I see the Mark 2 adds, among other things, pulse wave counter input protocol for digital inputs. I suspect that is typically for flow meters like water or fuel, but chain counters work in a very similar way. My goal is to use one of the digital inputs on my new Cerbo GX Mk2 as a chain counter. I will have a Hall effect sensor on the windlass that counts revolutions of the gypsy. Each revolution of the gypsy equals 1 foot of chain. I will want to reset the count after playing out the right amount of chain for the depth, wind, bottom structure, etc. Am I headed down the right path?
I think you may run into reliability issues here, unless great care is taken. An anchor winch area usually gets very wet and dirty, so keeping your sensor working reliably may be an issue. We found that painting the chain every 5m was the best solution.(bright yellow paint usually sows up well)
We use 18” of colored nylon rope every 25 feet. Works great, but not as great as seeing the chain counter displayed on the MFD. I appreciate the difficult environment out there at the windlass, but chain counters are not uncommon and I am confident I can overcome that challenge. I am also pretty confident that the pulse counter capability of the Mk2 means it can handle the data part of the counting. Just trying to confirm that.
I’d be interested to find out if you’ve made progress on this. We are using chain markers and I’m about to install a high definition camera so that we can count from the helm, but a solution like this would provide a great confirmation at a relatively low cost.
I am confident, but it is Winter here and the boat has been unaccessible during the Holidays. This project will move faster as Spring approaches. More as I know it.
Have you gone through with it ?
Just as a note (I found this subject looking for info about the counter option for another type of use).
The other more purpose build chain counters use a litle magnet drilled in the chain wheel.
With a magnetic encoder of the type which counts including direction of the wheel rotating.
Yes, you could derive the direction signal from the direction the motor is switched, but it will probably not have the same reliability.
Good luck to all.