Here is my list with options for my electronics upgrade over the Winter. I plan of providing this list to two or three installers for a quote for a Garmin or B&G Systems. I would appreciate any advice on the proposed base upgrade and options. Thanks..
BASE CONDITION
1 Disconnect and Remove existing Raymarine Speed/ Depth/Radar System - Sell
2 Disconnect Garmin Wireless Wind Transponder WSI Black Box and Garmin GND10 Box and Display- save for Reinstall
3 Install New NEMA 2000 Backbone
4 Energize new NEMA 2000 Backbone
5 Reinstall Garmin Wireless Wind Transponder WSI Black Box and Garmin GND10 Box and Display
6 Install new Speed and new Depth Transponders (install dummy insert for speed)
7 Install new Speed and Depth Display(s) / leave room for future Autopilot Display
8 Install New Radar
9 Install New GPS & Compass
10 Install New Chart plotter / may need new POD
11 New Pod for Chart Plotter
OPTION 1
12 Install new Autopilot - Complete System with Remote and Display
OPTION 2
13 New VHS Radio with AIS and Mic at Helm
OPTION 3
14 Install Tank Monitoring System (3-water and Holding)
OPTION 4
15 Install Stereo Receiver and 4 Speakers
OPTION 5
16 Install Satellite CCTV Connection
OPTION 6
17 Install Connection to Engine Components to Instument Display Device
Bob & Maggie B. Hobby Time 1999 C36 MK II TM/Wing Hull #1796 Warwick, RI
I would leave the existing speed transducer and display (you have mulitple sources of gps data for that), and I would prioritize an AIS receiver (and transmitter preferably). We do mostly coastal sailing, so seeing other boats and being seen are among the most important navigation tools we must have.
Stepping back one level into the bigger picture, I will say that I use the very mature and dependable OpenCPN application which is open source software available free for Mac and Windows, along with a $30 GPS receiver from Amazon. OpenCPN loads any digital charts you feed it, including of course NOAA, and overlays GRIB weather data if you are receiving it, AIS targets if you are receiving them, and did I mention it is free and runs on your existing iStuff? So I would probably skip the expensive chartplotter+pod and again invest in AIS or a secondary, high-def radar, or put the money into my electrical power system to keep the whole thing running (solar, bigger alternator, charge controller, wind, or what have you).
Just my $0.02 :)
Oh, and don't forget to get your MMSI number and program it into to your VHF radio, and make sure the radio is getting GPS so you can use the DSC one-touch help button :)
Nick Tonkin
*Former* Website Administrator, C36/375IA
*Former* owner, C36 tr/fk #255, Santa Barbara, CA
Interesting post. A number of thoughts come to mind.
1) With a boat name like Hobby Time, why would you want to get someone else to do all that work for you?
2) Apparently your budget for boat electronics is huge. That's great for you and anyone owning Garmin stock.
3) I agree that the Raymarine depth and speed should stay. Your new list doesn't show a boat speed sensor? Is this an oversight? If you're depending on GPS to provide speed you will not be getting a true picture of what your boat is doing, nor will your wind indicator work. The speed wheel on the bottom of the hull tells you - and is the only thing that tells you - what speed you're making *through the water*. Without that information the wind indicator cannot calculate true wind.
4) Don't mess around with the AIS receiver on a radio. With an installation of this magnitude the cost difference to put in a full AIS-B transceiver is minor. With AIS-B you can transmit your location and performance parameters to make it easier for other people to avoid you, as well as helping you avoid other people as a basic AIS Receiver-only would do. But remember that neither AIS Receiver-only nor an AIS-B transceiver is a substitute for a radar system. Radar is ESSENTIAL. If you're out in the fog and you don't have radar you're part of the problem not part of the solution.
5) Make sure your shopping list provides for a course on learning how to use that radar. There's MUCH more to marine radar than meets the eye, and your crew, your family and you deserve to be competent when using it. Probably 95% of all recreational radar users out there have barely a clue what the hell they're doing. $200 or $300 for a day's class is nothing compared to the additional benefit you'll get from the radar. In fact, if you take the class before you buy you'll probably save w-a-y more than that amount by being able to buy wisely. [Disclosure...I am a radar instructor and know the truth about the foregoing statement.]
6) What's the big deal with NMEA 2000? This ain't no friggin' aircraft carrier. It's a six knot cruiser. Six knots, and no bigass engines to monitor...NMEA 2000 is more appropriate on some 1,000 hp 60 ft $1.5 Million pimped up Miami Monster. Sounds like overkill to me.
7) At the very least, install the audio system yourself. On a Mk II it's a worthwhile expenditure of time. Bose speakers from Costco plus a nice automotive CD/FM radio with bluetooth.
8) And join this C36IA organization as a paid Member (capital M). Once you're a Member, you can scan through pages and pages on upgrade projects, most having a detailed write-up of the installation process. Then, if you decide to do one or more of these projects yourself you can have the additional fun of writing about your adventures and posting your article here for others to learn from.
Good luck.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
Installing nmea 2000 is super easy I don't know that I would pay some to do the install. Nothing wrong with nmea 183 but with 2000 you have one connector to mess with not a whole lot of little wires. I installed garmin and they all seem to work pretty well together. I did buy a product, not installed as yet, that converts from/to nmea 183 & 2000. I intend to use it to connect to my raymarine autopilot. Don't have a chart plotter but for right now I am using inavX to interface with my iPad charts and instruments
best of luck
Mike Hogan
s/v Ciscocat #226
Mark I XP25, std rig
A few comments, because this sounds just like the installation I just did. First, there's no need to touch your wind instruments. Nmea 2000 plugs right in to your gnd 10 alongside the nexus wind receiver, so I can't understand why there would be any un-install re-install.
Installing nmea 2000 is very simple, cheap and totally worth it. It makes everything just automatically able to communicate. You just hook up the red and black wires from the power injector to your DC panel and you're done.
I originally installed my garmin/nmea 2000/radar/741xs plotter and kept the old raymarine depth speed and temp for a while. That was ok, but ultimately, I swapped the raymarine for a garmin depth/speed temp sensor that connects to nmea2000 because I really wanted all that information to be on my chart plotter and garmin displays, and I could find no easy way to get the old raymarine seatalk to work with the garmins.
I also added the wireless wind gear with gnd-10, and a GMI-20? multifunction display that fills the hole where the raymarine was. The GMI 20 is great for having the wind instrumentation up or switching to depth when entering the harbor.
The other advantage - all the data is now available on my ipad & iphone over wifi anywhere on the boat. It displays radar/sailing instrumentation/basically acts as a remote screen for the chart plotter.
So - go nmea-2000... garmin is fine. Add an AIS radio and it will plug in to nmea 2000 and show the AIS info on your plotter.
cheers,
Ell
Ellsworth Wente
S/V Wind Dancer, C-36MkI hull #256
Would be really interested in $$$ amounts including install when all is said and done!
David
s/v Portmanteau
Hull #2133 -- 2003 MKII
Seattle, WA
I had a similar list. Only difference with mine was I didn't integrate the engine, didn't add the stereo, didn't to TV, but I did add Sirius Weather and an integrated Man Overboard system.
I had allocated about $38,000 for the system. It took several thousand dollars more and 2 years of messing with it myself before I got everything working correctly, after the "Professional" installer screwed up a few things.
I do agree with a comment I noticed regarding AIS. It seems pretty worthless on the radio but very nice to have superimposed on the chartplotter. Another suggestion is to check out your boating area on marinetraffic.com. Sparse areas like the Great Lakes are fine for AIS. Very busy areas may have so much traffic that your AIS is simply information overload. Offshore it's nice to know when there are freighters coming at me, but in harbor I have AIS alarms going off continuously.
Greg Jackson
SV Jacqui Marie
2004 C36, MKII
tall rig, wing keel,
Bob
On island girl I went with Raymarine.
Raymarine Uses The NG backbone. Plug and play stuff.
I installed a Standard Horizon GX 2200 GPS/AIS with hardwired Ram mike at the helm.
I used the NEMA 0183 output from the GX2200 to provide AIS overlay on chartplotter. I now have AIS info on three displays. Radio, Ram mike and E-97 MFD.
The E-97 has a iinput for 0183
If money wasn't a issue, I would buy a AIS transceiver. I saved a few bucks using the radio.
Chuck Lennox
97 MKii Ventura Ca
Island Girl Hull #1611
Virtually mirrored Chuck's installation above, except mine is a Lowrance/Simrad chartplotter/radar display (also fishfinder which is a backup depth gauge) shows AIS targets from the Standard Horizon on both chart (and radar) display... You may have a few trial and errors interconnecting the NMEA 0183 or 2000 devices but it will be worth the effort.
---- Howard & Linda Matwick ----
--- S/V "Silhouette" - Nanaimo, BC ----
--- 1999 C36 MkII #1776 M35BC ---
I replaced everything 5 years ago, actually there wasn't all that much to replace. Be sure that anything that you remove which you want to sell is handled carefully and that all cables are preserved. Without intact cables a lot of stuff is un sellable.
i put in a full Garmin suite, plus a Raymarine auto pilot for less than 7K. All easy to install and has performed flawlessly since install. I have not installed AIS but have lots of options that are easily added to the system.
Neil Roach
"Crewless"
1992 36, Mark I
Hull # 1174
Seattle