HBR 34 - Electronics Questions - Nav - Safety - Audio - WIFI

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djr

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Hey all - great forum here, so I thought I would join.

I am about to get a 2005 HBR - and it has the following electronics onboard:

Webasto Air Top 3500 heating
Raymarine 54E DSC VHF with antenna at masthead
Raymarine ST60 tridata (log, speed and depth)
Raymarine ST60 wind speed and direction
Raymarine ST4000T+ tiller pilot
Seatalk NMEA interface
Simrad CX44 10" radar/chart plotter with GPS antenna
Standard Horizon CP180i chart plotter mounted in cockpit
Simrad 17" 2kW radome mounted on mast
Furuno NX300 Navtex
Glomex TV antenna

I am keen to bring it more up to date - and I've literally been mulling over so many options I thought I would ask on here advice from your experiences of what you'd recommend.

I am based in the UK - budget isn't unlimited and it doesn't need to be the newest released bits - I am not trying to sail to space. So I need to keep it sensible.

I am mostly going to use the boat in the Solent, a few cross channels - and long term maybe in Spain - but not for a couple of years.

Also - what do people do about 4G/etc which hotspots are recommend.

For audio - I am thinking of simply using a Sonos so I've got Spotify and
 
Welcome -I don't know if those chartplotter/radar units have blue tooth to pair with an ipad or even some other make of tablet but for cross channel sailing would be most useful as it gives flexibility as to where you can read from.

Assuming you have some form of AIS in that system but if not would be number one priority for x channel -either splash out on raymarine or speak to digital yacht for example for ideas on AIS.
 
Hey Richard,


Sorry - you are right, effectively - out of what is there, what would people recommend I bin/refresh.

I do want full AIS on the boat, and a decent plotter - the iPad idea works for me - so I could have a new plotter down below, and linked to an iPad mounted in the cockpit.

I am maybe not being helpful - but out of the bits present, all work - but people will have experience and will say "This needs to go, and this is what I would change it to"
 
A lot of this will depend on budget -you could just buy an AIS unit from raymarine and a new plotter and radar scanner unit -if in locality you might want to see if raymarine are offering any courses etc at their offices so you can see their kit in action as a starter or go along to one of the larger chandelries to see what tthey have eg port solent etc but I am sure you can buy a cheaper AIS unit which both sends and receives and a new plotter say 7.5 size with blue tooth -when we had our first AIS we had raymarine kit but replaced old plotter with garmin. I don't think anyone can give a definite recommendation as it very much depends on space to fit, budget and personal preference as to presentation etc between say raymarine and garmin -many people seem to say garmin is more intuitive for example . You might also look at type of controls -do you want touchscreen for example.

You don't say where you are based but there are some good and some very poor electrics people out there so if using a third party to fit do ask around before engaging anyone to reconfigure.
 
djr said:
Hey Richard,


Sorry - you are right, effectively - out of what is there, what would people recommend I bin/refresh.

I do want full AIS on the boat, and a decent plotter - the iPad idea works for me - so I could have a new plotter down below, and linked to an iPad mounted in the cockpit.

I am maybe not being helpful - but out of the bits present, all work - but people will have experience and will say "This needs to go, and this is what I would change it to"
Click to expand...

Other way around makes more sense to me.
 
Hi djr

In some respects I have a similar collection of instruments/electronics. I think most of the kit from the leading manufactures is pretty good these days, it's largely a personal preference as to the interface/charting you like best. If you're starting off by looking at a new plotter and an AIS, the only comment I would make is that if you get both from the same source, plus a radio, you often get additional features such as the ability to call up an AIS target directly from the plotter screen. Also NMEA 2000 makes interfacing pretty simple between manufacturers, I have a Garmin plotter and Digital Yacht AIS and it literally is "plug and play". In common with you, I have Raymarine 60+ instruments and autohelm 4000, which through the Seatalk/NMEA 0183 interface goes into the Garmin Plotter which accepts NMEA 2000 as well. Magically this seems to make everything talk to everything else.
 
I take it that your boat is what I would call an HR34, which is what I have. Your set-up sounds like something of a mixture, and much depends on how well they talk to each other. I would have thought that an upgrade would involve getting a new MFD and work to unite all the functions. If you can get boat data (speed, log, wind), AIS, radar and radio all united you will be in a much better position and won't need to update for a long time.

My own system is partly united, with plotter/AIS/ radar and instruments but not radio. I lack a cockpit MFD display and use an iPad for this, which is handy but not entirely satisfactory, being not waterproof, not easy to read in sun, and dependant on its battery.


I would suggest joining the HROA which has forums for technical advice and chat as well as being quite active around the Solent in particular. This will give you some idea but not access to the forums. https://www.hroa.co.uk/
 
All seems acceptable given the boat size, age, etc.... If it all works and you can live with what's there, then great - save yourself some money. But a nice new chart plotter that links to iPad or you phone is nice to have and can be linked in easily.

For internet, I'd get yourself over to Digital Yacht for a 4G connect. And whilst you're there, consider an AIT 2000 for the AIS transponder. Nothing else comes close for cellular internet connection.

Wouldn't bother with WiFi unless you have a good stable marina connection and intend on being And whilst you're there, consider an AIT 2000 for the AIS transponder.

Audio, I personally have a Fusion system which is connected to Bose speakers, GREAT! Now sorting out flybridge bits so there will be some more going up there. These all link to the Fusion head unit which in turn can be connected to the boats PC or iPad via bluetooth or hardwire.

A few of my customers have the little Sonos speakers onboard which are great and can be linked if I remember correctly for inside and outside simultaneous entertainment.
 
If you are tempted by a Fusion system then it's great for boosting the sound from the TV BTW . I haven't really ever cracked the wifi on board issue when out of range of marina hub but might not be a priority with everything else to consider of course.
 
pvb said:
And to me! If you're buying a waterproof, sunlight-viewable plotter, why put it down below?
Click to expand...

It is more complicated than that. With a tiller, a cockpit-mounted plotter is less useful than with a wheel and a place has to be found under the sprayhood. On my 34 this would have been difficult with the larger plotters of 20 years ago, which is why mine is inside, with a Graphic repeater to display the essential information in the cockpit. A smaller MFD such as my e7 can be fitted quite easily, but this means that you have to go outside to do your passage planning. A better solution might be the have alternative positions for the display, or even two displays, but each boat-owner has to work put what works best for their boat and cruising style.
 
johnalison said:
It is more complicated than that. With a tiller, a cockpit-mounted plotter is less useful than with a wheel and a place has to be found under the sprayhood. On my 34 this would have been difficult with the larger plotters of 20 years ago, which is why mine is inside, with a Graphic repeater to display the essential information in the cockpit. A smaller MFD such as my e7 can be fitted quite easily, but this means that you have to go outside to do your passage planning. A better solution might be the have alternative positions for the display, or even two displays, but each boat-owner has to work put what works best for their boat and cruising style.
Click to expand...

I had a C120 under the sprayhood on my old HR352, I never found it a chore to sit in the cockpit to plan a route, the process is so easy.
 
Most chartplotters now link to wirelessly to IPad so easy to do planning down below in the warm and dry and no need to be infront of plotter
 
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