Buyer’s Guide

Sam Fortescue takes a look at three of the most common electronics upgrades

ailing is a gadgetheavy sport these days, with marine electronics opening up all sorts of exciting and useful possibilities aboard. Data is the name of the game – and how you can use it. Modern instruments from Garmin, Raymarine, B&G and others can handle 50 times faster data rates than in the past, and share it around the network.

So upgrading one or more of your instruments is about the most common re t for onboard electronics. We look at the options for that below – it doesn’t have to be ruinously expensive, and much of the work can be done yourself. e other two common upgrade scenarios are adding an internet connection to the boat and retro tting a remote monitoring system. Read on for a run-down of the available products and what’s involved. ere has been little to report this year in the multifunction display world. e biggest news came from Navico, which has released a new model called the NSX in its motorboat-focused Simrad brand. ey want back to rst principles to build this snazzy-looking unit, which runs an enhanced version of C-Map charts that are crisper than ever. Auto-guidance route planning has been supercharged, and it supports more third-party apps as well. “Watch this space,” said a Navico spokeswoman when asked whether B&G would be moving its MFDs to the new platform.

Digitally enhanced

Upgrade your instruments

Instruments have evolved since many boats were built to use a faster, more robust networking system called NMEA2000. It can shuttle data back and forth more quickly and from more sources, without the distinction of talkers and listeners which used to exist under the old NMEA 0183 architecture. ere is an obvious advantage in an increasingly data-heavy world, but a problem arises if you want to introduce a new instrument into the mix. You either have to replace the whole lot at a heavy cost, or allow for the di erent language spoken by old kit and new.

If you’re just upgrading the chartplotter, it is easy, because new plotters generally have both an NMEA 2000 and an NMEA0183 input/output, allowing you simply to wire in your old instruments. You can view the data on the plotter, which will also multiplex the data round the rest of the network to any legacy NMEA listeners.

Generally, it is pretty simple to add extra capability to the system as well – wind, or a radar, for example. If you have a modern plotter it will already have its own NMEA2000 backbone, which you can easily lengthen to include the new instrument.

Where it is more complicated is with a new instrument display. Garmin’s GMI20 display has an NMEA0183 input which allows it to display data from an older

network. But it won’t then transfer that data onto the N2K network for other units in the system to use. Raymarine’s i70 and B&G’s Triton2 displays can only be interfaced with older instruments by using a dedicated converter. Luckily the electronics involved are straightforward – you simply wire the NMEA 0183 network up to one end and plug the NMEA2000 backbone in at the other. Raymarine and Garmin produce their own converters and there are several specialist brands available.

Actisense NGW-1 gateway

Feeds NMEA 0183 data onto a NMEA 2000 network and vice versa. Fit one between each NMEA0183 talker and the new network for seamless multiplexing. £153 actisense.com

Nasa Marine converter

One-way unit designed to translate NMEA0183 wind data onto the NMEA2000 backbone. £86 nasamarine.com

iKonvert

Bidirectional conversion between NMEA 0183 and NMEA2000 from Digital Yacht. In a very compact unit. Easy to con gure using dip switches. £156 digitalyacht.co.uk

Yacht Devices YDNG-03

Smartly designed converter housed inside a NMEA2000 plug. Bidirectional and con gurable. £135 marinedevices.co.uk

NKE

You can invest in new display capabilities without switching to NMEA 2000. French marine electronics brand NKE has specialised in racing kit for more than 35 years, but some of its gear has a cruising angle. Like the carbon-e ect Multigraphic display (€1,521.89), which does a great job of presenting the key sailing data at a glance.

It o ers a range of standard transducers, including speed, log, depth, wind, AIS, responsive 10hz GPS receiver plus lots of exotic racey sensors for mast rake and rotation. NKE has also put a lot of research e ort into eliminating anomalous wind readings caused by the motion of the boat, resulting in a nely tuned, if complex and expensive (€1,450), system for racers and purists. ough NKE kits use its own proprietary bus system, it also usefully runs on NMEA0183, making it easy to connect to an existing network. nke-marine-electronics.fr

Sailmon

Designed for dinghies and sports boats, Sailmon’s wireless display can nevertheless add features to an existing instrument network. It runs on a Max display measuring 9cm x 12cm with a 4.4in LCD monotone screen and a battery that charges using NFC (no sockets to admit water). e battery lasts for a day of racing, and as the unit comes with an NFC charger, it is easy to recharge at the end of the day.

Partner the Max with a wireless ultrasonic anemometer which runs o solar power to t-andforget at the top of the mast. You can pipe in NMEA data from existing instruments (depth, speed or wind) using the dedicated NMEA interface – there’s an N2K model and an N0183 version to suit your existing network. e Max can detect the angle of heel and pitch, and you can connect it over Bluetooth to Sailmon’s collection of wireless load sensors too, for a read out on tension in the rig. Mainly, though, it excels at racing speci c data, such as time and distance to the start line, wind li /header and VMG. It rocks a very precise 25hz GPS, which promises accuracy to within 30cm. Partner it with the Sailmon app for the most intuitive control, post-sail tracking and analysis.

Max costs €899; wind sensor is €499 and NMEA interface is €287.50. sailmon.com

ABOVE LEFT

SAilmon's instrument display package

BELOW

NKE's multigraphic display

Adrena insight

Sometimes there’s no need to upgrade the instruments you have on board because there are tools that allow you to use the existing information more e ectively. Honed and widely used on the racing circuit, Adrena software also exists in a cruising version for your laptop - called Octopus. It combines a core weather routeing capability with various handy tools, including mooring assistance, graphically displaying the conditions to be expected in a given anchorage, plus the rise and fall of the tide. Weather forecasting is available to download as a GRIB file up to 16 days ahead and there are a host of useful safety tools, such as AIS, MOB alarm and anchor drag alarm. Octopus will also help you develop accurate polars for the boat using real navigational data and give you insight into the boat’s sailing performance. It is available without any charting at all, but with a C-Map basemap, the system costs €349. In racing format, prices start at €779. adrena-software.com intuitive. Instead of identifying a threatening vessel on a collision course, manually extracting its MMSI number and then transferring that to the VHF for a direct call, you can simply tap the icon of the o ending craft and call it directly. Vesper Marine’s Cortex goes further, with its smartAIS system, which automatically alerts you to an MOB situation when it detects an activated AIS beacon. Cortex also o ers a remote monitoring solution for the boat. You can set an anchor alarm and monitor it from afar. Not only that, but you can also get updates of key instrument data – although there is a subscription charge for this. Icom’s new IC-M510 gives you an AIS radar on its colour TFT display, but also allows you to use up to three smartphones as dedicated handsets - even calling between them as an intercom. It costs £624 plus £240 for NMEA2000 interface.

Getting online

Forget the phone, which has a very limited range. To connect to the internet for o shore or remote data you’ll need a dedicated antenna linked by high quality coaxial cable to a router below. Your onboard devices can then connect to this. ese days, 4G reception is almost universal and much more e ective than trying to pick up wi hotspots. Di erent categories of 4G receiver are capable of di erent theoretical top speeds. Look for Category 6, which clocks up to 300 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than enough to stream an HD movie. Cat 4 is theoretically half the speed.

To get close to these rates, you’ll need dedicated external antennas, rather than relying on the stubby antenna of the router unit itself, according to Paul Sumpner of Digital Yacht. “As with all forms of RF communication, the quality and size of the antennas is key and play a big part in the performance of our products,” he says. “We use Multi-In, Multi-Out (MIMO) technology to get maximum reception and speed performance. is technological ‘black magic’ works best when the antennas are half a wavelength apart, which based equates to about 35-40cm at LTE frequencies.”

With twin external antennas, a range of more than 10 nautical miles is possible. “We regularly hear of customers getting 15-20 miles o -shore range and they always get signi cantly better range than on their mobile phone,” says Sumpner. Another point to consider is the router itself. A dual band router can broadcast on 5GHz for much higher data transfer. It is also less likely to su er interference from other standard 2.4GHz devices onboard.

Most brands want to sell you a package that includes the antenna and the router, along with cabling. Some also o er rail mounts as handy extras. You can even nd 5G packages, but bear in mind that you won’t get 5G speeds unless you’re berthed in Limehouse Basin.

Mobile connection

Digital Yacht 4G Connect Pro A worthwhile upgrade to the basic 4G Connect which includes two external aerials and up to 70Mbps download speeds. Has a SIM card slot, LAN and WAN ports to connect to a WiFi receiver or a satphone. £774

Digital Yacht 4GXtream

For the next step up in performance, this unit can manage up to 300Mbps and packs a dual band wi router, twin SIM slots and built in GPS. Also acts as a NMEA bridge for instrument data over wi . Range up to 25nm o shore. £1,260 digitalyacht.co.uk

Wi onboard B535 router

Supports 3G, 4G and faster 4G+ for rapid speeds up to 400Mbps using Huawei equipment. Uses 2.4GHz wi and you can pick your own SIM, or add on £50 for a prepaid 24GB SIM from ree. £475 wi onboard.co.uk

Hubba Wave

With 4G speeds up to 100mbps plus Wi reception, the Hubba is an all-rounder. You pay £47.94 for the unit and the same amount again each month, giving you up to 40GB (19GB when roaming in the EU) with a free subscription to Net ix and other apps. buzzwireless.co.uk

Neptulink 4G

MVG’s carefully engineered unit is a vertical n containing dual transceivers for up to 100Mbps at 20nm and more o shore. Dual SIM slot and seamless switch-over to port wi when available. Integrated router. £1,840 Electronicsonboard.co.uk

ABOVE

Neptulink's 4G sytem boosts your chances of staying online o shore

BELOW

(top to bottom) Hubba Wave Global; DigitalYacht 4G Connect; Red Box Pro Marine

Wi connection

Digital Yacht WL510

With a reported range of 4-6nm, the WL510 plugs into your laptop using the LAN port or connects to a dedicated onboard router. With 10m coaxial cable and 12dBm gain antenna. £618 digitalyacht.co.uk

Wi onboard range extender

External 9dBi gain antenna and interior router bundled with various handy cables. eoretical top bandwidth of 150mbps. Can be set up from a tablet or phone – no laptop required. £310 wi onboard.co.uk

Onboard router

Hubba Global X

Like the Hubba Wave, but with dual SIM slots and multiband, to give you reception anywhere in the world. Also integrates with Vsat for o shore use. Mounts and antenna available separately. £1,794. www.buzzwireless.co.uk

YachtSpot GX

Superyacht grade kit with twin SIM slots, dual band wi and integration with FleetBroadband satellite comms. It is hot on security and supports speeds up to 300Mbps around the world.

Red Box Pro Marine

Designed and built by the technical wizard behind MailaSail, the Red Box is a wireless router with integral 4G (x2) and wi (x3) antennas, plus inputs for external antennas, satphone and even NMEA data. Designed to compress output and block big attachments to reduce satphone costs o shore. External WiFi antenna costs £358 and external 4G is also available for longer range. Ultra version rocks eight antennas. £718.80 mailasail.com

Remote monitoring

Boats are undergoing the internet-ofthings revolution, just like everything else. ere’s a huge range of products now available to help you keep an eye on what’s going on aboard from the comfort of an armchair at home. Functionality runs from simply monitoring battery voltage or shore power connections to intruder alarms and geofencing to alert you to unexpected movement of the boat.

It all works through an app which reports to your phone or tablet. A more complex variant allows you to go further than passive observation and actually take control of systems on the boat. So, for instance, some remote monitors can re up the instruments to check wind speed or water temperature. Others let you switch on lights, the fridge or a heater remotely.

All this is useful. But the possibilities go further still. Remote monitoring allows technical experts to diagnose problems wherever you are. It can log your track and weather conditions for browsing later by you or family and friends. You could even order spare parts as you sail in the knowledge that you’ll never get it wrong, because your boat’s equipment is already logged online. Not for nothing are the world’s big boatbuilders now o ering free or heavily subsidised systems to new owners. e technology can give them unparalleled insight into the way their boats are really used, helping to guide future design.

You typically pay for a core 4G unit with basic sensors, then buy extra sensors as necessary. Almost all the systems have an ongoing subscription fee, so bear that in mind when budgeting. Some allow you to choose your own SIM plan, while others tie you in. Make sure the proposed SIM works in the countries you plan to cruise to.

Simple monitors

Navigation apps

Basic navigation apps can provide a modicum of remote monitoring. is can vary from predicting fuel consumption based on weather conditions to monitoring if your boat is dragging its anchor. Examples of these very basic apps can be found at: savvynavvy.com, navionics. com and anchorpro which ids available on the Apple App store.

Boat O cer

Designed in Germany for covering the basics: GPS, battery voltage, temperature and water ingress. Unique in using a subscription-free communications system with range of up to 50km – called Lorawan. boato cer.com

Zigboat

Wireless system made by Glomex. O ers sensors for battery, bilge, intruder alarms, heat, smoke, GPS and even an IP camera. Designed to connect over marina Wi . A mobile connection kit adds €265 plus your own SIM costs. Base kit costs €790. zigboat.com

c-pod

Basic array of sensors includes battery, bilge, smoke, motion and temperature. Base pack €419. Annual subscription €159. c-pod.com

ABOVE

the BRNKL remote omnitoring system

ABOVE RIGHT

e C-Pod is a rtelatively simple bosat monitor

Smart VHF

AIS and VHF functionality is increasingly being combined into a single unit. On the face of it, there’s good sense to the move from the likes of Vesper Marine and Icom. Both have an integral safety function on board. And both AIS and marine radio use the same block of VHF bandwidth, so the insides of both machines are remarkably similar. Combining them eliminates obvious duplication. The other benefi ts are all very intuitive. Instead of identifying a threatening vessel on a collision course, manually extracting its MMSI number and then transferring that to the VHF for a direct call, you can simply tap the icon of the o ending craft and call it directly. Vesper Marine’s Cortex goes further, with its smartAIS system, which automatically alerts you to an MOB situation when it detects an activated AIS beacon. Cortex also o ers a remote monitoring solution for the boat. You can set an anchor alarm and monitor it from afar. Not only that, but you can also get updates of key instrument data – although there is a subscription charge for this. Icom’s new IC-M510 gives you an AIS radar on its colour TFT display, but also allows you to use up to three smartphones as dedicated handsets - even calling between them as an intercom. It costs £624 plus £240 for NMEA2000 interface.

Complex monitors

Siren Marine

Siren 3 Pro includes all the usual sensors, including bilge pump and water levels. It can sense unauthorised entry or motion and give you remote access to the NMEA network, as well as digital switching for lights, fridges etc. Uses a global 4G SIM. Basic unit costs $750 (c£570). Subscription is c£140pa sirenmarine.com

Yacht Sentinel

Yacht Sentinel Manufactures several systems. Sentinel Cam sends you a 30-second burst of video when it detects motion on board, and can supply video on demand up to 750MB/month. Cost is £459 plus £209pa subscription e more complex YS6 system provides a full suite of remote monitoring via wireless sensors. e basic unit costs £499 with a £50pa subscription a er two years. yacht-sentinel.com

Sentinel Marine BM40

Sensors include bilge pump activity, water levels, GPS/geofencing, intrusion, motion. e more complex package can add control of heating and cooling plus lights, as well as an electronic logbook. e core BM-40 unit costs £588 and the annual subscription is €150. sentinelmarine.net