tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7834826019588534175.post4147247017727986661..comments2023-09-20T06:10:29.485-04:00Comments on The Marine Installer's Rant: High tech, live fast and die youngBill Bishop - Parmainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11554223870035485145noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7834826019588534175.post-70654349290015676082012-09-17T13:22:44.594-04:002012-09-17T13:22:44.594-04:00Bill, interesting comments in light of your recent...Bill, interesting comments in light of your recent posts on Panbo. Obviously, this stuff is your bread and butter, and there's only so far you can go in criticizing the march of boat electronics progress without threatening your own bottom line: where would you be if owners installed their own analog dials and standalone gadgets?<br /><br />Who am I kidding? I've seen owners screw up single nuts and bolts. You have work until you don't want work anymore. Thanks, modern education system!<br /><br />I have a '73 Viking 33, a C&C racer-cruiser. I have a 12 year old Magellan GPS on a scavanged lamp armature, and a 10 year old Eagle fishfinder at the nav station. The Atomic 4 was rebuilt by me in 2005. This winter, the big repair will be new standing rigging as a 40th birthday present to the boat (fresh water is a wonderful thing). I'll farm that job out as I don't have a giant swage squeezing machine at my disposal.<br /><br />The only "integration" is that the GPS on a stick and the depth finder are in the same field of eyeball. I did break down and get a Whale 650 bilge pump, but it's not hooked into an MFD. I did have to replace an oil sensor this year. I took it off one of the several "Frankenblocks" I have shelved in the garage.<br /><br />All of this plus a DSC-enabled handheld VHF suffices for Lake Ontario. Predictably, I own a sextant and paper charts and even a lead line. I found it in a locker and thought it was from a grandfather clock.<br /><br />The round-the-world boat is going to be a little different, naturally, but I won't have much integration. I have a pilothouse, and I will have a stand-alone radar (probably Furuno) and AIS (almost certainly a Vesper Watchmate) feeding into a netbook running OpenCPN. Self-steering will be by windvane under sail and ComNav (a commercial brand) under power. At the outside helm, I'll have a fluxgate compass display, and a GPS display. I might recycle my old Raymarine 420 unit (1999) for this. Maybe I'll get a small helm display. Dunno. Not a huge priority. I won't have to enter a reef gap at 3 AM, and for that, I would have RADAR and a paper chart and plotted bearings.<br /><br />Why do I not hop on the bandwagon of integration and "Star Trek" helm displays? It's because of the cost, the product cycling, the varying closed/proprietary standards of marine electronic, and because I work with computers: every connection is a potential point of failure. It's cheaper to ghost a half-dozen identical netbooks at $300 per, bubblewrap them and apply as needed, frankly, and hold the whole thing together on Ethernet. That I understand and can solder, at least.<br /><br />I feel that the outside helm should be uncluttered and is generally no place for electrons on a mission. The pilothouse is fine for that, and I don't want distraction when I'm trying to listen to wind, waves and foghorns. So I am picky about where and why I integrate: a handheld cradle or base VHF unit connected to GPS to lock in a position to use in a DSC Mayday makes a lot of sense; being able to read your RPM or oil pressure on your iPhone, not so much.<br /><br />Yeah, I favour Hart Tank Tender as well, and own a Lavac. The windlass is manual AND electric. Footpumps AND pressure water. Solar AND wind gen. Fluids, salts and electricity are not good pals in my experience. I can forgo convenience for durability and fall-back options.<br /><br />I think your veal analogy might be better served by foie gras, an expensive delicacy created by stuffing the gullet of a soon-to-be dead duck. Just as a small-brained netbook is smart enough to run a sailboat's navigation, SSB and book-keeping, I really don't require...and can see significant downsides...to nine devices plugging into a vast touchscreen of a salt-water vessel's helm.<br /><br />Sorry about the length, but I came here from Panbo and you got me thinking.Rhyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00598445145507204424noreply@blogger.com