TECHNICAL GET THE LATEST ELECTRONICS ON A BUDGET

The cost of keeping up with the latest navigation technology can be prohibitive, but Mike Reynolds has found a way to get the latest gadgetry for a fraction of the cost

- Mike Reynolds

Electronics technology is constantly improving, offering ever more impressive capabilities. It is making navigation easier, quicker and more accurate, and useful information easier to access. It’s making recording and displaying historical data possible, supplementing the real-time (now) data we’re used to. It costs, but only if substantial replacement of hardware is necessary.

We decided we wanted the best of bothworlds — standard hardware with longevity, and software with the flexibility to take advantage of emerging trends. We are electronics enthusiasts and configuring electronics isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But a little effort can deliver the very latest capabilities, tailored to your boat, for minimal additional cost. For those not inclined to experiment, this article illustrates capabilities coming to future ‘plug and play’ systems.

Our boat Zen Again is a 1980s 34ft 3/4 tonner which we purchased 10 years ago. She is fitted with a robust cruising navigation and communications system, with built-in redundancy. For some years we’ve used standard NMEA-2000 sensors for position, speeds, depth and AIS. The data is sent via WiFi to a laptop at the chart table and waterproof tablets on deck. Recently we’ve added a NMEA2000 weather station which added wind, temperature, atmospheric pressure and 3D attitude. This required new SignalK interface technology to replace the old NMEA-0183 traditionally used over WiFi. SignalK became a springboard into some really useful capabilities.

I will describe what we’ve done, and what it cost. You can stop anywhere along the process but the further you go the better the capabilities, and the value of the investment!

Mike Reynolds is a consultant electronics engineer who occasionally lectures on yacht navigation and communications systems