Even if you have a 60-foot (20 m) mast, the new version of the SailTimer Wind Instrument is well-suited to transmitting from the masthead at that distance. In fact, if you anchor off shore and row 150-200 feet to shore, you would still be able to receive the Bluetooth 4 (LE) transmissions. But the wireless, solar-powered SailTimer Wind Instrument is also small enough to be used on centerboard boats, racing dinghies, trailer-sailors and beachable catamarans.
In a small sailboat, these days it is easy to take advanced GPS chartplotting capabilities along on your smartphone or tablet. This is the only masthead anemometer that is submersible, for use on small boats that could flip. Although we have now added an off-switch, we wanted to make sure that one was designed that would never leak, even after many years outside in all types of weather. The new Wind Instrument has a clever magnetic switch inside the solid plastic tail. The switch is triggered with a magnet in the blue cap shown in the picture above. Snap on the blue cap, and the magnetic field reaches through the clear plastic to trigger the off-switch for you.
The Wind Instrument is sent to you from the factory with the cap on, so it has a charge and can operate as soon as you receive it. You can use the cap if storing the Wind Instrument during the off-season. When the cap is removed, a small blue LED light blinks every 4 seconds (until you have a data connection), to make it easy to know if the unit is turned on.
