Basic Boat Electronics for Beginners

Learning about boat electronics may seem a bit daunting, but the tech at your helm will help make running and navigating your boat easier than ever. Thanks to modern marine electronics and navigational instruments, captaining your boat is far less complex and confusing than it once was.

View Details

In fact, electronics have taken tasks like navigation, which once required years of learning to master, and made them as simple as pressing a few buttons or swiping on a touch screen. There are still some rather complex tasks and gear involved when one considers operating some large vessels, but for the average recreational boat owner the list of electronics you’ll need to learn about is relatively short.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website HUAZHONG.

How to Use a Fish Finder

Engine Monitors

Engine monitors provide you with digital gauges like tachometers, fuel level, and engine temperature. Once again, this functionality may come through your MFD or you may have dedicated screens to show you nothing but engine data. In this case, however, having dedicated screens is more common because you’ll want to be able to monitor your powerplants whenever they’re running.

Engine monitors can take up a lot of screen space on an MFD, leaving less room for other systems to be viewed. And they usually need to be used simultaneously with things like chartplotters and fishfinders. So most of the time, engine monitors will have their own stand-alone screens.

Just about all of us are used to seeing digital gauges in the dashboard of our cars and trucks, so you should have zero problem adapting to using them in your boat. Just remember that with a boat there are often more variables to consider, and engine monitors may include things like drive trim level or rudder angle in addition to basic engine data.

VHF Radio

Of all the electronics on your boat, the VHF radio is one of the most important. It’s a critical piece of safety gear and the most reliable way to communicate with the authorities in case of emergency. Yes, we all carry cell phones these days, but cell service can get sketchy on many waterways and cell phones are prone to water damage.

Your VHF radio, on the other hand, is the best way to reliably get a call for help through to the authorities in any place or situation. VHFs are relatively simple to operate, so read through How to Use a VHF Radio and familiarize yourself with the process.

How to Use a VHF Radio

Explore Other Boat Electronics

What about all those more advanced systems found on larger boats, like autopilots, radar, or EPIRBs? We have info about them, too, which you can find below. But for the average boat owner, our short-list will cover all the bases. Learn how to use your MFD, GPS/chartplotter, fish finder or depth sounder, engine monitors, and VHF radio, and you’ll be ready to hit the water and enjoy some fun in the sun with confidence.

Read Next: Best Boating Apps for Navigation, Fishing, Weather & More

You May Also Like:

6. Strengthen the communication between crew members

A vessel was in transit through the Suez Canal with a pilot on board. The vessel was supposed to move along the centerline of the canal, however, as it deviated from the center line, the pilot and the crew on the bridge used the corrective wheel and thrusters to counteract this deviation. By that time, the ship had swung heavily and approached the bank on the opposite side. The stern of the vessel touched the rocky sea bottom. There was a heavy thud and a vibration in the wheelhouse and engine room. The ship's speed dropped and increased again. All ship crew noticed the vibration. The engine room called the bridge to confirm that everything was in order. Both watches confirmed to the pilot if everything was in order, to which the pilot replied in the affirmative. The vessel picked up speed again and resumed movement along the canal. The most senior officer of the watch did not call the captain and did not discuss the incident with him later. However, below the waterline, the bow of the hull was damaged and its strength in the impacted zone was significantly reduced. There was a slight deformation, but below the waterline. Later when the ship was loading the cargo at port, there was again a big dull sound, and the OOW noticed that water gushed into the ballast tanks No. 1, 2, 3 at the port side. Due to the constant stress on the damaged, deformed and worn plate, the weak zone collapsed and failed.

Often we have seen junior officers on board ships respond "Yes, sir" to any given task, and later find that something else has been done about the subject.

Various incidents on board require the seafarer to act and react according to predefined and predetermined patterns during routine and emergency situations. For a variety of non-standard tasks, companies have also introduced procedures for group meetings, on board training and risk assessments. These interactions help the captain or other team leaders recognize the merits and weaknesses of their team members before assigning a task. Communication between the team leader and team members, or between team members, is key here in avoiding the occurrence of human error chains by identifying and eliminating their root causes.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of marine navigational aids company. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.