now I'm motivated.


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## Diva27 (Nov 2, 2007)

Further to the above, I sent an email to Fred in Connecticut about my signal loss problem last Tuesday. He phoned me on Wednesday, and we discussed the parameters. Regarding local interference he said he was aware of some problems around San Diego that may be due to the large naval presence, but was a little mystified by what might be causing a local signal loss where I'm experiencing it. He was passing on my details to the factory. I may not have understand the details perfectly, but I think he said the frequency is used by RC types, so maybe there's some radio-control nuttiness.
I told him I was heading out on a two-day cruise on thurs-friday to the same area, and would find out if the problem resurfaced again in the same place. I find it hard to believe, but exactly the same thing happened. Coming south (and it's only when I'm going south) through Beausoleil Bay on the way home, the unit kicked out again. (Three times now.) Past the island, I got the signal back again. As I haven't sailed up the west side of the island, I don't know how certain I can say this is a very localized signal interference. But it is plain weird.


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## rjdesborough (Jul 24, 2009)

Although I was outside the warranty period by a year, Tacktick sold me a new replacement unit with all the new upgrades and improvements after I returned the defective wind transmitter. My best guess is that my cost was about a third the retail price.
It took less than 8 business days from Tacktick's receipt in the US of my old transmitter to the receipt in Halifax, NS, shipped from the UK, of the replacement transmitter. I consider that pretty good service. I paid to ship back the old unit and Tacktick paid the UPS charges for delivery of the replacement unit.
While disappointed in the relatively short service life of the original transmitter I do believe Tacktick are striving to provide good customer support and to continuoiusly improve their technology.
Rod Desborough
1995 C&C 36XL


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## Pterobyte (Nov 13, 2009)

*Tacktick Repair*

There are other issues with TackTick wind instruments.
Read here: pterobyte.us / tacktick repair


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## T37Chef (Oct 9, 2006)

torrential said:


> I am considering this wireless wind system on my sabre 28. Has anyone installed one and if so are you happy with the system or would you go with the raymarine wind system?


Yes, very happy. On rare occasion I lose signal, but only for a few seconds. In addition I find it to be very accurate, reading less then 2 knots of wind. The install couldn't be easier.


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## Pterobyte (Nov 13, 2009)

*Tacktick Life Span*



rjdesborough said:


> We installed a full Tacktick system in 2006 and had good service but in July 2009 the wind transmitter stopped sending a signal/data. The Tacktick feedback was that a life span of 3-5 years is typical which was a little disappointing. Do others have similar experience re the mast head transmitter need:mading replacement within a 3-5 year period?


Boy at that rate parts of my system will start to fail before I am done adding components... ouch!


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

I think that's about the limit for about any Circuit board now days. Seem like all our cameras, I-pods even lap tops start dying about that point.


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## Pterobyte (Nov 13, 2009)

I have had maine electronics working for 20 years. I just finally dumped by Hydra system for Tacktick. I think in the case of TackTick it is the fact that they are sealed and the batteries may need replacing but you can't get them out.


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## mattfenske (Apr 22, 2004)

*Check your Tacktick wind transducer before you mount it*

I recently purchased a Tacktick wind instrument. I fully charged the unit then tested it off of the boat before mounting. With the wind vane pointed straight ahead the display read 3 degrees off. That would not be a big deal because you can set the offset in the display unit to compensate. The problem is, after doing that, it read properly when it was in the straight-ahead position (into the wind), but when I rotated the vane 180 degrees the display indicated only 165 degrees. I would expect some error here but that is unnacceptable. Tacktick has instructions for "calibrating" the unit; but they are not for calibrating the device-they are for calibrating the device to your boat to compensate for any offset you may have created when you installed the vane on your mast (i.e., you didn't get it installed exactly inline with your fore-aft centerline). There is no way to actually calibrate the unit if it is not reading correctly. It took some time and frustration with my retailer; but they eventually replaced the unit (they would not refund my money--but that's another story). The new unit is much more accurate: It reads zero in the straight ahead position right out of the box; it reads 178 degrees when you turn the vane 180 degrees. So it is of by 2 degrees. This is better; but for the price, still unacceptable to me. My old analog gauge reads exactly what it should in all positions.

Tacktick never admitted that there was a problem with the unit. I was told that you cannot calibrate the unit unless it is on the mast. This is ludicrous. I'm a mechanical engineer with enough instrument knowledge to know that this is wrong.

So here's my take: I like the instrument and I would recommend buying one; but--make sure you check the wind direction indicator before you mount it. Fully charge the indicator and display unit before testing. Make sure you are away from metal objects; then test the unit through the full 360 degree range. If it doesn't display exactly what it should--take it back. Tacktick needs to be held to a higher standard of quality control. I would bet that there are many of these instruments in use that are reading incorrectly on the downwind run. A few degrees may not be so noticeable--15 degrees would most definately give you a little trouble if you are an "instrument hawk". More importantly, I think, is that this measurement is used in other calculations that will be totally off. Your apparant wind is off, so true is off too, thus any speed calculation is wrong.

I have to add this too because I now think it is funny (I didn't at the time). I tried to get my credit card company, which is absolutely the best institution on the planet (USAA), to force a refund from the retailer (Budget Marine). USAA sent me a letter stating "It clearly states on your receipt that you cannot return items that are used or special cut. You had to turn the unit on to find out that it did not work, therefore you have used the unit and you can no longer return it".

I needed a double dose of Diovan that day. Totally floored me.

Happy sailing and Merry Christmas from St. Croix.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

They can be good but reports have been made about certain issues, mostly with the wind units.

Be VERY aware that these units seem to be more prone to being toasted by INDIRECT lightning strikes. The guy behind me was NOT hit by lightning but our mooring neighbor was (about 80 yards away). The ONLY dead items on his boat were the BRAND NEW Tactick devices, all of them, but nothing else. Tacticks response .....sorry to hear than you'll need to buy new instruments..... He did buy new replacements, but not Tactick...

They seem to be more sensitive than other devices to even non direct lightning hits..


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

*Low expectations...*



Stillraining said:


> I think that's about the limit for about any Circuit board now days. Seem like all our cameras, I-pods even lap tops start dying about that point.


You must be kidding. I am happily using instruments (depth sounder, knotmeter) that were on the boat for who-knows-how-long when I bought it ten years ago. Made by Datamarine, a company that doesn't even exist anymore.

And I just as happily use a shortwave radio that is now >25 years old. Yes, it has circuit boards inside.


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## Willis (Jan 16, 2008)

I installed a TackTick wind system after a lightning strike took out my old wired system. I too have issues with the signal dropping out and the unit freezing. I have to sail right past Norfolk Naval Station to get out to the Bay though, so I always assumed something on the base was interfering with the signal. Sounds like there may be a bigger issue after reading everyone else's experiences. The system has been fine otherwise. When the time comes to replace the existing setup, I'll probably go back to a wired system.


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## irmedic (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm looking at the wind option for next season. Since the last post was in 2010 and Raymarine bought them out, any updates?

For the signal loss issue, we commonly loose signals with land radio going over larger iron ore deposits.


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## ACTII (Oct 11, 2013)

can anyone suggest a method of testing whether the transmitter is actually transmitting a signal. Power is going to the transmitter and the instument is fully charged(solar) transducers were cleaned during recent haul out.


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## Tanley (Aug 20, 2009)

ACTII said:


> can anyone suggest a method of testing whether the transmitter is actually transmitting a signal. Power is going to the transmitter and the instument is fully charged(solar) transducers were cleaned during recent haul out.


There's a diagnostic screen on the display unit that shows transmitter power. Don't have the user's manual in front of me, but likely to be found on-line.

Edit:

Found it, go here and navigate to "How do I find out how well my system is operating? "

http://www.raymarine.eu/view/?id=1775#16


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