What Boat Electronics Do I Need Onboard?
In the world of marine electronics, things get evolve at a great pace with some outstanding advancements coming in after every one or two months. There are different electronics for boating, yachting, and Cruising that are divided into four different categories:
- Safety/Security: PLBs, virtual distress signal, thermal imaging, joystick docking, and other monitoring systems.
- Communication: Wi-fi, VHF, and smartwatch.
- Entertainment: Speakers, subwoofers, drones, and many more.
- Navigation: autopilot, radar, chart plotters, transducers, sonar, and many more.
Before our guide, here are some common questions that people usually face when they go on to buy electronics for their boat.
Question 1: What Electronics Do You Need on A Boat?
The answer to this is very simple but you need to learn about some important things about boat electronics. Learning it can sound a bit daunting but the best boat electronics can help in making the navigation of your boat easier than ever. Due to the modern marine electronics and other instruments for captaining the boat is much less confusing and complex than ever.
Electronics have helped in tasks of navigation and made it easier with much simpler features of pressing a few buttons and swiping a touch screen. Garmin boat electronics can be found for making your boat mounted with the best electronics that can help you in navigating in a more secure and easy way.
For your boat, you might need these electronics:
- GPS/Chartplotter
- MFDs
- Engine Monitors
- Depth Sounder/Fishfinders
- VHF Radio
- Wi-Fi and Cellular Range Boosters
- Battery Monitoring System
- AIS
- Radar
- Compass
Now we will see in detail that what these electronics are and why do you need them.
1. GPS/Chartplotter
You definitely would have enjoyed the benefits of GPS mapping in your car. The same is with a boat. It makes the driving easier and much less confusing.
A
Chartplotter shows the digitized charts and then allows them to navigate on an LCD screen. You will be seeing the display of your exact location with different routes and waypoints
to help you in navigating.
2. Multifunctional Displays (MFDs)
Multifunctional displays also known as MFDs are the brain of the boat. They bring in almost every system at one single point and in one interface with a touchpad or a keypad control. Garmin MFDs Marine are easy to operate, and they have made things easier for even beginners. It offers the use of screens that are quite similar to the smartphone in your pocket. It has a home screen that has different pages like tap to activate, app-like icons for allowing you to select the functions and customize the pages for bringing in combinations of many functions in a split-screen mode.
You can find the MFDs controlling the marine electronics and all the boat’s electrical system if you buy a new boat with the latest technology incorporated in it.
3. Engine Monitors
Engine monitors offer digital gauges like fuel level, tachometers, and engine temperature. This functionality can come from your MFD or you can have a screen dedicated to showing you none other than the data of your engine. Having dedicated screens is common as monitoring the powerplant on a consistent basis is important. Engine monitors can take a lot of space in MFD, but you can standalone screens.
4. Depth Sounder/Fishfinders
Depth sounders and fish finders can also work in MFDs, but you can also find them as standalone units. These are specifically for center consoles, all-purpose fishing boats, and other boats that are designed for fishing that are not even big and expensive ones.
These sensors can give you a look at fish under your boat.
Fishfinders can also be set on the sides or in the front.
5. VHF Radio
In other electronics of the boat, VHF radio is the most important one. It is an important piece of cars and boats electronics kit in safety terms. It is also a reliable way of communication with someone in an emergency. They are simple to operate and can fit in the boat electronics box or you can set it up as boat electronics mounts.
For any boater, the
VHF radio is the most important item onboard for communication. The feature of digital selective calling (DSC) in the radios has made the transmission enabled for telling the authorities about your location.
6. Wi-Fi and Cellular Range Boosters
On boats, while navigating, you can go to the faraway areas and this can make the mobile signals weak or totally out of range. This is where the wi-fi and phone range boosters come up. They can keep you connected with the world even you are out of the normal range in the waters. You can find a boating booster at as low as $50.
7. Battery Monitoring System
Your battery is the thing that keeps you going in the waters and you definitely need a monitoring system that can keep you informed about the level of the battery. You do not only need a voltmeter for that, but an electronic dipstick is also necessary so that you can monitor every facet of the battery and can let you know if there is any problem brewing
8. AIS
AIS is the automatic identification system that offers a transponder to the boat. It broadcasts the speed, direction, and the name of the vessel constantly. They are pretty helpful when you cannot read the name by hailing the boat over VHS. It is one step ahead of radar by telling the traveling direction and destination of big vessels around you. It makes you visible to others if your boat cannot be detected on the radar.
9. Radar
Radar is just like a fish finder, but it does not only detect things under the boat but also around it. It is most helpful when you are traveling in fog or in the dark. If you wander in an area of commercial shipping lane then you should have a radar so that you are safe by not being getting in contact with large vessels.
Radar is important if you are traveling long routes and have low visibility. They are mostly used in powerboats for altering the course in case of any large vessel coming around it. You can find used radar for boats marine electronics from online stores.
10. Compass
You can also get an electronic compass for boat for making your navigation easier in the boat. It is important to know which direction you are headed towards and which way you have to go.
Question 2: Are boat electronics AC or DC?
This is also a very important question. Boats usually use DC power which means Direct Current. This means that in DC, the current flows in one direction is low voltage and comes from batteries. Many electronics that are on boats are made to run on DC power. DC, supplied by batteries starts your engine(s), runs your VHF radio, your running lights, your DC lighting system, and other electronics. It is a 12 volt system generally, but larger boats can use a 32 volt system.
AC, on other hand, is Alternating Current that means the current will flow forwards and backward, really fast, and in higher voltage on 120 or 220 volts. Some boats that have shore power plugs, can run on both DC and AC systems. AC can be transformed into DC power by special power supply devices.
AC and DC systems on boats mostly share the same electric panel so it is important to make sure which one is using which one and never work on a panel with AC power active from the dock.
Question 3: Do Boats Usually Sell with The Electronics?
Some boats come with electronics and some do not. Some come with a few and some come with more than a few. Buying a boat often becomes overwhelming but you need to check every piece of equipment properly before making a purchase. If your boat does not come with electronics, you can get the best boat electronics in order to make your boat a perfection for your navigation. If any electronics on your boat get damaged as it is much likely because of the open-air environment of the boat, you can find
boat electronics repair near me online to find out the best repairing services. But before going for repairing, you can run boat electronics troubleshooting to resolve the issue but if still, you are unable to do so, boat electronics repair can be available for you right nearby.
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