Quote:
Originally Posted by Boracay
From my perspective standalone has several advantages:-
* Each part can be added separately so the cost can be spread out over quite a few years.
* As each component ages it can be replaced. As the multifunction ages components may become less and less available so that ultimatly the complete system may need replacing. Problematic on an older boat.
* Security. It's not hard to make each part of a standalone system removable. When I'm not on the boat key parts come home with me.
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I'm not sure I understand your reasoning, and I don't think you understand MFD's. MFD, by their very nature, are mostly future-proof. Their entire function is simply to display data from standardized sensors regardless of manufacturer or sophistication. They can be added at will and at any time, mixed and matched in any combination, and any "upgraded" ones will be perfectly compatible with the older ones. Whenever a
sensor or
transducer fails or needs an upgrade, one can substitute at will from any manufacturer of choice and the old MFD will accommodate it just fine. And they are no harder to remove than stand alone systems. In fact, they are probably easier because their connection to the system consists of a
single communication cable that can be hot unplugged/plugged without disturbing anything else on the system.
Mark