News York

They say New York is the city that never sleeps, and that’s certainly true for the exhibitors at the N.Y. Boat Show who are on their feet for nine straight days. While this mid-Winter event is a New York tradition, the fact that so many electronics companies rolled out new products there—as opposed to waiting for the Miami show in February--is an interesting new development. Here’s a short sampling of some of the new offerings for Year 2000 and beyond.
Furuno Black Box Radar FR2115BB/6 ($15,495). As more and more megayachts convert to pure PC-based navigation systems, Furuno is more than happy to join the party with this new Black Box radar (that’s it’s real name, by the way). As the name implies, this system consists of two primary components—a 6-1/2-foot open array antenna rated at 12-kW and 120 miles, and a black box processor which mounts out of sight in a cabinet. The black box is, in fact, its own computer, and according to Furuno’s marketing manager Roy Thompson, “What we’re doing here is removing our CRT from the bridge and replacing it with your color monitor.” Given the fact that most big yachts today already have at least two color LCD monitors in the pilothouse (and many more around the yacht), the new black-box radar saves space by allowing you to use those monitors to display radar information. You control the display using the hard-wired keyboard that comes with the black box, and options include the ability to integrate this unit with Furuno’s RP26 Radar Chart plotter for radar-overlay presentations, as well as full ARPA automatic vessel-tracking capability with the company’s ARP26 unit. At a starting price of more than $15,000 (and a radar antenna that’s longer than most adults), the Black Box radar is clearly a megayacht product, but one that may save significant room at the pilothouse by eliminating unnecessary and/or dedicated color displays.

Northstar 952XD ($3,895 with internal 12-channel DGPS). This is the long awaited color version of Northstar’s popular 951 unit, and the 952XD looks and operates the same way as its predecessor, the only real difference being in its use of color. The unit has a 5.75-inch diagonal screen with an active-matrix, color LCD display. Northstar says the unit is daylight readable, and it boasts a high-density 320 x 240 pixel count for a sharp presentation and easy identification of chart features. Like the 951, the 952XD also uses Navionics Navcharts, but in this case the unit is designed to show the Port Services information contained within the Navionics cards. My brief demo showed the unit has lightning-fast chart redraw times, even faster than the 951. In fact, it redraws so fast the new chart is on the screen before you can take your finger away from the ZOOM IN or OUT softkeys. This unit also has a built-in tide table database, and the designers put it in exactly the same case so if you want to relocate your existing 951 up to the flying bridge, the 952 will fit in same cut-out in the lower-station dash panel.

Si-Tex Genesis ($2,995 plus sensors). Ten years ago I wrote a futuristic column about the all-in-one marine electronics box. Today, it’s here in the form of the Si-Tex Genesis. But unlike the hypothetical unit in my old column, the Genesis does not require you to buy all manner of technologies—rather, its more of an a la carte system that allows you to choose just the features you need.

The basic “box” features a 10.4-inch color TFT LCD display (800 x 600 pixels) that’s daylight-readable according to Si-Tex. The unit is designed to accept input from variety sensors including sonar, GPS/DGPS, electronic compass, radar, weather fax data, and even live video supplied either from three video cameras around the boat or your own TV or VCR! About the only feature built directly into the unit is electronic charting, and the Genesis can hold two C-MAP C-Cards for long-range cruising coverage. You control the unit with a single remote control which can be hard-wired or wireless.

During my demo it appeared to be an easy matter to change the screen’s configuration from radar, to charting, to fishfinding, or to an onscreen combination of all three. An 11-channel GPS receiver is available for $300 (DGPS is available for a bit more), and when used in conjunction with Si-Tex’s new Radarpc (a $1,995 option), the unit also has the capability to show real-time radar overlays atop the C-MAP charts. While the Radarpc is only a 12-inch dome antenna rated for 24-miles of coverage and an output power of 2-kW, the company plans to introduce longer-range, more powerful versions of the product in the near future. Over on the fishfinding side, the echosounder ($500 option) has 600 watts of output power and a 2,000-foot depth range, making it appropriate for cruisers and canyon runners alike. For another $295 you can add TV/video capability, and with three video cameras set up around the boat (available as options), you can constantly monitor the engine room, flying bridge, aft deck, or any area you choose. The unit can freeze on one view, or rotate through all three just like a security system in an office building. Given this unit’s big-screen size and multi-function capabilities, it should be appropriate for vessels 40-feet and up. The only other question is, what took ‘em so long?

Zercom LPG2000 ($599). Zercom’s LPG2000 gets my vote for the “Back To The Future” award in marine electronics. “LPG” stands for “liquid paper graph,” and the idea here is to provide the sharp target discrimination we used to see in paper-graph fishfinders without all the hassle of, well, paper. The big monochrome LCD display has 16 levels of gray, and with a tightly bunched 320 vertical-pixel count, the screen really does resemble a paper graph. There are no buttons or confusing menus to dig through on the LPG2000. Rather, four big rotary knobs let you control all the action—from manually adjusting gain and depth range, to one-click mode changing between auto, bottom lock, and manual modes.

The unit also has its own version of an “A-scope” (or what Zercom calls its “graphic flasher”) so you get real-time fish-echo returns in a small vertical column on the right side of the screen. And unlike some LCD fishfinders, you won’t find any cartoony-looking “fish-ID” symbols here. Rather, purists will appreciate the raw-data fish arches that indicate target size based on the thickness and width of the arch. I played around with the unit for a while at the show, and it appeared to be remarkably easy to use in this ever-complicated world of electronics. Obviously, daylight visibility is not an issue here, and while the unit’s brochure did not address the question of watertight integrity, my guess is this unit will most likely find a home aboard center-console and cuddy-cabin fishboats bound for deep water.

As demonstrated by both the Furuno radar and the Si-Tex Genesis, the trend in marine electronics is to get one display to do many things. While both of those products are for the larger vessels, it won’t be long before we’ll see the same type of products available for just about anything that floats and has an engine on the back.