NASA Clipper Instruments?

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NateHanson

Sustaining Member
Have any of you heard of or used NASA sailing instruments?

It appears to be a British line of wind, depth, log, navtex, etc, and a dealer on Ebay is selling display models. Google brings up a variety of vendors in the UK that sell the line new, and from what I can read, they appear to get decent reviews over there as a good-quality, easy to use, but fairly no-frills instrument (non NMEA-compatible, no interfacing).

Seems a lot nicer than anything I can get new here, and same price as buying quite old used Standard Horizon or Datamarine instruments.

Still, I'm a bit nervous about buying a product that's completely unheard of in this country. I can't imagine any compatibility issues - 12v is 12v both here and there, and the displays are in feet or meters.

Here's the one I'm considering: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4603636865&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated before I part with my scant monies. :)

Thanks, Nate
 
E

Emerald

Moderator
Hi,


I am not familiar with this line, but have been in your position of trying to find something affordable. If you are cruising oriented, check out the Raymarine ST40 line. They interface to other instruments. You can individually upgrade pieces as your needs grow. I found for cruising on my E-27, they were perfectly adequate. Shop around on the net, as prices vary, but my memory is that they were right around $200 each, which would be on par with where the eBay auction you mentioned finished on the British instruments.

Here's a link to Raymarine's website:

http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/Default.asp?site=1&Section=2&Page=90&Parent=6

and, of note, I don't have any affiliation with anyone selling anything :egrin:


-David
Independence 31
Emerald
 
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NateHanson

Sustaining Member
Thanks David,

Looks like the best price on the ST40 bidata with transducers is $250 + shipping. I can get the Nasa combo for $200 on a second chance offer from the Ebay seller today, but the shipping from UK is another $30. So I'd probably save $35. Maybe it would be better to have a more common american instrument with a warranty for the extra money.
 
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Emerald

Moderator
Hi,

The warranty alone would do it for me. Plus, the Raymarine will interface to autopilots, has Seatalk, and I think with a converter has NMEA capability. I think you'll find them more versatile over the long run.


Just checked and looks like I ordered my instruments from http://www.sailtechmarine.com/ . At the time, I found them very competitive on price, and they were good on the phone when I placed the order. You may want to see how they compare with the prices you found.

Again, no affiliation with the above vendor, just a customer.


-David
Independence 31
Emerald
 
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NateHanson

Sustaining Member
Yeah, I think I'll hold off until I've got the bottom stripped, then order the ST40 from a regular vendor.

Thanks
 
J

joerun26

Member II
NASA Clipper Instruments

I came across their line when looking for a GPS repeater for the cockpit of my 35-5 (I have a Magellan GPS mounted in the cabin, but did't have a visual display outside). I opted against it in favor of a Garmin 176c for use in the cockpit. I searched and couldn't find any info (positive or negative) on the Clipper. I too was initially attracted by the price....

joe

"Tenacious"
1987 35-3 #262
 
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NateHanson

Sustaining Member
Did you find anyone selling it in this country? Or were you looking at UK dealers. A lot of their instruments would seem like a real deal new if they didn't cost $40 to ship.
 
Rob Hessenius

Rob Hessenius

Inactive Member
Competition

Loren- When you see the 08' West Marine catolog you will see that Garmin is now into wind intruments. Raymarine now has colored screens for their instruments.
Rob
 
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rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
The Nasa product looks promising but I would want a dealer/service here in the US to help if there are problems. I too am thinking instrumentation upgrades but the current trend towards "network" systems is annoying. I have no interest in paying more money for a "starter" system that contains ALL the transducers and ONE of the displays! Not every bloody thing on a boat or in the world needs to be "digital". The Furuno product looks very promising and maybe they are planning on focusing on the cruising market instead of the whizbang new gadgets that most of the others are pushing. RT
 
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ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
ST70's by Raymarine are pretty nice. Just put a suite of them in a Contest 43 last week. Multifunction graphic displays can work off just about any transducer. The Furuno units shown above look nice too but are not being sold in the US yet. UK vendors get them in March. Saw some scuttlebut on them on the Jackrabbit marine site.
 
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