Need advice on electronics upgrade.

[wingssail]

You missed a chance to make a valid point:

Originally Posted by rbk

Or trying to cross a bar or enter an inlet in **** weather trying to pick your way through rocks and shoals

that IS the time when you really DO need a chart plotter right in front of your helm!

and,

Originally Posted by rbk

phones go in the water tablets get wet, **** happens.

Tablets also get sat upon and the operating systems sometimes decide to pester you with update notices.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

In choosing an MFD vendor you should consider the chart situation. With Garmin you will be constrained to their charts. Others, including Furuno, may give you a choice of Cmap or Navionics charts. In the case of Furuno in the US, NOAA vector and raster charts are included and are updated annually - for free. Some competitors will bundle US charts, at a cost, but will require a purchase for updates. IIRC some vendors change chart formats relatively frequently, thus obsoleting the chartplotter. Definitely do your homework regarding the chart situation as part of your MFD choice.


Greg

Garmin now owns Navionics. I spoke to Garmin late in 2018 and they said that eventually they will be combining the best of both into one chart. The person I spoke to was not sure if the new charts would be compatible with the older ones or if updates could be applied to older charts. We'll have to wait and see with those.



I also like the lighthouse charts since they look like the paper charts.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by rbk

Or trying to cross a bar or enter an inlet in **** weather trying to pick your way through rocks and shoals trying to pan over to see if there’s a better route etc through and your mfd is too far away to pan and the waters to rough to trust the autopilot on a lee shore. I agree though, a pc or some sort of secondary plotter below to plot or re-route/re-plan the next few days travel is essential as a backup and for ease of use. Wifi, tablets and phones are the icing on the cake but should not be relied on; phones go in the water tablets get wet **** happens.

In those situations I am usually at the helm keeping my eyes out for markers, current lines, water colour changes, etc while my wife is closely monitoring the video game, aka chart plotter.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by Paul L

In those situations I am usually at the helm keeping my eyes out for markers, current lines, water colour changes, etc while my wife is closely monitoring the video game, aka chart plotter.

Must be nice having marked inlets. Attempting unmarked inlets in the dark is even more fun

[rbk]

Originally Posted by wingssail

You missed a chance to make a valid point:
that IS the time when you really DO need a chart plotter right in front of your helm!

and,



Tablets also get sat upon and the operating systems sometimes decide to pester you with update notices.

That was my point.

I’ve been finding even the Garmin updates a pain. I couldn’t acquire a satellite this spring (after April rollover) for nearly 72 hours until I updated the software, then reinstalled a second time. Thought my plotter was a door stop.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by rbk

Must be nice having marked inlets. Attempting unmarked inlets in the dark is even more fun

Must be nice having local knowledge - the only way I'd do that entrance at night🤣

[rbk]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Must be nice having local knowledge - the only way I'd do that entrance at night🤣

Nope, been using Garmin long enough to trust their west coast charts and spotting/listening for rocks in swell is easy enough and radar takes care of the rest. I worry more about logs, they’re unpredictable and when just below the surface nothing can see them. We generally get long days up here but in Late August I have been in moonless nights so black you can’t see your hand in front of your face thankfully not while underway (seriously though it’s kind of terrifying) Point is having something within reach while piloting is a safety feature if you need to reassess and find an alternate route/ anchorage, double check a shallow/tight passage it sucks having to leave the helm to do it but having to plot on a real chart plotter is a pain. I would rather have a PC with a mouse.

[Checkswrecks]

Originally Posted by wingssail

. . .
On the other hand, if you are under sail on a passage (cruising, right?) you're not back there steering, the autopilot or windvane is doing that. You, or your watch stander, will be leaning their back against the cockpit seatback and monitoring some instruments in their line of sight, like for a change in wind direction, etc.

Which as somebody else mentioned is one of the nice things about the B&Gs. The MFD makes a common phone or iPad a repeater, so you can be sitting forward or even below and see the AIS, course, etc, which is being displayed on the MFD. Without needing to go behind the wheel.

The other reason for putting the MFD at the helm is that as you come in or out, you may want to change screens and that means touching the face or buttons on the MFD. If it's on the bulkhead you can't. Plus it is too far to see detail well.

[akopac]

Opencpn/openplotter, a raspberry pi, and a iPad Air 2 USING VNC to view open con on the iPad Air 2. You can overlay ais and gribs on opencpn. Power consumption is tiny, the screen is sealed and has a glare coating built into it.

[Tim francis]

I’m going to go with b@g with h5000 to start. I’ll add on as paychecks come in. Thanks for y’all time in responding. Aloha