Beginner looking for electronics of good quality.

Haden

Haden

Active Member
May 27, 2020
482
Madison, Alabama
Boat Info
2001 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 8.1l Mercury w/V Drives
Just purchased a 1997 Sea Ray 330. I would like to upgrade all the electronics on the boat. I’m looking for quality, function, and long term investment, “nothing obsolete in 4 years.” Need suggestions on radar, depth, radio, fuel management, navigator, iPhone app navigation, etc. Planning to travel the Tennessee River mostly with family, but would like the flexibility to travel the great loop too. Much of my family live in Gulfport, St. George Island, and a few on the Atlantic coastline.
 
Well....nothing can really avoid the freight train of electronics obsolescence. Your best bet is to find a brand that supports their products well beyond them being replaced by the latest and greatest.

Do some reading around here and you'll find the preferences generally lie with Garmin, Raymarine and Simrad. With a smattering of Furuno out there.

You really need to hit up your local dealer/West Marine and play with them to make a decision. They are all super capable. In my opinion it comes down to user interface which is very much personal preference.

The very first question you should answer after you've landed on a brand is "what's my budget". All-in your wish list above, professionally installed, could easily be north of $20k of gear. If you go with radome vs array...maybe less? But not a lot less.

This stuff is spendy.

And last, I went with Garmin myself. I find the Garmin user interface to be most like Apple. Quite intuitive. Connects well with my iPhone/iPad via the app. It's good stuff.
 
I have had Raymarine and Garmin. Garmin user interface is so easy to use and is very intuitive. Garmin has a great website and user support too.

Best of luck,
 
Three Seasons said:
I have had Raymarine and Garmin. Garmin user interface is so easy to use and is very intuitive. Garmin has a great website and user support too.

Best of luck,
Click to expand...
However, the Garmin documentation is poor and integration directions are even worse. But I love my Garmin equipment.
 
Had Garmin on my old boat and have Raymarine on this boat.
If I were replacing everything tomorrow, or had a boat with nothing that I was outfitting with electronics, my choice would be Garmin.
Both are quality products but I found the Garmin much easier to use and to take full advantage of all the capabilities of.
Their customer support was much easier to deal with and understand too.
 
“Long term investment”is an oxymoron in the context of recreational marine electronics on all levels. You also need to clarify your position on “obsolete in four years”. I think a better requirement is one based on functionality. For example, the 280 we sold last year had electronics that by most measures were obsolete; ten years old - several generations old technology, no longer supported by the manufacturer, and of negative value (would have to pay to properly be disposed). But, they had up to date charts, functioning radar, depth and fish finding, fully functional vhf with AIS reception, all working as designed.

Electronics evokes a real emotional reaction from many folks. I’ve stuck with Raymarine for the past twenty years, or so, mostly because it’s stuff I know. I did add a Volvo Garmin engine display last year and agree with TTmott that Garmin does some things well and falls short on others. That probably is the common thread for all recreational marine electronics suppliers. I have noticed that the professional fishermen around us tend to buy Furuno and Simrad. Again is that because of an inherent difference, or just the stuff they know?

I’ll also confirm that professionally adding all the stuff the OP listed is going to be in the $15-20K range. We just spent that on two MFDs and autopilot with networking and peripherals upgrading.
 
I have a little different opinion on marine electronics obsolescence. There will always be newer gear with new features, but that doesn't mean the old stuff is obsolete. LORAN is obsolete. 10 year old radar will still see boats. It may not have all of the features of new radar, but it will work. My Ray E120 will still paint the other side of Lake Michigan for me if I want. A 10 year old GPS will still provide mapping, assuming you can still get map updates. I have a 15 year old VHF in one of my boats that still has DSC, and last time I checked channel 16 still works.

If you are the type of person who always wants the newest consumer electronics, get ready to spend money. If you want good, functional gear that will last, you have a whole host of mid-range options that are good.

Focus on safety features first (depth, radar, charting DSC, AIS, maybe weather) and then if you have any budget left go for bells and whistles (streaming Pandora from your chartplotter)

Also, you can buy some recent used gear, save alot of money, install it yourself if you are inclined, and still have really functional equipment.

Regarding Raymarine vs Garmin, I have found Raymarine's tech support to be consistently helpful, both online and on the phone. I've found Garmin's support to be more hit and miss. All of Raymarine seems to be domestic and seems to be staffed with experienced people. I find that Garmin periodically has really long wait times and sometimes I end up with a call center rep reading a script, and other times I get an experienced person who is really helpful. They used to be consistently good, now they are inconsistently good.
 
I think you'll find Garmin's app integration (ActiveCaptain) to be an industry leader. It's not perfect, but it's powerful.

If you have EFI engines, you can get device agnostic engine/fuel data from Fox Gateways. If you have carbs, it's best to match flow meters to your electronics. (it's possible to mix and match, but not recommended)

Flow meters are available from manufacturers including Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad and Maretron.

I bought a Garmin VHF to "integrate" with my Garmin MFD's, and I regret it. The integration is lacking, but the price is high. Going with another brand VHF would've meant little sacrifice of integration but netted me an AIS receiver for less money.
 
Stee6043 said:
Well....nothing can really avoid the freight train of electronics obsolescence. Your best bet is to find a brand that supports their products well beyond them being replaced by the latest and greatest.

Do some reading around here and you'll find the preferences generally lie with Garmin, Raymarine and Simrad. With a smattering of Furuno out there.

You really need to hit up your local dealer/West Marine and play with them to make a decision. They are all super capable. In my opinion it comes down to user interface which is very much personal preference.

The very first question you should answer after you've landed on a brand is "what's my budget". All-in your wish list above, professionally installed, could easily be north of $20k of gear. If you go with radome vs array...maybe less? But not a lot less.

This stuff is spendy.

And last, I went with Garmin myself. I find the Garmin user interface to be most like Apple. Quite intuitive. Connects well with my iPhone/iPad via the app. It's good stuff.
Click to expand...
Superb!! You have truly pointed me in the right direction. Yes, I know it can be expensive, and that is why I’m seeking more wisdom from others.
 
RollerCoastr said:
I think you'll find Garmin's app integration (ActiveCaptain) to be an industry leader. It's not perfect, but it's powerful.

If you have EFI engines, you can get device agnostic engine/fuel data from Fox Gateways. If you have carbs, it's best to match flow meters to your electronics. (it's possible to mix and match, but not recommended)

Flow meters are available from manufacturers including Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad and Maretron.

I bought a Garmin VHF to "integrate" with my Garmin MFD's, and I regret it. The integration is lacking, but the price is high. Going with another brand VHF would've meant little sacrifice of integration but netted me an AIS receiver for less money.
Click to expand...
RollerCoastr said:
I think you'll find Garmin's app integration (ActiveCaptain) to be an industry leader. It's not perfect, but it's powerful.

If you have EFI engines, you can get device agnostic engine/fuel data from Fox Gateways. If you have carbs, it's best to match flow meters to your electronics. (it's possible to mix and match, but not recommended)

Flow meters are available from manufacturers including Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad and Maretron.

I bought a Garmin VHF to "integrate" with my Garmin MFD's, and I regret it. The integration is lacking, but the price is high. Going with another brand VHF would've meant little sacrifice of integration but netted me an AIS receiver for less money.
Click to expand...
I like the sound of Garmin already. Thank y’all so much!!
 
You can sort of avoid the obsolescence with an iPad/tablet, but you only get really good maps/gps with that, and the over heating and screen visibility in sun light, can cause issues. I have a Simrad, and I like it so far. The boat had an old heading sensor, and I was able to integrate it into the network with a 100$ NMEA 0183 to NMEA 2k converter. The Simrad comes with dock to dock auto routing if you buy Navionics maps for it, but compared to my iPad, it’s painfully slow to calculate the map. The iPad calculates the route in seconds, the Simrad (NSS EVO3 9”) takes a good 45 seconds, so I don’t use that feature on the simrad. Garmin now owns Navionics, and I can’t speak highly enough about Navionics maps, and the apps they have produced to display those maps on iPads/android tablets. The apps update frequently, the maps update seemingly daily, and the ease of getting those updates is amazing. Plus, anywhere I go, I can plan my trip in my hand.

I wish the manufacturers would sell a system like an iPad, easy to use, constantly updated, integrated cellular/WiFi service, but has the sunlight readable display. Should be able to quickly disconnect from the boat, and take it home, so you can plan trips, review tracks, and depth readings. By taking it home, you also prevent theft and increase the longevity of the hardware.
 
My last two boats I replaced all the original ray marine with Garmin. Love Garmin. They are very reasonable especially if you aren’t doing a ton of offshore fishing. As mentioned above Garmin did buy navionics so the integration continues but the maps are excellent and Garmin updates AND supports its products unlike raymarine.
You can certainly go the iPad route but that does not provide you real feedback with any sort of transducer. Keep that in mind. In addition, as this just happened on my 6 hour steam back from buying my boat the GFI’s tripped and we had zero way to charge the iPads. Luckily we knew the back half of the route we’ll enough. I use the active captain feature a lot which constantly updates the changing shoals, markers and other stuff in my area.
 
I have owned Furuno, Simrad, and Raymarine. All were great in their day and worked for many years. Furuno was known for outstanding quality (USCG used it for years), but had terrible instruction manuals that were translated to English by people who barely spoke the language. Once I figured things out, I loved Furuno. Simrad was great too and you almost did not need instructions, just a little guidance from the installer and we were set to go. Raymarine has great charts (Google Earth) and the interfaces with radar are wonderful. The RM auto pilots, however, can't hold a candle to Simrad pilots of the olden days. Simrad could hold a course in nasty seas usually, usually within 33 feet on a 100 mile tack. RM pilots work fine but there seems to be no amount of adjusting that get them to the course holding accuracy of an old Simrad. Garmin has proven itself over the last 10 years or so. Many glass cockpits in private aircraft are Garmin and Tiara started using them years ago. Tiara tends to select top drawer vendors for their products. I've not had any experience with Garmin but would probably give them a good look if I were buying new today. It really boils down to your budget and support. Our boat was struck by lightening a few years back and the electronics were fried. We were out of business for about a week. Good customer support allowed us to go cruising for a month without losing a day or altering our schedule.
FullSizeRender.jpg
 
Henry Boyd said:
“Long term investment”is an oxymoron in the context of recreational marine electronics on all levels. You also need to clarify your position on “obsolete in four years”. I think a better requirement is one based on functionality. For example, the 280 we sold last year had electronics that by most measures were obsolete; ten years old - several generations old technology, no longer supported by the manufacturer, and of negative value (would have to pay to properly be disposed). But, they had up to date charts, functioning radar, depth and fish finding, fully functional vhf with AIS reception, all working as designed.

Electronics evokes a real emotional reaction from many folks. I’ve stuck with Raymarine for the past twenty years, or so, mostly because it’s stuff I know. I did add a Volvo Garmin engine display last year and agree with TTmott that Garmin does some things well and falls short on others. That probably is the common thread for all recreational marine electronics suppliers. I have noticed that the professional fishermen around us tend to buy Furuno and Simrad. Again is that because of an inherent difference, or just the stuff they know?

I’ll also confirm that professionally adding all the stuff the OP listed is going to be in the $15-20K range. We just spent that on two MFDs and autopilot with networking and peripherals upgrading.
Click to expand...
I agree with the oxymoron comment. I just meant that my budget is 10k, and I don’t want to purchase anything that will not be supported in 4 to 5 years. I’m also very mechanical and technically skilled, so I was planning on installing most systems myself. Is that going to be out of the question? I have installed and used electronics in my past boats, but have been out of the loop since 2010.
 
No - you can do it. IMO, the toughest part of electronics installations involved fishing wires and cutting holes. (SeaRay didn't make flimsy dashboards)

Read up on NMEA-2000 networks. It's very simple once you understand the basics, and there's no shortage of experts here to help you along the way.

Unless someone has already done it, this will be a good time to consider new panels for the dash.
 
RollerCoastr said:
No - you can do it. IMO, the toughest part of electronics installations involved fishing wires and cutting holes. (SeaRay didn't make flimsy dashboards)

Read up on NMEA-2000 networks. It's very simple once you understand the basics, and there's no shortage of experts here to help you along the way.

Unless someone has already done it, this will be a good time to consider new panels for the dash.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have already been looking at new panels for the electronics. Great advice everyone!!
 
A tablet is a good option. Many think it's only for backup, though.

MFD's (multi-function devices) are made for the marine environment so really the best way to go.

On our 2002 360 we had old Raymarine and Seatalk1. I upgraded to Seatalk NG, and bought used eSeries Raymarine MFDs. They are touch and also have dial control. Dial control is great to have when it's rough and it's hard to zero in with the finger. Axiom is only touch, Axiom Pro is both, I'm pretty certain.

I got an e7 and an e9 through eBay. The 7 was $300, the 9 was $600. Very happy with them. Look like new.

Raymarine's operating system is Lighthouse. Currently it's up to Lighthouse III. I kept mine at Lighthouse II so it could control the autopilot as-is. Upgrading to Lighthouse III meant new autopi electronics.

Another nice to have is a new AM/FM stereo that is NMEA2000. With that you can control your tunes through the MFD. Need to have NMEA200, though. It's not too hard to upgrade to that, either. Fusion is one that friends say works best through an MFD.

The Fox gateways are great. But not the only ones.
 
That is
Third Edition said:
A tablet is a good option. Many think it's only for backup, though.

MFD's (multi-function devices) are made for the marine environment so really the best way to go.

On our 2002 360 we had old Raymarine and Seatalk1. I upgraded to Seatalk NG, and bought used eSeries Raymarine MFDs. They are touch and also have dial control. Dial control is great to have when it's rough and it's hard to zero in with the finger. Axiom is only touch, Axiom Pro is both, I'm pretty certain.

I got an e7 and an e9 through eBay. The 7 was $300, the 9 was $600. Very happy with them. Look like new.

Raymarine's operating system is Lighthouse. Currently it's up to Lighthouse III. I kept mine at Lighthouse II so it could control the autopilot as-is. Upgrading to Lighthouse III meant new autopi electronics.

Another nice to have is a new AM/FM stereo that is NMEA2000. With that you can control your tunes through the MFD. Need to have NMEA200, though. It's not too hard to upgrade to that, either. Fusion is one that friends say works best through an MFD.

The Fox gateways are great. But not the only ones.
Click to expand...

That is a great point about touch and dial option. I honestly would not have considered that until your post.
 
Most people will be happy with Garmin ,RM or Simrad for recreational boating. Pick the best deal and then go fiddle with it a WM to make sure you like it. Some nice bundle prices and rebates out there.
 
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