Twenty years ago the choice of electronics for boats were very limited. Most boats were equipped only with a VHF radio and a depth sounder, some had radio direction finders and Loran systems, those that could afford luxuries even had simple autopilots and a radar. The first GPS unit became available to boaters in the late 1980s and those that could afford the almost $2000 price tag were the only ones to have one.
Twenty years later and the choice of marine electronics available have become mind boggling. The cost of GPS units are so low that even most budget conscious boat owners have at least one, many boats have a back up or two. Simple GPS units that provided only position, course and speed have evolved into feature packed chart plotters and multifunction displays. VHF radios have evolved to include DSC calling features and now we have the newest electronic 'must have', the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
When we bought Bruadair almost eight years ago she was outfitted with vintage but working depth sounder and vhf radio, and that was it. We were glad that she didn't have a full suite of electronics on board as that gave us the opportunity to outfit with the gear we wanted, not what the previous owner wanted. And since we installed it ourselves we are familiar with all the wiring and installation techniques which has proven to be valuable for troubleshooting purposes. Our last refit for electronics took place just before we left Texas five years ago with the exception of a new chartplotter and vhf radio which was installed two years ago.
David and I are now looking at doing another refit of our entire electronics on Bruadair and have started the selection process, we hope to have our products on board soon and installed over the next month. Our refit will include a new Multifunction display (chart/radar/sonar), a new autopilot, new sailing instruments including wind, speed and depth and repeater as well as a new VHF radio with remote microphone in the cockpit. The only thing not being replaced with be our Simrad NAIS-300 AIS transponder that was installed 8 months ago. Following is our thought process in deciding which electronics to go with, the same principle that I have used when consulting with other boaters and cruisers. Your priorities of course may be different but this might give you an idea of other things to consider besides price.
All-in-one or separate standalone units: One might argue that having separate radar, sonar and chartplotters is the best way to go because if one system fails the others will remain functional. This is hard to disagree with. But small to medium size boats, ours included, don't have the space either at the helm or nav station below for two or three screens. For this purpose a multifunction display utilized as a chartplotter, sonar and radar makes more sense for our purpose. Here the cost benefit will be with the multifunction display (MFD), and for boats with two helms many MFDs today can be networked so that a second display acts as a repeater. This eliminates the need for two GPS antennas, two radar antennas and so on. For our refit we will be installing a multifunction display, a handheld GPS will serve as our back up navigation unit.
Features: Today's electronics are packed with features but we need to take a realistic look at the features we plan on utilizing. For example there's no need to choose a more expensive VHF radio that has hailing and fog horn functions if that is something we don't plan on using. Features that are important to us (thought not a full list) include AIS targets displayed on the chart and radar screen, high definition or broadband radar, sonar (fish finder), user selected colors for track lines, easy route planning, direct access keys, alphanumeric keypad, easy interfacing, good daylight visibility and good night lighting adjustments. I could go on and on about the features that are important to our new unit but space here is limited. More will come in following entries. One of the things I do is I download the installation and operators manuals for each product I am considering. Reviewing the manuals allows me to see if all the features that are important to me are available and how they work.
Screen size: Who says size doesn't matter? For our electronics it does. Multifunction displays typically are available in 8.4", 10.2" 12" and 15" and are usually wide screen. The larger the screen the more you can see. For example with a small screen you might have to pan across the chart more than you would with a larger screen. But the installation site will also determine how large you can go. On Bruadair at our helm we can accommodate an 8.4" or a 10.2" screen so that will narrow our selection down a little. Another consideration in screen size is electrical needs. The larger the screen usually means more amp draw. Autopilot displays also have different screen sizes as does sailing instruments. Our new instruments need to be easily viewable from the helmsman position and the autopilot display needs to be large enough to display not only heading but rudder position, waypoint bearing and a few other navigation items. Bruadair's new multifunction display will have an 8.4" screen.
Electrical draw: A power boater might not be as concerned with the amount of amps required to run the electronics but sailors usually want to know what kind of demand the unit will put on their battery bank. Not all units are created equal. You can usually find the amp draw in the specifications table at the back of the manual, another reason for downloading manuals during the research phase. Is it worth saving a couple hundred dollars if the less expensive unit draws twice as many amps? Maybe not.
Ease of Use: Every piece of electronics have push buttons for interaction with but there are other options that can make using a unit easier. One of our needs is that the new autopilot display must have a rotary knob to make course changes easier and faster. Some multifunction displays have a cursor keypad that can be pushed to control the direction of the cursor on the screen or scroll through menu items. Some MFDs use a trackball and others might have a push button joystick, though I haven't seen those around for quite some time. And that's a shame, I find that the joystick is the easiest to use to move the cursor around with. Our new MFD will most likely have a cursor keypad for cursor control and a rotary knob for navigating through menus.
Documentation: The installation and operators manuals need to be easy to read and understand. This is where downloading manuals comes in handy. If you download a manual for a unit you are considering and have difficulties understanding how the unit works, it might not be the right choice for you. The units we will be installing for our refit will come with clear and concise instructions for both installation and use.
Service and Warranty: While we hope to never need warranty repairs done it's important to know the manufacturer's history in providing technical support and warranty service. Talk to your fellow boaters and browse the internet for people's experiences. Look at the warranty period, some may have only one year while others two or three years. Some companies offer a flat rate repair fee after the warranty period, a plus in my opinion. A company that has a history of providing excellent support and service might be worth spending a few extra bucks for.
Interfacing: In the past instruments were interfaced via NMEA 0813 wiring. Almost all electronics have or had NMEA outputs to allow for interfacing but it was never easy to do as NMEA 0813 was never standardized. Some companies used one wire hookups while other used 2 wires. Most were set at 4800 baud but not all. Complex systems required the use of multiplexers to synchronize the NMEA information. Today with NMEA 2000 and an industry standard for connectivity interfacing has become much easier and data speed much faster. Some companies have their own version of NMEA 2000, Raymarine uses a Seatalk system and Simrad uses their Simnet system. Our new equipment will most likely be from one manufacturer so that we can utilize single cable interfacing between all units.
Price: As with so many aspects of marine gear available to boat owners today the decision on which electronics to outfit with can be overwhelming. I think that one of the most common approaches is to buy based on price. Buying the lowest priced electronics can makes initial sense to the budget but it might not might make long term sense to the budget. Price is of course always a consideration but where on the list of priorities should it be? What service will we receive after purchase? What is the reputation for warranty service? What is the length of warranty? Are there worldwide service centers if planning on leaving one's home country? If I buy cheap now will I be replacing every year? If I buy expensive will it last? In choosing our new electronics we'll consider price to make sure we stay in our budget but we feel that it's worth paying a little extra if necessary to go with a company that provides excellent customer service and provides us with a reliable, easy to use product that will give us years of trouble free use.
We will continue to post on our blog our electronics refit experience including our final decision on the products we choose, our thoughts on how they are packaged, the removal of our old system, the installation of the new, thoughts on documentation and interfacing. We will also be providing feedback over the next several months on the operation of the new equipment as well as any software updates, technical support experiences and so on.
So stay tuned, we'll be posting soon which products we have settled on, and why we chose them.
