HKElectronic s

MV Heather K's Electronics

As an engineer, I like to know things such as as where am I, where's the boat going, how's my propulsion unit doing, etc., etc., etc.... I find electronics can help me do that. Some cruisers, like the Pardees, don't like electronics and cruise without even GPS or radar. My father used to say "chacun son goût" which means "every man to his taste" in French. I believe that electronics help you to enjoy more the cruising life as long as 1) you have a fallback position in the event the electronics fail and 2) maintenance of the electronics does not become a burden. As my good friend Kathy on SV Joss noted, "You stop cruising when the maintenance becomes too much work". With that observation, here are the electronics we have along with a few comments.

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	The lower helm with the wheel and right behind it, the engine instruments. They are RPM, oil pressure, temperature, charging rate and hours for each engine. The twin levers to the left of the post are the gearshifts and to the right of the post are the throttles for each engine. The large screen on the left is the computer display with navigation data. The small screen to the right of the post is the TwinScope Scanning Sonar and depthsounder. Behind it is the radar with a handheld Garmin GPS mounted on top of it. The Garmin is a temporary replacement for a Magellan GPS that failed while offshore (reason to have backups). The Garmin uses the outside Magellan antenna and ships 12V power. Hanging on the door post is the VHF microphone with the PA microphone cord just visible above it. To the right of the wheel are control panels for the anchor winch, roll stabilizers, battgery charger/inverter, and the 12 VDC and 120 VAC volt/amp meters. (Sorry for the small type, but there's much to write about)
	The console above the helm contains from left to right: the two engine fuel flow meters, the PA/foghorn, the Icom VHF radio, and the Magellan 5200 GPS that broke on the voyage. Since Magellan had lousy customer support for the Y2K problem, even though Y2K later turned out to be a non-event, we have bought a Garmin to replace the failed unit. Note the instruction cards to make it easy for anyone, including me and my cruiseheimers, to operate the electronics.
	Continuing to the starboard side of the console are the Autohelm autopilot; a readout for engine exhaust and shaft log temperatures; the knotlog with speed, distance, depth, and water temperature displays; the alarm panel with lights for bilge pumps operating, engine overtemp, and low engine oil pressure; and the windshield wiper switches. We use the autopilot for almost 100% of our cruising time. It's our faithful, third crewmember.
	The Furuno 36 mile radar display with the Garmin GPS just above it. Which is more important? It depends upon your cruising grounds. If it is daytime and visibility is unrestricted, then GPS is more important. If you can't see because of fog or darkness, then radar is more important. We have been thankful for radar when coming down and entering harbors along the fog shrouded Pacific coast, when transiting shipping lanes at night, and during numerous other timer.
	The notebook computer with the display of a Maptech CD ROM chart using the Visual Navigation Suite 5 software. The Navtrek folks have finally come up with a program that is very stable. We have used Navtrek programs since they were on floppy disks and were not too happy until now. The Toshiba notebook computer does not have a serial port so we use a Belkin USB/serial port converter to connect the Garmin GPS for input of the boat's position on the chart. We have paper charts for navigating in case the electronics fail.
	The radio station on the aft, port side of the salon. I made a small desk for the computer. The remote head for the Icom 710 HF-SSB radio is attached to the bookshelf behind the desk.The radio is used every day for the ham/marine nets and to contact friends. On the top right hand corner above the bookshelf is the SCS Pactor II TNC (Terminal Node Controller) which connects the HF radio to the notebook computer for Sailmail/Winlink radio email. A loudspeaker above the TNC improves the sound from the HF radio. A clock with ZULU (GMT) time is attached to the face of the bookshelf along with other radio information.
	The notebook used for emails and weather faxes that come via the HF SSB radio. We have been using Sailmail since 1999 and Winlink since 2001. I like them both very much. Norma would also like a sat-phone to talk to the grandchildren, but I have been holding out. What are you going to use 1) to call for help outside of the USA, 2) to join the AM/PM cruisers' nets, or 3) to talk to your friends that are a 100+ miles away. Good luck if you think you can do all those with a satphone. None of the above are listening, so you will be talking to yourself.
	The SCS Pactor II TNC (modem) that connects the radio to the computer to get radio email. See the Sailmail/Winlink write-up under General Boating Information elsewhere on this website. We have used radio email for an average of 2 emails/day since 1999. It's not fast, about 1-2 kB/minute, and sometimes there is a wait for a station without traffic (just like rush hour for cars). But in discussing it with other boaters that have satphones, they have dropped calls, can't always send email or data, and it costs them quite a bit more. I am happy with our set-up.
	The Hart Tank Level monitor for measuring the level in the two diesel fuel and two water tanks. I have sight glasses on the diesel fuel tanks but they require a trip down into the engine room. This makes it a lot simpler to monitor how much fuel we have. It is also a good back-up to the engine fuel flow gauges. We also have sight glasses on the water tanks but they require a contortionist to read. We have a conversion table for each tank to find gallons from inches shown on the Hart gauge. The Hart gauge is simple and reliable.
	The circuit breaker panel next to the helm. The upper portion has the breakers for the 12 VDC equipment and the lower portion has the breakers for the 120 VAC equipment which includes the kitchen stove, refrigerators/freezer, water heater, watermaker, and air conditioner. Didn't I tell you that Norma's dad worked for many years at GE in the appliance group? Actually, the watermaker and air conditioner were the only items we added, all other 120 VAC equipment came with the boat.
	To the right of the helm are the 120 VAC volt and amp meters; the 12 VDC voltmeter; and to their right from top to bottom: the level trim tabs; the anchor winch ciruit breaker and controls; the NAIAD roll-stabilizer control panel; and the Trace battery charger/inverter control panel.

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