Smartphone Wind Velocity Meters

[Berber Boy]

Has anyone tried out the Ronstan Vaavud V2 Wind meter yet. Seems a cheap option to get reasonably accurate wind measurement although not at the top of the mast.

http://www.ronstan.com.au/marine5/Vaavud.asp

BB

[Tomfoolery]

I saw them in WM, but for the price of a dedicated hand-held instrument, I thought it wasn't worth it. And the egg cups look like they're susceptible to breakage, especially the way I treat the contents of my boat. The other style, with the impeller in a housing, would be less likely to get damaged, too. Either a dedicated instrument, or a plug-in for a smart phone.

[Russ]

Never used one of the smart phone gadgets. I have one of these and it works well when curious about speed.

[Obelix]

We're using a dedicated hand-held as well. Th sensitivity of the turbine-wheel is making it easier to get the wind direction as well.


Obelix

[Berber Boy]

I saw them in WM, but for the price of a dedicated hand-held instrument, I thought it wasn't worth it. And the egg cups look like they're susceptible to breakage, especially the way I treat the contents of my boat. The other style, with the impeller in a housing, would be less likely to get damaged, too. Either a dedicated instrument, or a plug-in for a smart phone.

That is my thinking too. I have a dedicated Celeston that has stood up and performed well for at least 7 years and the cups do loo9k susceptible to breakage although V2 looks a better redesign

BB

[mastreb]

I have the original Vavuud before Ronstan bought them. They work well. There's no electronics to it; the shaft has two magnets on it which rotate, causing the microphone voice coil to move in and out. This creates a sinewave that the phone picks up as sound, and the app converts the frequency of the sound to windspeed.

It's incredibly simple. Mine hasn't broken, but it does seem a bit fragile. Because it's cup-based, you cannot turn it to get the wind direction the way you can with the fan units.