Tacticks MN30 wind system

[Rob Johnstone]

Vagabond has a Tacktick MN30 wind indicator - that was the "entry level" system that started the Tacktick range before the company was bought out by Raymarine for devious reasons...

Anyway, mine has stopped working. Yesterday it worked and today it doesn't. I don't seem to be able to find any information about diagnosing the problem on the internet (all the forums (fora?) seem to concentrate on the next level up - where the displays are powered by on board batteries).

Does anyone else have a similar system and have any ideas/documentation on diagnostics, particularly on whether or not the mast head anemometer is transmitting?

(Or should I give up and follow the Andy rout?)

[Graham W]

Rob,

When you switch on the MN30, does anything happen or does it stay silent (no beep) and blank?  If it's dead, then it's most likely either something to do with your 12V supply or the circuitry in the instrument has had something nasty happen to it, which probably can't be mended.  There's a secondhand unit currently for sale on eBay for £140.

To test the masthead transducer, I suggest that you borrow someone's wireless MN100 display and pair it up to see if you get a response (mine's normally in Shropshire and will be in Bala on Saturday).  I think that the transducer is the same for all versions of the system. If the display unit is dead, it's unlikely to be a transducer fault.

[Andy Dingle]

I hate wind systems! The very spawn of the devil.
Get yourself a new NASA wireless - £295 off Cactus. Post free and it arrived in less than 24 hrs.
Raymarine don't deserve your patronage - 'entry' level indeed! How patronising is that..

[Rob Johnstone]

Thanks Graham and Andy. The unit beeps when I turned it on and then resolutely showed two blinking "dashes" (as does the echo sounder).  I turned it off and on again a few times with the same result. I suspect that it's something to do with the wireless communication between the sensors and the displays as it seems to me unlikely that both sensors would go on "the blink" at the same.

On thinking about it, I wonder if it was some sort of local interference from either adjacent boats or my mobile phone that was in close proximity to it. I'll have another go tomorrow.

Andy, in my defence - Tackticks was not part of Raymarine when I bought the units! It happened about 2 months later - I suspect the takeover was a delight to the guys who developed the product but a defensive move to keep the market price high by Raymarine. Such tactics are not unknown.   (Jowetts, who had a brilliant saloon car (the Javelin) were effectively taken out of the market by Ford in the 1950's, for instance).

[Graham W]

Rob,

Here's what it says in the troubleshooting section of the manual:

"Data is shown as dashes
The information is not being transmitted to the instrument Displays. There may be lost communication between the Wind Transmitter or Hull Transmitter and the instrument Displays. On any Digital instrument enter Setup and Calibration mode and scroll through to the Health Chapter. Check the signal levels of the Hull and Wind Transmitters. The signal level should show a value of greater than 3 to ensure correct operation."

And here's a link to establishing connections within the system, in case you need to do it again http://www.tacktick.net/pdf/tacktick-Autonetworking.pdf

This may be tempting providence but I've never had any problems with my Tacktick wind system in the six years that I've had it.  Raymarine have done the square root of sod all with Tacktick since they bought the company in 2011.  There was talk at the time of making the system NMEA 2000 compatible but they've clearly shelved that idea. Other companies like NASA are now moving in on the wireless sector and a good thing too.

[Rob Johnstone]

Graham,

Thanks for that link - I'll see how I get on with it but events have transpired (as they do) and I won't be at the boat for a week or so.

I suspect the Tacticks displays on Vagabond are a lesser model than those shown in the leaflet as they rely on an external 12V supply rather than integral solar cells and batteries. I still have the installation leaflets for them (on the boat) and I can't remember them having  reference to functionality providing "system health checks"!