Knot Meter

Can anybody indicate who sells knot meters like the one in the photo or cost effective alternatives?

 

The most cost effective alternative is a GPS. Do you specifically need speed over water?

 

I already have a standard GPS but most small ones which can be tied to a boom have small displays.

I need one with a reasonably sized display such as this one.

Standard GPS speed readout ( speed over ground?) is good enough for me.

 

How about a smartphone or tablet with the Navionics app?

 

The colour screen of a smart phone or tablet will hardly be visible in bright sunshine. I also doubt if they can survive a wet, salty environment.

The unit in the picture I placed above is marked "GUN". Googling this name, GPS, Knots etc. returned an impossible number of entries to investigate.

 

The Velocitek speedpuck is not cheap but very effective !

 

This might be an alternative, if available in your area.

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Horizon-HX870-Floating-Handheld/dp/B00PM6XDNS

I bought one of these last year as I pass through a lot of locks and found a handheld radio was useful as I moved about the boat. This one has a built in GPS receiver and displays speed (over ground of course) course and waypoints that you set.

The display isn't as large as you might like but it might work for you. I like it a lot.

MIA

 

I'm not sure where you're looking or how much research you performed, but in 5 minutes I've found several ranging in price from $200 (USD) and up, all marine rated, large screen GPS units. Are they what you want, who knows, but certainly available. Just like cell phones, you're paying for screen size and features. Pricing is roughly about $50 per inch of screen size for a basic unit.

 

You might want to look at Raymarine wireless displays (formerly TackTick instruments). Whether they are cost effective or not, depends on your budget!

 

Yeah, this is what I saw as well. Repeaters are common and available, though "cost effective" depends on how bad you need them I'd guess.

 

The one in the picture was fitted to a moth. I would think this is a stand alone unit rather than a repeater.

A simple 7 segment LCD display rather than a colour high pixel unit should make it cheaper and highly readable.

If one wanted a coloured display, I think buying an IP67 mobile and installing a free speed app would be a good alternative.