New Sails

Nordic Star recently got a new Quantum main and 155% jib. Boat speed is improved to say the least. Had an issue with the top slider on the main. The correct one was installed last week.

Info on Installing Nexus Wireless Wind Transducer

In September 2007 I replaced my failed Nexus(Silva) wind transducer with the wireless model. The wireless transducer has two fins and a solar cell that powers a transmitter that sends data to the WSI box mounted below decks. No wires are required in the mast. The transducer bracket mounting holes match the old mounting bracket holes too. COMNAV, the importer of NEXUS, only sells the wireless wind transducer as part of an expensive bundle. To bypass this the transducer and the required WSI interface box (Nexus Nr. 22928 for the kit) was purchased from Marine Electronic SA,41 rue Louis-de-Savoie, CH-1110 Morges Switzerland.

There were some not so obvious tricks to the installation.

You need to have NEXUS NX2 server in order to have the current depth transducer. This is needed to be compatible with the WSI box also.

You will need several NEXUS Nr. 22121 4 pole pin plugs to actually connect the transducers to the WSI box. I had to buy them from a local COMNAV dealer in FL for a excessive $40 a piece.

The NEXUS depth and speed transducers must connect to the WSI box, not the NX2 server. This is because the WSI box is the master for those transducers. I left the transducers connected to the NX2 server but could not get them to work. Contacting NEXUS fixed that.

To get a good signal from the mast mounted transducer the WSI box has to be mounted parallel to the center line of the boat. Not knowing where the antenna was in the WSI box I mounted it on a piece of plexiglass.

Below are calibration ( setup ) data used. The wind transducer auto calibrates.

CALIBRATION DATA
SPEED
C10 RETURN
C11 UNITS KTS
C12 CAL 1.25
C13 DAMPING d2

DEPTH
C20 RETURN
C21 UNIT FT
C22 00 ADJ _01.3 Transdcuer offset below surface
C23 TEMP UNIT F
C24 TEMP CAL 0
C25 Hpa INH Atmospheric pressure unit INH= inches

NAVIGATION
C30 RETURN
C31 PAGE ATO PAGE ATO automatically display nav page/gps is on
C32 00 OCA 0 no off course alarm set
C33 00.0 VAR -5.85 deg 48 min W 0.8 minus is west, underline is east
C34 AUTO DEV start auto deviation process
C35 AUTO CHK start auto deviation check
C36 AUTO CLR clear auto deviation memory
C37 000 ADJ 0 compass transducer miss-alignment
C38 OFF SEC ON position in degrees, minutes, seconds
C39 PILOT SEA MID steer pilot damping
C40 OFF MAG ON all headings and bearings magnetic
C41 DAMPING d2

WIND
C50 RETURN
C51 PAGE ATO PAGE ATO automatically display nav page/gps is on
C52 OFF TWA OFF On displays true wind
C53 UNITS KTS
C54 CAL 1.7 (1.7 for twin fin transducer )
C55 000 adj 0 Mast top misalignment ( A Fault )
C56 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C57 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C58 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C59 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C60 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C61 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C62 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C63 Wind Cal value N/A for wireless xducer- it has built in cal table
C64 WIA WIA
C65 DAMPING SEA d2
C66
C67 WSA 0 Wind speed alarm in meters always, no feet allowed

NETWORK & NMEA CALIBRATION
Enter Calibration/Set, press Page until C70 is displayed
C70 RETURN
C71 ENTRY BEEP ON
C72 d0 SEA d2
C73 OFF BSP OFF FOR USE WITH NEXUS LOG
C74 OFF DEP OFF FOR USE WITH NEXUS DEPTH
C75 OFF COMP OFF FOR USE WITH NEXUS COMPASS
C76 OFF WIND OFF FOR USE WITH NEXUS WIND SENSOR
C77 NMEA SENTENCES OUT FROM SERVER
TO
C92
C93 d4 NME NMEA OUT DAMPING COMPASS HEADING & SPEED ONLY
C94 OFF SOG OFF FOR NX2 SPEED SENSOR
C95 OFF COG OFF FOR NX2 COMPASS SENSOR
C96 REF BSP REF BSP For use of log transducer for BSP wind functions

Procedure for installing the Annapolis Rigging Spreader Thru Bar kit

Spreader through bar installation ( mast up ) 1/5/08

-Release tension on the upper shrouds, both sides.
-Securely tie a 16’ ladder to the inner shroud. When working aloft tie a safety line around yourself & the mast. You will need two hands when working the pop rivet tool.
-Remove the spreader attaching hardware & end caps and take down the spreaders.
-Refinish the spreaders while you’ve got them down & replace the flag halyard block.
-Using a center punch, drive the mandrel of the existing pop rivets into the rivet bodies.
-Drill out old spreader bracket pop rivet outer flanges with a ¼" drill bit.
-Using a ¼ " drift drive the rivet bodies into the mast.
-Remove old spreader brackets. Look for cracks around the rivet holes. Clean off corrosion and refinish area.
-Remove the thru mast stiffening tube. It may interfere with the installation of the thru bar and once the reinforcing plates are installed you can’t get tube very easily.
-Assuming no cracks, install the Annapolis Rigging reinforcing plates using the supplied ¼" pop rivets with the Harbor Freight $20 pop rivet tool. Use a small vice grip around the mandrel between the pop rivet tool and the pop rivet to prevent the mandrel from being pushed inside the mast. The reinforcing plates install using the existing spreader bracket holes.
-Using the reinforcing plates as a guide, cut the mast holes for the through bar. Drill a 1/8" hole in the corners and use a healthy AC powered roto-tool like a DeWalt with an aluminum capable blade such as a Dremel 1/8" roto bit. Set the depth of the cutting tool to the minimum required to spare the halyards and wiring inside the mast. ( A reason to use a ladder in case a halyard gets cut )
-Insert the spreader bar from the port side of the mast making sure to get all the wires & halyards aft of the spreader bar. One tap with a hammer got the thru bar in place. Center the bar using the marking on the aft side of the spreader bar.
-Reinstall the spreaders and attach them to the spreader bar with two ¼-20 bolts per spreader. The spreader bar protrudes from the mast about 5 ½ " on each side.
-Restore upper shroud tension.
-Go sailing.

Completed spreader thru bar installation

Here are a few more shots of the completed spreader thru bar installation. Using a center punch sped up the removal of the port side bracket & rivets. The center punch drove the mandrel into the rivet body so there was less metal to drill out. After drilling off the rivet flange I then used a drift to drive out the remains. The Harbor Freight pop rivet tool was tamed be using a small vice grip to prevent the mandrel from being driven inside the mast while cycling the pop rivet tool.

Two 1/4" bolts 1 1/2" long were used to attach the spreader to the thru bar. The thru bar went in with one tap of the hammer. The small thru rod interfered with the thru bar and during the installation it fell down inside the mast. It was not welded as previously thought. It is a little scary to see the amount of metal removed from the mast to install the thru bar. Hopefully no masts have come down with the thru bar installed.

We have a race tomorrow so that is why the last photo is after dark...

More shot(s) from the spreader thru bar

Installation of the Annapolis Rigging spreader thru bar

Here are a few shots of the ongoing spreader thru bar with the mast up. The starboard plate is almost completely installed. There is a tube welded internally in the mast that connects the port & starboard sides of the mast. According to Jay Herman the bar can be left in as long as the halyards are behind it. ( one of the jib halyards is not behind the tube ). The Harbor freight 1/4" pop rivet tool is not completely fool proof and I messed up two pop rivets that will have to be redone. In removing the old pop rivets I used up about one drill bit per rivet. So far there is no cracking observed in either the mast or the old spreader bracket. The DeWalt roto drill was able to make the cut out with harming the halyards.

A shot of 16' folding ladder I'm using to get up to the spreaders. The ladder is tied to the lower stay and I tie myself to the mast while up there.