Article by Capt. Steve Katz
After a year or more with limited availability of marine electronics and associated marine components, including boats, it looks like 2022 will start off like 2021 with continued limited availability of many popular marine products and the skilled labor to work on these systems.
During this time of limited availability, many boaters make do with existing equipment, performing maintenance to keep those systems running until replacement are available, others settle for their second choice, but the best choice is to order early and feel lucky when it arrives!
Product shortages are an opportunity for manufacturers to highlight available products that may have not been well known and can act as a substitute for a preferred product.
One example is the Garmin Multifunction chartplotters, like the GPSMAP 743xsv, 943xsv and 1243xsv, these are a step down from the top-of-the-line GPSMAP 8600 series, but come equipped with many of the same features and can make a great add on unit to an existing system or good stand-alone unit. The most notable features previously not available at the lower price point are full networking, OneHelm features, built-in wireless and compatibility with all modern Garmin accessories.
Another example, when it comes to high end electronics like Omni style Sonar, the Furuno units became backordered this fall, with delivery scheduled into spring/summer 2022. At this same time, Simrad Kongsberg Norway (not the same Simrad company as the maker of the popular NSS evo chartplotters) introduced a new to the market Omni sonar, the SY50, which is now shipping to the USA. This new sonar does away with the large transceiver box and can also operate on DC power, great for the larger center consoles that don’t want to run the generator just to power a Furuno Sonar or a sportfish that doesn’t want to give up room for the large 80 lb. transceiver.
It’s not all doom and gloom, for example, JL Audio is starting to restock their warehouses with products, many items that were virtually impossible to find last spring and summer. Garmin’s lead times are shrinking, Furuno smaller MFD (multifunction display) are readily available. It seems that many of the marine electronics manufacturers are still experiencing extended lead times, for items like solid state radars and larger MFD- both months out.
When supply is constrained, many of the manufactures direct the limited products directly to the boat builders leaving the aftermarket to settle for the extra unallocated inventory. For example, JL Audio focused on supplying its OEM customers (boat builders) with product, so a large center console with a dozen speakers could be completed and sold by the boat builder. Same with Garmin and Simrad, allocating to the OEM’s before the aftermarket.
One example of thinking ahead, a customer who was smart and ordered his electronics at the same time he ordered a new center console received his electronics order on time but is now waiting for the outboard engine…..
There are many new and innovative marine electronics and accessories that are readily available that can be a great addition to your existing system.
ICOM, the popular maker of VHF radios, introduced a new model this summer, ( with delays) a new VHF, the M510 is the same size as the outgoing M506 model, yeah! It has a color screen, wireless NMEA2000 connectivity, and like many electronics today, a smartphone app. Yes, the M510 can optionally connect to your smartphone and allow you to use your phone as another handset.
Omnisense Systems – the newest entrant in the marine thermal camera market, while they have been at it for a while, they directed all their resources for temperature detection of humans during the peak of the pandemic with their specialty systems built for airports and other places requiring high volume temperature screening. Omnisense Systems manufactures a line of marine thermal cameras, similar in product range to the popular FLIR products, with some new features, such as an easy OneHelm interface, quickly compatible with many modern MFD/chartplotters.
KVH – the marine communications company, introduced a new VSAT (very small aperture terminal), the V30, a 14” dome for voice and data. What makes this new and innovative? It is the first VSAT to operate on DC power using a compact all-in-one below deck antenna control unit/modem. The V30 is fast, up to 6 Mbps download speed, fast enough to stream video for conference calls. This is also the first VSAT that connects with just a single smaller coax cable – great for boats with full wire chases and reduced installation times. KVH also introduced new price plans for all VSAT systems, giving boaters a wide variety of plans and allowing you to change plans as needed based on your usage, including a new unlimited plan – available weekly, great for those far-flung fishing trips.
If new purchases are not on the horizon, updating your GPS chartplotters software can bring new life into older machines – often giving you new features at no additional cost. For instance, Furuno offers software for the older TZT2 system that dramatically updates the user interface and makes it match the user-friendly user interface of the new TZT3 systems. One of Garmin’s most recent software updates adds Mercury SmartCraft Connect gateway, including Vessel View page and fault code notifications, another Garmin software update added ability to auto align vessel icon to heading or COG based on speed.
While the fall and winter boat show seasons are the traditional time for new marine product introductions, this fall season was light with new products, mainly due to manufacturers focusing resources on production of existing products. Garmin did announce a new radar this fall, a more powerful Fantom solid state radar, the 18x and 24x dome models, upgraded to 50 watts of power and an optional black dome – a first for Garmin compared to the traditional white dome.
A popular system add-on is the satellite compass – once priced for yachts and large sportfish, now available for around $1000. This is an electronic heading sensor that uses multiple satellite receivers (antennas) inside a single housing to constantly calculate the vessel’s heading. NOTE: GPS heading or course over ground requires the boat to be moving and is not often considered a valid “source of heading” for autopilots, radar overlay and other navigational uses. A satellite compass is a great upgrade for those who kite fish or drift fish, allowing your boat to maintain the correct orientation on the chartplotter screen, synchronizing the boat’s orientation with the chart orientation while stationary. This allows captains to put and keep anglers over “the spot” and works great in conjunction with detailed bathymetric charts such as CMOR, Navionics, C-Map Reveal and Garmin G3 Vision. All the major chartplotters manufactures now offer a satellite compass and you can usually interchange brands if desired, though calibration may require a special tool if not using the same brand of chartplotters. Furuno offers the SCX20, Garmin offers the MSC 10 and Simrad offers the HS60. These are great and worth the cost even if only using it to help “straighten” out your autopilot operation.
As Chairman of the Board of the National Marine Electronics Association, I would be remiss if I did not mention the annual NMEA product of excellence award winners announced at the NMEA fall 2021 conference. NMEA members cast votes for their choice of the best in each category, this year’s winners are:
- Marine VHF—ICOM M605
- Radar—Furuno DRS4DNXT
- Satellite Communications Antenna—KVH TracPhone V30
- Multi-Function Display—Garmin GPSMAP 8616xsv
-Multimedia Entertainment—Fusion Apollo MS-RA770
-NMEA 2000 Sensor—Furuno SCX20 Satellite Compass
-Marine PC Software—Nobeltec TimeZero Pro
-Marine Apps-Utility—Garmin ActiveCaptain
-Marine Specialty—Furuno CSH8LMK2 Omni Sonar
-Satellite TV Antenna—KVH TracVision UHD7
-Fishfinder—Furuno DFF3D Multi-Beam Sonar
-Marine Camera—Teledyne/FLIR M364C
-AIS—Furuno FA170 Class A
-Autopilot—Garmin Reactor 40 with SmartPump v2
-Remote Monitoring—Maretron N2KView
-Safety Device—Garmin GPSMAP 86sci Handheld
-Commercial—Furuno FAR2228BB IMO Radar
-Wi-Fi/Cellular Device—KVH TracPhone LTE-1
- Manufacturer of the Year Award - GARMIN
-Best New Product Award - Shadow-Caster’s Light Commander
-NMEA Technology Award - Furuno’s NavNet TZT16F TZtouch 3
If you have any of the above products on your boat, you have made a great choice, and if you are shopping be sure to consider the listed award winners.
Plan ahead in 2022 to keep your boat up to date with maintenance, technology and of course fishing gear. Whether safety, maintenance or just a desired upgrade, there are numerous new technologies and products that will help keep your boat in good condition and help to provide owners, captains and anglers a safe and productive fishing trip. §
