Marine Electronics: 5 Ways to Save Money
Are you buying electronics features you might never use?
August 16, 2010
Do you cringe as you drop big bucks on marine electronics? You should, because in many cases you’ll end up spending that hard-earned cash on units you won’t even be able to effectively use. Electronics overkill is a surprisingly common problem for today’s boaters, because there are so many options with so much capability it’s tough to know exactly when enough is actually too much. Want to make sure you don’t spend more then you have to? Then look out for these issues, when you buy.
It’s antenna height – not power or ratings – that commonly determines radar range.
RADAR
This is the most common unit boaters over-spend on, by a long shot. Range is the main issue; we want to see as far as possible, but radar range is far more often limited by your boat then it is by your radar. What gives? The radar antenna’s height is what will hold you back. If your boat has a hard top or radar arch that’s only 10’ or 12’ off the water, you’ll see targets of about the same size as your boat from only eight or nine miles off—whether you spent big bucks on a unit that can see 72-miles, or a tenth the cost on one that’s limited to 24 miles of range.
The problem is the curvature of the Earth. Radar waves don’t curve with it, so radar’s vision is limited to line-of-sight, just as your eyes are. (At least, it is for the most part; radar gains about five percent more distance since microwave refraction is a hair different then light refraction.) For most boaters, antenna height has more impact on overall range then radar capability does. So before you blow a ton of dough on a longer-range radar, make sure your boat has enough height to make it worthwhile. Use this formula to determine the radar’s “real” range: 1.22NM x AH (the square root of antenna height) + 1.22NM x TH (the square root of target height).
Do you really need all of that chartography? Think, before you buy.
CHARTOGRAPHY
Most chartplotters sold today offer you a plethora of built-in chartography options. You can get everything from a blank brain to one that holds detailed contour lines for every inch of ocean from Portland, Maine to Pompano, Florida. But this added info costs big bucks, and can make a $400 to $500 difference in how much you spend. Sure, some of us will need the full load of data. But many boaters usually stick close to home and will never make use of a fraction of what they buy. If your cruising is usually limited to specific areas, check out the cost of buying a limited data chip as opposed to reams of pre-loaded data, and you might just discover a major-league cost savings.
*Cash-saving Bonus Tip: On eBay you can often find chart cards being sold well below the cost of new ones, by people who have upgraded their electronics or sold their boat!
An EPIRB can save your life, but they can be rented, as well as purchased. (Photo courtesy US Coast Guard)
EPIRB
Safety gear is one thing no one should skimp on, but if you do all of your boating in sheltered waters, an EPIRB is probably overkill. Then comes the opportunity you’ve been dreaming of: a cruise to the ocean, a run down the coast, or a long-distance voyage across a large bay. Should you carry an EPIRB onboard? You bet—but don’t spend big bucks on an item you’ll only use once. EPIRBS can be rented for a fraction of the cost ($40 a week or $65 a week for a GPS-equipped unit at www.boatus.com), which makes a lot more sense than purchasing a unit for one-time use.
Consider what functions you really need before paying big bucks for a VHF.
VHF RADIO
Here’s another electronic item that can cost you a ton of money without giving you much additional benefit. Fixed-mount marine VHFs are limited to 25 watts, so you won’t be able to call for help from any farther away whether you spend $100 or $1,000 on your radio. Most of the features that come with more expensive units relate to how you use them; expanded scanning abilities, accessory use (load hailers, intercoms, auto fog horns, etc.), or expandability. These are features that the vast majority of us will never even think of putting to work. What about that life-saving feature, DSC? All new VHFs are required to have it, by law. What about construction quality? Some units that go for under $100 are completely submersible. So when you go shopping for a new radio, think hard about which features you’ll actually use, and which ones are unnecessary. You might just save yourself a few bucks.
Lenny Rudow has been a writer and editor in the marine field for over two decades and has authored five books. He runs his own web site at HookedOnFishingBoats.com and his syndicated blog appears at Boats.com in the BoaterMouth blog section.
