New Electronics for 2011

Though we're just turning the corner into the new year, there's already a great lineup of new electronics ready to go for the coming season. The debut of new gear to the marine trade takes place every fall at the National Marine Electronics Association, which convened in Seattle last September. Hot on its heels, the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show at the end of October introduced new gear to the public.

While the current economic climate has done some serious damage to new boat sales, upgrading electronics remained a popular way for skippers to stay up to speed with available technology without breaking the bank. Refitting a network or adding to the electronics suite is never a bad idea. Even in this slower economic climate, manufacturers are continuing apace with new developments and, more evident, the integration of existing technologies into their systems. This integration means last year's bells and whistles become this year's bread and butter, to badly mix metaphors.

There are too many new tools to cover all at once ? we'll get around to them in coming months. But for the time being, the macro view of the systems that form the backbone of the navigational and informational suite are a good place to spot trends.

New Entry
Perhaps the most dramatic addition to the electronics arena is the appearance of Geonav, a full-blown navigational network introduced by Johnson Outdoors. For several years, Johnson has been edging the venerable Humminbird line upward into saltwater territory with larger, more powerful plotters and sounders. With the acquisition of Geonav, an established brand in Europe, the company has moved firmly into the saltwater fishing and cruising market.

Two Geonav models, the GIS 10 ($3,699 with 10-inch screen) and GIS 12 ($4,699 with 12-inch screen), link to networked charts, radar, sonar and video. A proprietary interface called BlueLogic uses color graphics and animation for intuitive operating. Geonav is one of the first networks to offer the DualFuel Cartography feature, which supports both Navionics and C-Map platforms.

So far, Geonav is the only system that supports Jeppesen's C-Map 4D cartography, which is also new this year. The full 4D package provides for ongoing updates to all content; 3D chart view providing height and depth cartography; satellite images with 2D/3D overlay, which can be overlaid onto 2D and 3D cartography on coastal and inland waters; digital raster charts with 2D/3D overlays over shaded relief for skippers who prefer the look of traditional paper charts and more.

Furuno recently introduced multiplatform cartography. To show it off, this season Furuno released the MU-150HD and MU-190HD, 15- and 19-inch monitors (no price yet) with extra-bright color LCDs with an anti-reflective glass filter to reduce glare. Enhanced contrast and wide viewing angles make these units wellsuited for a wide range of placements. The LCD and the glass are bonded so they won't fog when in exposed mountings, such as the flybridge. Video inputs allow security camera, DVD player and computer feeds. The case is designed to allow the 19-inch screen to fit the same cutout previously required for a 17-inch MFD.

Furuno also introduced a powerful new instrument, the stand-alone RD-33 data repeater ($595) with a full-color 4 ¹/³-inch LCD display. It accepts a range of data feeds from engines, sensors, plotter and sounder. It also accepts both NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 protocols and functions as a bidirectional converter and translator between the protocols. The RD-33 is quite versatile, and data can be displayed graphically or numerically and configured in limitless combinations.

Natural Marriage
Last year FLIR purchased Raymarine, and the pairing of the two product lines resulted in the introduction of Raymarine's T300 and T400 Series thermal navigation cameras, which have been integrated to the E Series Widescreen and G Series navigation systems. The system is controlled by the HybridTouch interface, which allows touch-screen operation as well as keyboard or joystick control that is independent of the multifunction display. Imagery from the thermal camera displays in combination with plotter, sonar and navigation displays. The outfits are available in four different camera configurations, starting at $8,995.

Simrad is creating new products at a rapid pace. First came the NSO Offshore navigational system, which comprises a processor ($4,799), the OB40 Controller ($399) and a line of 10-, 15- and 19-inch displays ($1,599-$7,299). The NSO is essentially a black box version of the NSE, a cross between the NSE and the GB40.

Simrad also announced it will offer the BSM-2 broadband sounder featuring frequency-sweeping pulse compression technology ? also known as "chirp" ? for the coming year. Chirp is a confusing acronym that designates true broadband sonar. Each sonic pulse is modulated, so targets return the pulse at varying frequencies, which provides a quantum leap in differentiation, resolution and accuracy. It's unmatched in accuracy for fish finding. That's the short version. Several major manufacturers are working on it, but Simrad beat the rest to the punch by announcing its version, even though it had no units to demo as of this writing. Maybe it will be seen at the Miami International Boat Show in February.

It's been a race among the major players to develop this sounder technology. Airmar designed and built the required transducers a couple of years ago and continues to refine its designs at a more advanced level than what is available in fish finders. What is new from Airmar that is usable right now is a new set of transducers designed to flush-mount on a flat keel, something especially useful to larger cruisers where keel space is available. The 1 kW CM270W ($795) operates at 50 and 200 kHz with a 25-degree beam width. The CM260 ($995), also 1 kW, offers a 19-degree and 6-degree beam width at 50 and 200 kHz respectively.