Tacktick intermittent knotmeter malfunction

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I did not really notice the ground wire problem until I had sent the transmitter to service. Service found the knotmeter to be OK, but the depth was giving readings of about 30 feet in their 10 ft. deep test tank. (Depth was behaving properly when I disconnected the transmitter). Service returned the transmitter without charge. while the transmitter was out, the apparent wind speed and direction were behaving OK, but at some point the analog display stopped reading data, although it powered up from the single digital display, which I always use to turn on the system.

My thought is that the intermittent knotmeter readings reflected a slow motion failure of a stranded wire ground.

I reinstalled the transmitter but the displays were now not receiving any data from the triducer, i.e. the display showed dashes rather than 0 for knotmeter and proper numerical readings for depth and water temperature. The apparent wind speed and direction continued to display correctly on the digital display and dual digital display for perhaps a week. but then they also stopped receiving a signal. I went through the autonetwork but the problem remained. All three displays power up when one is turned on. I did the autonetwork with the displays close to the hull transmitter but did not get the wind transmitter/transducer off the top of the mast.

In reading the installation leaflet for the hull transmitter, I noticed that it should be mounted at least 50 cm. above the water line. Mine is mounted at the water line, although that had not given any problems for 11 years.