If you were buying electronics today...

This is very helpful for us.

We will get our new boat in October and the builder reccomended the person that does a lot of his customers installs.

I am quite frankly clueless with what to pick and figured that the builder would send us to someone reasonable.

I got an email with the suggested system and of course it meant nothing to me (seriously) so I read a few reviews of each component and it sounded fine. We really don't want to have to replace components during the time we own the boat

Here is the package that was put together for us.

Furuno TZTl2-F MFD

Furuno DRS4DL+ radar

MapMedia BC coast chart

Airmar SS60 / 20 transducer

Navico GS25 gps / heading sensor

Sitex MDA5+ AIS transceiver

Icom M506 vhf radio

Shakspeare 5400/XT VHF antenna

Actisense AS-8 port NMEA2000 harness

From what I can gather this is a nice setup ,

Comments, thoughts, suggestions?
 
Bill 310 said:
This is very helpful for us.

We will get our new boat in October and the builder reccomended the person that does a lot of his customers installs.

I am quite frankly clueless with what to pick and figured that the builder would send us to someone reasonable.

I got an email with the suggested system and of course it meant nothing to me (seriously) so I read a few reviews of each component and it sounded fine. We really don't want to have to replace components during the time we own the boat

Here is the package that was put together for us.

Furuno TZTl2-F MFD

Furuno DRS4DL+ radar

MapMedia BC coast chart

Airmar SS60 / 20 transducer

Navico GS25 gps / heading sensor

Sitex MDA5+ AIS transceiver

Icom M506 vhf radio

Shakspeare 5400/XT VHF antenna

Actisense AS-8 port NMEA2000 harness

From what I can gather this is a nice setup ,

Comments, thoughts, suggestions?
Click to expand...
Glad to see you are going with a Furuno setup - I really like mine and prefer it over the other systems I've used.

A couple comments / suggestions:

- I'd go for the TZT3 series over the TZT2. They are the latest generation (came out 2019 / 2020) whereas the TZT2 is a 3+ years older than that. Furuno is really good about supporting their products over time, but may as well get the latest system. The price is pretty comparable. Also, put in the biggest screen that will fit if the budget allows.

- Since I'm spending your money, I'd go for the DRS4D-NXT radar. It adds a bunch of functions over the DL+ (Doppler technology, RezBoost, Target Analyzer, etc.) that I think is worth the extra money (probably $700 - $900 extra).

- There are two options for the MapMedia charts - CMap and Navionics. I have both for my system (TZT14). I think the Navionics are slightly more accurate and give a bit better depth info, but are more cluttered when you are in a place with lots of info to display - i.e. Vancouver Harbour. I use both, CMap when a need a clearer screen and Navionics when I'm in an area I'm not as familiar with.

- SS60 is a good standard all-round transducer, but not the greatest for fishing. Not CHIRP and the high frequency beam width is narrower than other options. The "best" (IMO) is a SS175HW which is a 1kW CHIRP transducer with a 25-degree beam width. Another good option would be a TM165HW if you want to save some cash. Note these two options are geared towards for salmon fishing and will do ok for bottom fishing. If you are strictly targeting bottom fish, the SS60 is probably a better choice (and you will get the bottom analyzer function which will show you the bottom composition on your display), or a medium / high frequency chirp transducer with a narrow beam. If you really want to go all out, add a DFF3D sounder to the system.

- Definitely go with a SCX20 satellite compass over the Navico heading sensor. Much more accurate and not affected by magnetic sources so your radar overlay will be spot on. Plus is will add heaving compensation to your sonar and some other functions. It is a very impressive piece of kit and reasonably priced for what you get. You can also use it for your GPS antenna, although you will have a separate GPS antenna for your AIS since that is a requirement.

- Check out the Vesper XB-8000 AIS transceiver. It has a some additional features that may or not be important to you.

- Personally, I like the look of the Morad antennas. Bit more low profile. If you want a fibreglass model, I've been very happy with my Digital antenna.

- Are you going to add an autopilot? Very nice feature to have if you can swing it. Furuno NAVPilot 300 would be the way to go with the system above. The sabiki mode is great for backtrolling to slow your drift when you are jigging.

My 2 cents. Happy to answer any follow up questions.
 
Last edited:
Bill 310 said:
This is very helpful for us.

We will get our new boat in October and the builder reccomended the person that does a lot of his customers installs.

I am quite frankly clueless with what to pick and figured that the builder would send us to someone reasonable.

I got an email with the suggested system and of course it meant nothing to me (seriously) so I read a few reviews of each component and it sounded fine. We really don't want to have to replace components during the time we own the boat

Here is the package that was put together for us.

Furuno TZTl2-F MFD

Furuno DRS4DL+ radar

MapMedia BC coast chart

Airmar SS60 / 20 transducer

Navico GS25 gps / heading sensor

Sitex MDA5+ AIS transceiver

Icom M506 vhf radio

Shakspeare 5400/XT VHF antenna

Actisense AS-8 port NMEA2000 harness

From what I can gather this is a nice setup ,

Comments, thoughts, suggestions?
Click to expand...

scrap the Sitex MDA5 and the Icom M506, and just use a Simrad RS40-B its a VHF and Class B AIS Transceiver in one, fewer devices to rig in, takes up less space, and cheaper (should be since its cheaper in total and less install time), most people just want to know where they are, and where the others are and be able to send emergency data, this does that, and even has its own GPS for redundancy!!


The Icom M506 already has a AIS receiver, and your paying extra for that, kind of pointless if you are getting a separate AIS transceiver (sends and receives), but might as well combine them, so simrad RS40-B or that new crazy vesper unit, but that one is $$$$ and I would hate to drop the handset overboard, or drop it like my cellphone and break it.

I also prefer the Shakespeare Quick Connect Antennas, because if you for some reason snap one or want to use the taller one its simple to unscrew and replace.

https://www.simrad-yachting.com/sim...dios/vhf-marine-radio-dsc-ais--rxtx--rs40--b/
 
Last edited:
As mentioned above the TZT2 is old, the TZT3 is new - it has a built-in cHIRP sounder. Is your boat AL? - I noticed SS transducers which are for AL - bit more selection for non-SS transducers.
I would get an Airmar CHIRP high-wide transducer; TM165HW is the latest with the widest beam angle. As alluded to above, a very narrow beam transducer will more accurately pinpoint structure/fish when fishing Rockfish/Lings. Ultimate would be the DFF3D side scan system which lets you mark the gps position of a fish.
 
Everyone else has said the same thing.. but why spend thousands on a unit to hobble it with 20 year old tech.. I'd upgrade to a chirp transducer. My boats a shitshow and even I'm running chirp. lol.

Good luck!
 
I wanted to thank all of those who provided input and suggestions to me on our electronics package.

Our pockets aren't bottomless so everything is a compromise to some degree.

I can understand everyone's desire to buyand/or reccomend the best (and spend my money) but whenever possible we wanted to be reasonable. As I write this I think of a client years ago who had me comparing the retirement packages for three different divisions of a large multinational corporation with what was offered to the Canadian division. My job was to see what needed to bring the retirement benefits for the Canadian Executives up to a somewhat comparable level. The client explained it to me this way. "I don't want you to give us a Cadillac Plan, what I want you to do, is give us a fully loaded Buick."

Here is our new Buick

Furuno TZTl2-F MFD

Furuno DRS4-NXT radar

MapMedia BC coast chart

Airmar SS60 / 20 transducer

Navico GS25 gps / heading sensor

Sitex MDA5+ AIS transceiver

Icom M506 vhf radio

Shakspeare 5400/XT vhf antenna

Actisense AS-8 port NMEA2000 harness
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Another Electronics Question
Replies
20
Views
2K
ericl
E
Back
Top