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Ideal Marine Electronics, from the readers of http://www.panbo.com/
"Better" category: Typically a 40’ +/-
cruising powerboat capable of trips, say, up into Canada or out to the
Bahamas, including occasional overnight runs; the budget is good but not over
the top. Sailboats in this category would certainly include racer/cruisers
used for extended coastal cruising combined with ocean racing events like the
Marblehead-Halifax and Bermuda races.
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3/19/07
Dan Corcoran's submission covering the systems on his
39.3 foot Beneteau "Breeze Pleeze" is so thorough it
gets its own page.
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Russ, 32' Compromis 999 sloop Enterprise, homeport Newhaven, E Sussex, UK (Russ's blog)
I sail in the English Channel from Dover to the Channel Islands. This is a
pretty busy area so I have absolutely revelled in
the AIS and radar combination.
I revamped the electronics last year so there are some items I would improve
upon now - like the NASA AIS engine. But there are other components like the Brookhouse multiplexor that are
excellent. I have based the system around Raymarine, but I have only added
components when I think they would actually be better or where I had no
pre-existing device. So for example I am still very happy with the 10 year
old ST50 instruments. The Autohelm 3000 and the wheel pilot are also original
and work really well and can hold my boat in heavy weather up to force 8.
The new devices are the C120 chart plotter and laptop combination that
enables me to passage plan at home or in a marina on my laptop using the
benefits of the SSB weatherfax or WiFi internet connections. When I have a
passage plan I can easily save the waypoints to the Sandisk
card and read them into my C120 chartplotter.
Addendum:
Laptop software - strangely I am using Bluechart
from Garmin !! - Why - because when I got married 3
years ago I was given two fantastic hand-held GPS as gifts. One was the
Garmin 76CS with Bluechart software for the PC and
the other was the Raymarine RC400 (with no software for the PC).
Naturally I installed the Garmin first so I could get going with my first PC
chartplotter software, also I use it in my car
because it has full road maps for Europe as well as detailed city maps for
all major cities in Europe. Very useful in
trying to find my two son's digs when I visit them at University - I live on
the South coast and they went to University in two diff cities at the other
end of the country ...hmm...
I have been meaning to write up a comparison of using the RC400 and the
Garmin devices for the past 3 years...must do that.... The most galling part
of this is that the RC400 is not compatible with the C120....The RC400 is not
Seatalk compatible, it is NMEA 0183. ...and now it
has been discontinued by Raymarine - I am not surprised!.
I can go on at length about what I have tried to do to interface these two
Raymarine devices (the C120 and the RC400)...but I might start sobbing...
In its own right the RC400 is great, I have a nifty little mount right on the
pedestal with a power lead socket, so I can use the RC400 to navigate right
at the helm but it takes up the smallest of spaces which is key in my cockpit
- especially if we are club racing and bodies are lurching all over the place!.
It is also independent of all the other electronics, has its own GPS and its
own Navionics Gold chart cartridge so it is another backup system. I have
been on the verge of buying the Raymarine PC software a number of times and
then thankfully thought - why ? - and
backed off ;-)
AIS - I can plot AIS targets on both laptop and C120 simultaneously. The Brookhouse multiplexor outputs
directly to the NMEA socket on the back of the C120 - and I have set that
port speed to 38,400. This means that no other NMEA devices can now be linked
directly to the C120 - but it doesn't matter because the Brookhouse
does all the interfacing. The Brookhouse also has a
USB cable that I plug straight into the laptop - no messing with serial port configs or any device driver issues for serial comms. I
then use the free software that I got with the NASA which just displays the AIS traffic in a window and the full ship data
as transmitted. I don't use the free Seaclear II
plotting software that came with the NASA. The Garmin BlueChart software does
not accept AIS - which is a great shame.
In fact I do also plug a serial connection into the laptop from the Brookhouse and this was so I could run two bits of
software simultaneously without either being aware of each other or stealing
each others data from the port. I haven't done this yet - but I thought I
would :-
a) Get the Raymarine software for the laptop - or perhaps some other software
- that does plot AIS and have that listening to the USB signal - which is
carrying AIS and all the other NMEA and Seatalk
instrument data.
b) Get sail performance software (optimal set according to the wind, polar
charts etc...) and have that listen to the serial interface which is also
getting all the NMEA and SeaTalk data albeit at a slightly slower rate.
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3/13/07
Jeffrey, Contest
36s cruising sailboat
The site is getting better
all the time! Lots of new and interesting gear to buy if you have the
cash and time to install it. I just re did my nav station with some
gear upgrades. I am attaching a photo (1985 Contest 36s). Some of this is
original gear.. like the
B&G works great, but no NMEA interface (ther is
an outfit in UK
which has a black box to output NMEA from Hornet.. but in a few years I will
replace the system when/if it fails.)
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instruments
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Brookes & Gatehouse
Hornet 4 Cruise Pack, log, apparent wind speed & angle, timer, w/
alarms depth
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B&G Race Cockpit Race
Repeater (True wind)
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B&G NavAid - GPS cockpit repeater
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GPS/plotter
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StandardHorizon CP170
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radar
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RayMarine 2 KW C80 Display / chartplotter
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GPS
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RayMarine Seatalk 120 WAAS GPS
antenna
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network
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RayMarine E85001 SeaTalk Interface
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NMEA
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Brookhouse MUX multiplexer
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GPS
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Garmin IQue 3600 - hand
held PDA
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fluxgate compass
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KVH Sailcomp
103 AC (& GPS repeater)
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AIS
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NASA
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VHF
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Icom M 402
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chart plotter
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Yeoman Plotter
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There ya have it. Not the latest, but I have all I
need and redundency. BTW the IQue is very
handy in the cockpit and saves the trouble of going below to look at a
chartplotter. I don't steer from behind the helm (use autopilot mostly)
so the idea of an instrument pod makes no sense for my way of sailing... the
IQue which lives next to me under the dodger works like a charm. All my
instruments are dash mounted above the companionway for easy viewing and
button pushing... and I can see the radar plot from the companionway too. Now
I have to earn the cash to pay for the engine rebuild last winter... ouch
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Terry in Thailand, 32'
Fuji ketch Valhalla
Electronics. Compactly mounted in the navigation station
area are the following: ACR® Satellite EPIRB,
Furuno® 1620 CRT display, Interphase® Probe SONAR, Furuno GP-32
GPS/WAAS Navigator, Garmin® GPSII+, ICOM® M710 HF Radio, Yaesu®
FT-890 HF Radio, Sanyo® Worldspace Satellite
Receiver, Kenwood® AM/FM/cassette/CD (with changer), SCS® PTC-IIex
PACTOR Controller, Zip® 650 CD Drive/Burner, Zip®250 Drive, Edgeport® 8 Com Port Expander, Canon® BJC-250 printer and
Compaq nx7000 laptop computer. Spare
electronics include a Garmin® GPS-III+, Garmin GP60 GPS; Sony® World Band
Receiver, and Compaq Presario 2500 laptop computer. Two teak brackets hold cell phones, with a
charging circuit I made to give 5 volts for charging either phone. A pair of FRS radios live
in their battery charger/bracket which is supplied with 12 volts. A battery booster powers the laptop
computer (18.6 V) from 12 volts. A charger/bracket holds an Apelco® VHF 510 handheld radio. A bracket holds an Autohelm® Personal
Compass. [And see his "project" pages for AIS and more.]
Big Max in Germany:
Various Instruments, e.g. Raymarine ST60 Plus Range or
equivalent
Chartplotter 7” to 12” display
+ Vector Charts ( e.g. C-Map, Navionics, NauticPath –
depending on brand of chartplotter )
+ AIS Transponder ( ! )
+ Radar 2KW ( nice to have )
Laptop + navigational SW ( as second source/fallback )
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Bob, 36' Gozzard cruising
sailboat:
This is more a question of what I have and what I would
like to add. My
boat is a 1988 Gozzard 36. The present setup
includes a Maretron DSM200 at
the helm with Maretron GPS, weather instrument, triducer, gyrocompass, USB
interface and three tank level monitors. These interface with a Simrad
AP16/AC40/RF300 auto pilot and a laptop computer below decks feeding a
19"LCD monitor at the helm. I will be buying a Maretron DSM250 to go at
the
helm when they are available later this month and move the DSM200 to the
nav station. I would also like to add a Floscan fuel
monitor which will
interface with the NMEA2000 and is supposed to be available this summer.
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3/9/07
John, Krogen 44 trawler…"I
chose the following items based off of feedback from fellow boaters."
Autopilot.
When I looked at boats of comparable size, where people were going, etc.,
this was nearly universal and that was the choice of Simrad AP25 above and
below. This unit so far has nothing been short of amazing, I had 7' to
10' waves off my starboard quarter coming up from Florida and she tracked straight and true.
GPS/Radar.
Again almost another constant was Furuno, not only do they have a stellar
reputation of Quality and Customer service they have many options that others
don't have. I also could not chose Raymarine
due to previous histories of crashes and wanting ARPA versus MARPA. One
of the major pluses about this system I like is how everything is shared once
plugged in, and true to their reputation with 700 hours of cruising NO PROBLEMS
AT ALL.. That is way better then a replaced Auto
Pilot, two firmware updates, and a eventual
replacement of the Plotter with the Raymarine in 350 hours.
I chose two 1944BB NavNets for my Pilot house with
the 4' radar with the ARPA option. Furuno's radar is excellent and I
wouldn't ever chose another after knowing what I
know now. I also added a AIS receiver but would now
go with a Class B or better now that I'm familiar with it. I have the digital
fish finder and even though I don't fish I find it gives me temp and a great
histogram as I see the bottom contour. Up top in the fly bridge I have the
10" Furuno which is also tied into the Navnet
system. I would say a MUST would be a screen that is not only readable in the
light situations you're in, but also can dim to the point of where your night
vision is not destroyed and enable an effective night watch. Weather options
are a must and due to the near shore aspects I would probably choose Sirius
weather overlay now that it's available.
VHF
I have two Icom's a 502 unit up top with a remote mike below, and 602 with a
remote mike up top. I'm going to add another remote mike for the Galley
where people in the aft part of the boat can communicate with me when I'm up
on top. Handhelds are indispensable for when communicating during docking
maneuvers or crew on a dinghy and every boat should have at least one.
Based off of some reviews I have two Standard Horizon HX471S receivers that
allow me to use Family Band when communicating on shore, or as a backup when
needing to use VHF.
Internet
Currently I'm just using WiFi and my Verizon Wireless card for internet
access. So far since I am always on call (Unix Administrator) this has
afforded me nearly all the connection that I need (except
North Carolina).
**********************************************************
Richard, Sabre 34
Helm/cockpit:
On pedestal: Raymarine ST6002+ Linear
Drive, S1 Autopilot; Raymarine E80, Ray125GPS ; Uniden WHAM+ mic
in charger at helm; Data repeater - not sure exactly what this will be
yet - possibly a tri-data or ST-290 - main purpose here it to have depth,
speed, wind data in front of helmsman (other displays on bulkhead may be
blocked by crew)
Cockpit, etc.: Raymarine depth and
speed - Maybe ST-290? (next year's project), Airmar weatherstation
(sail version when it comes out!) with NMEA display or some sort - haven't
quite figured that one yet; Bluetooth phone - use it to control iTunes and DVD Player on Mac Mini below via Salling Clicker also use it in 'mouse mode' to control
other mac software(very
cool/useable software); Paradigm all weather speakers (highly recomended) mounted on stern rail - not really a nav item
but we gotta have good tunes along the way; Satellite radio antenna - mounted
on stern rail; Radiolabs WaveRV
wifi antenna; AIS antenna mounted on stern rail;
Raymarine Radome - another next year
Nav Station: Mac Mini - with GPSnavX,
MacENC, Shipmodul multiplexer, USB GPS (separate
from the Ray125 one), running iTunes, DVD
Player and the regular apps; Gateway 21" LCD monitor - mounted on
articulating arm - swings for movie watching, etc.; Uniden UM 525; Clarion CD
player/sat radio with Paradigm bookshelfs ;
WHAM+ charging cradle; Raymarine Autopilot wireless remote; SR161 AIS receiver
- I think the one channel at a time will do it for me right now - may change
to a better one if I go on an extended cruise to busier locations monitor
selector - between the LCD monitor and the E80
Interoperability: E80 will be fed by all sensors as
well as video out from the Mac Mini. E80 will also send video back to
LCD screen at NAV station
With essentially 2 separate systems, there's a good amount
of redundancy built in. I'd like to start down the path of a NMEA
2000 (or Seatalk2 in the case of Ray) as this
seems to have more 'legs' for the future and makes sense for further
additions/updates to the system.
The Mac Mini has been a great addition to the boat - good
form factor, permanent installation, etc. Plus, I'm a Mac geek from long ago
so just had to have one on the boat. Thanks to GPSnavX
for giving me the privilege to not have to run Windows for navigation! Pictures here.
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