Onboard Analog Gauges How to Use Them and Why By Alan Wilson
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nowing what is going on with a boat’s systems can be as simple as looking up and checking the Windex atop our masts or as complex as managing engine synchronizers. Both inputs help us make operational, efficiency, or safety decisions. For example, a sailboat’s inclinometer is an analog gauge made from a curved tube and a trapped air bubble to indicate the angle of heel. Racers maximize their speed by getting the hull “up on her line” based on this input. While power boaters may consult their fuel gauge—another analog gauge—more than they care to, yet knowing the rate of use is important in calculating remaining fuel and range.
The two temperature gauges for the two engines.
Analog Gauges, a Look Back Reliable gauges became available around the time of steam power development some 150 years ago, helping advance the Industrial Revolution. In use at the time were various types of analog gauges. One example is the thermometer, which uses an expanding liquid to measure temperature. Another is the manometer, which measures pressure and is a tube filled with a liquid that would rise as pressure increases. The operator, often somewhat removed from the machine, interpreted their input and determined the best time to add fuel, start the
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February 2016
SOUTHWINDS
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