Airmar PB100 Owner's Manual
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Airmar PB100 Owner's Manual

Airmar PB100 Owner's Manual

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WeatherStation
Powerboat Model PB100
Owner's Guide
Record the serial number found on the
WeatherStation for future reference.
Serial No._________________________
Date of Purchase___________________
17-426-01 r01
02/01/06

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Summary of Contents for Airmar PB100

  • Page 1 WeatherStation Powerboat Model PB100 Owner’s Guide Record the serial number found on the WeatherStation for future reference. Serial No._________________________ Date of Purchase___________________ 17-426-01 r01 02/01/06...
  • Page 2 Copyright © 2005, 2006 Airmar Technology Corp. All rights reserved.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Introduction Adding External Sensors Choosing the Mounting Location Tools & Materials Installing Cable Routing & Connecting Connecting to a Converter Connecting to a Combiner Connecting to a Generic NMEA Display Installing the Software Setting Up the WeatherCaster Program Using the WeatherCaster Program Maintenance &...

  • Page 4: Introduction

    Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Airmar Ultrasonic WeatherStation. This exciting product is actually six different sensors in a single unit—without any moving parts. The compact housing is fully waterproof with a single removable cable. Data is output in digital NMEA 0183 format.

  • Page 5: Adding External Sensors

    WeatherStation compass. • Speed-through-water sensor —An external speed sensor with NMEA 0183 output can be installed, such as an Airmar Smart™ Sensor. Airmar recommends installing the DST800V to receive water depth, boat speed, and...

  • Page 6: Choosing The Mounting Location

    Min. 1m Figure 1. Antennas Courtesy of Northstar BNT, Acton, MA Choosing the Mounting Location For accurate readings and a reliable GPS signal, selecting the best location for the WeatherStation is very important. Easy access and appearance should be secondary considerations. Since each installation is unique, the best separation distances from other equipment on the boat will vary depending on the particular equipment and how it is configured.

  • Page 7: Tools & Materials

    Tel: 45.45.81.04.18 & Rest of World Fax: 45.45.81.04.93 email: sales@airmareurope.com deck mount deck mount ratchet mount with extension cable pass-through cable passes through center extension of mount with cable pass-through Figure 2. Antenna mounts Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp.

  • Page 8: Installing

    film, or damage them in any way. Caution : Do not remove the connector(s) to ease cable routing. If the cable must be cut and spliced, use Airmar’s splash-proof Junction Box #33-035 and follow the instructions provided. Cutting the cable or removing the connector, except when using Airmar’s junction box, will void the sensor warranty.
  • Page 9 (some installation) antenna mount Figure 4. Installation Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. 2. Position the antenna mount at a 90º angle to the deck. If necessary, use shims to make the mounting surface level (see Figure 4). Warning : Always wear safety goggles and a dust mask.
  • Page 10 Figure 5. Connecting Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. 6. With the nut assembly on the cable near the WeatherStation connector, thread the cable through the extension tube (if used), antenna mount, and the cable exit. Allow several inches of cable topped by the connector above the nut assembly (see Figure 5).

  • Page 11: Cable Routing & Connecting

    Caution : Do not remove the waterproof connector(s) to ease cable routing. If the cable must be cut and spliced, use Airmar’s splash-proof Junction Box No. 33-035 and follow the instructions provided. Cutting the cable or removing the connector, except when using Airmar’s junction box, will void the sensor warranty.
  • Page 12 Mounting Location of the Converter 1. Select a convenient, dry, mounting location for the water-resistant Converter, about 1 – 2 m (3' – 6') from the PC (see Figure 6). 2. Hold the Converter at the selected location and mark the position of the screw holes.

  • Page 13: Connecting To A Combiner

    Figure 7. Combiner installation Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. What does NMEA IN and NMEA OUT mean? NMEA IN represents input for data flowing into a NMEA device. An IN device is a NMEA listener. NMEA OUT signifies output for data flowing out of a device. OUT devices are NMEA talkers.
  • Page 14 2. Allowing an extra 25 cm (10") for wiring ease, cut the cable to length. 3. Remove the cover of the Combiner to expose the terminals inside (see Figure 8). power cable cable Figure 8. Inside the Combiner Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp.
  • Page 15 Figure 9. Wiring a NMEA display to the Combiner Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. 6. Strip 60mm (2-1/2") of the outer jacket and foil shielding from the cut end of the cable. 7. Strip 10 mm (3/8") of conductor insulation from the end of each colored wire.
  • Page 16 (see Figure 10). See the NMEA display manual for power and shield connections. Note: Power is available from the Combiner as shown by the dashed lines. Figure 10. Wiring diagram to connect a NMEA display Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp.
  • Page 17 Auxiliary NMEA IN Grommet. Use the AUX NMEA IN grommet to connect an external NMEA 0183 sensor such as: an Airmar Smart™ Sensor, an external GPS, an external compass, or other sensor. An “IN” device will supply additional data to the WeatherStation.
  • Page 18 1. Route the cable coming from the external sensor to the Combiner. Do not fasten the cable in place at this time. 2. Allowing an extra 25 cm (10") for wiring ease, cut the cable to length. 3. Remove the cover of the Combiner to expose the terminals inside (see Figure 11).
  • Page 19 (see Figure 12). See the NMEA display manual for power and shield connections. Note: Power is available from the Combiner as shown by the dashed lines. Figure 12. Wiring diagram to connect an external sensor Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp.
  • Page 20 Figure 13. Wiring additional display devices to the Combiner Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. 1. Route the cable coming from the additional display device(s) to the Combiner. Do not fasten the cable in place at this time.
  • Page 21 (see Figure 14). See the NMEA display manual for power and shield connections. Note: Power is available from the Combiner as shown by the dashed lines. FIgure 14. Wiring diagram to connect additional display devices Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp.
  • Page 22 Power Cable Warning: The power panel must have a 2 amp fast-blow fuse or circuit breaker. 1. Route the power cable from the Combiner to the power supply (see Figure 13). Do not fasten the cable in place at this time. 2.

  • Page 23: Connecting To A Generic Nmea Display

    Connecting to a Generic NMEA 0183 Display 1. Route the WeatherStation cable to the display. Do not fasten the cable in place at this time. 2. Connect the WeatherStation to the display. • Connector—If your WeatherStation came with a connector, and it can be plugged into the port on your NMEA 0183 display, do so now.
  • Page 24 Figure 15. Wiring diagram to connect to a generic NMEA display Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. Wiring Warning: The power panel must have a 1 amp fast-blow fuse or circuit breaker. 1. Route the power cable from the WeatherStation to the power supply. Do not fasten the power cable in place at this time.

  • Page 25: Installing The Software

    WeatherCaster to operate properly. Installing WeatherCaster 1. Power your PC. 2. Insert the WeatherStation CD into the CD-ROM drive on your PC. The Airmar WeatherStation CD Browser window will appear (see Figure 16). Figure 16. Airmar WeatherStation CD Browser window Copyright ©...
  • Page 26 6. Accept the License Agreement, then click Next. 7. Enter a user name and organization. Click Next. 8. Verify that the destination folder is correct. Click Next. 9. Click Install. The Installing Airmar WeatherStation window will appear (see Figure 19). Figure 19. Installing Airmar WeatherStation window Copyright ©...
  • Page 27 PC before the Combiner or Converter hardware is connected. 1. The Airmar WeatherStation CD Browser window will appear (see Figure 17). Click the Install Drivers button to copy the Airmar device drivers to your PC. 2. The Hardware Installation caution window will appear (see Figure 20). The USB Serial Converter driver is not Microsoft Windows™...
  • Page 28 NO, not this time button to allow the driver installation. Figure 21. Found New Hardware Wizard window Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. 7. Click Next to continue. 8. Another “Found New Hardware Wizard” window will appear (see Figure 22).
  • Page 29 11.The USB Serial Converter driver is being installed (see Figure 23). Click Finish and wait for the Found New Hardware Wizard window to appear again. Figure 23. Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard window Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. IMPORTANT: THE NEW HARDWARE WIZARD MUST RUN TWICE FOR A COMPLETE INSTALLATION.

  • Page 30: Setting Up The Weathercaster Program

    The dials on the sides are settings that can be changed by the user. This page is for setup only . Figure 25. Setup Page Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. Settings Wind Speed Setting Dial This dial allows you to display wind speed in the following units of measure.
  • Page 31 Background Color Dial This dial allows you to choose the background color of the screen. •Steel •Burled Wood •Fiberglass To change the setting, click the text to the right of the dial. Temperature Setting Dial This dial allows you to display all of the temperature readings in the following units of measure.
  • Page 32 Barometric Pressure Setting Dial This dial allows you to display the barometric pressure in the following units of measure. •inHg—Inches of Mercury •mBars—Millibars To change the setting, click the text to the right of the dial. Wind Chill Setting Dial This dial allows the WeatherStation to calculate the wind chill temperature based on:...
  • Page 33 Box 3. Speed Over Ground This box displays your speed over ground (SOG) and course over ground (COG) which is calculated using the GPS. If you have an Airmar Smart™ Sensor connected through an optional Combiner, it will also display water depth and water temperature.
  • Page 34 Box 5. GPS Connection Indicator This icon indicates if the GPS inside the WeatherStation has a satellite fix. When the icon is red, there is no GPS fix. When the icon is blue, there is a GPS fix. Box 6. Freezing Point Indicator This icon will display how close the actual temperature is relative to the freezing point.

  • Page 35: Using The Weathercaster Program

    Analog Gauge Screen will appear (see Figure 28). The gauges display the data being sent from the WeatherStation. Each gauge displays data in both analog and digital format. Figure 28. Analog gauge screen Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp.
  • Page 36 A red line will indicate the history. Gauges Note: The True Wind Relative to Water and the Water Speed gauges will appear only if an Airmar Smart™ Sensor is installed and connected through an optional Combiner. Wind Chill Gauge...
  • Page 37 Apparent Wind Gauge This gauge uses needles to indicate the apparent wind speed and direction. The long needle points to the wind speed, and the short needle points to the wind direction. There is also a digital readout at the bottom. To view historical apparent wind speed data, click the gauge.
  • Page 38 Compass The Compass displays true and apparent wind direction along with vessel heading. The Compass does not collect historical data. • Apparent wind direction is indicated by a black needle and a black digital readout on the left of the gauge. •...
  • Page 39 Relative Humidity Gauge This gauge uses a needle to indicate the relative humidity as a percentage. There is also a digital readout at the bottom. To view historical humidity data, click the gauge. A graph will appear as shown on the right. To return to the Relative Humidity Gauge, click the graph.
  • Page 40 True Wind Speed Relative to Speed Through Water This gauge will appear only if you have installed a paddlewheel sensor measuring boat speed through the water, and the sensor is connected to an optional Combiner. True wind speed relative to speed through water cannot be calculated using GPS readings.
  • Page 41 (see Figure 29). This page does not display historical data. Figure 29. Large compass and digital display page Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. Compass The Compass displays true and apparent wind direction along with vessel heading (see Figure 29).
  • Page 42 Weather Readings The right side of the screen displays the following (see Figure 29): • Apparent wind speed and direction • True wind speed and direction • Air temperature • Wind chill temperature • Relative humidity • Dew point temperature •...

  • Page 43: Maintenance & Updates

    Maintenance & Updates WeatherCaster Updates Download WeatherCaster updates from Airmar’s web site, www.airmar.com. Calibration The WeatherStation is calibrated at the factory and does not require any calibration after purchase. Maintenance Since the WeatherStation has no moving parts, it requires minimal maintenance.

  • Page 44: Troubleshooting

    2. Select the System option. 3. Select the Hardware tab. 4. Select Device Manager. 5. Select Ports. 6. Select Airmar NMEA 0183 – USB Converter. The Converter is powered when it is connected to the USB port on the PC.
  • Page 45 The WeatherCaster version number is located on the top left corner of each WeatherCaster page. The latest version of WeatherCaster is available for download at www.airmar.com. Setting the Display Resolution to 1024 X 768 When using WeatherCaster on a computer with a display resolution less than 1024 x 768 (e.g.
  • Page 46 Auto-Detecting COM Ports If you install more than one instance of the drivers for the Combiner/Converter, WeatherCaster may not automatically detect the appropriate COM port. In this case, you will need to manually select the COM port and the baud rate upon launching WeatherCaster.
  • Page 47 3. Select the Hardware tab. 4. Select Device Manager. 5. Select Ports. 6. Right click Airmar Port and select Properties. 7. Select the Port Settings tab. 8. Select the Advanced button. 9. From the COM Ports drop-down menu, select a single digit COM port that is not in use and click OK.
  • Page 48 1. Launch WeatherCaster again. You will see the screen below. Click Cancel. 2. You will then see the screen below. Click Yes to manually set the COM port and baud rate. 3. In the Manual Communications Port Setup window, select the appropriate COM port from the Comm.
  • Page 49 4. Select the appropriate Baud Rate from the drop-down menu. • If you have a: USB Converter, set the baud rate to 4800. • If you have a Combiner, set the baud rate to 57600. 5. Click OK, and WeatherCaster will start. 6.
  • Page 50 6. Set the bits-per-second to 4800. Do not change any other selection. Click OK. You will see the data sentences from the WeatherStation scrolling on the screen, similar to the example below. To identify the sentence commands, refer to the Technical Manual on the WeatherStation CD.

  • Page 51: Appendix A-How The Weatherstation Works

    Figure 31. The ultrasonic wind sensor Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. When there is no wind, the pulse travels at the speed of sound from the sender to the receiver. Whenever the wind is blowing in that direction, the pulse will arrive sooner than if the air is still.
  • Page 52 Figure 32. Apparent wind Copyright © 2005 Airmar Technology Corp. In order to calculate the true wind speed and direction when on board a moving vessel, it is necessary to know the apparent wind speed and direction, the speed and course over ground of the vessel, the compass heading, and the local magnetic variation.
  • Page 53 About the Electronic Compass The WeatherStation includes a pair of magnetoinductive sensors that measure magnetic field strength in two axes on the horizontal plane of the WeatherStation. From these measurements, it calculates the resultant magnetic heading angle, thereby providing a built-in electronic compass. Like all magnetic compasses, the WeatherStation compass will be affected by any ferrous or magnetic materials in the vicinity, such as metal structures, motors, speakers, etc.
  • Page 54 About the Air Temperature Sensor The WeatherStation includes a built-in negative temperature coefficient thermistor that measures the ambient air temperature. This NTC thermistor is located in a thermally isolated region of the WeatherStation housing that is open to the outside air. About the Relative Humidity Sensor The WeatherStation contains a capacitive cell humidity sensor that measures the relative humidity of the air.
  • Page 55 About the Barometric Pressure Sensor The WeatherStation contains a temperature-compensated silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor. It measures atmospheric pressure for use as a digital barometer. While a single measurement of air pressure at a given location has little value, the trend of changing pressure and wind over time can be a useful tool in performing basic weather forecasting.
  • Page 56 In this case, it is necessary that a water speed sensor with an NMEA output (such as an Airmar® Smart™ Sensor) be connected to the NMEA input on the WeatherStation (or to the optional Combiner).

  • Page 57: Appendix B-Technical Information

    Appendix B—Technical Information Specifications Wind Speed Range 0.5 – 99.5knots Wind Speed Resolution 0.1knot Wind Direction Resolution 1º Wind Direction Sensitivity ± 1.5º Temperature Range – 30ºC – +50ºC Temperature Accuracy ±1.5ºC Compass Sensing ± 1º typically Barometric Pressure Range 850 –...

  • Page 58: Acronyms & Glossary

    Additional Data Available from the WeatherStation There are parameters that the WeatherStation can make available to the user. Usually, more data is available from the WeatherStation than can be displayed in a reasonable format on a screen. Also, if all the data was continuously transmitted to the display, the update rate would be too slow and could not keep up with WeatherStation measurements.
  • Page 60 AIRMAR ® TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION 35 Meadowbrook Drive, Milford, New Hampshire 03055-4613, USA www.airmar.com...

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