The first time I sailed across the Pacific was in 1975. This is a much younger me in Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas.
We navigated with a sextant and a chronometer that we kept in a velvet-lined box. Paper charts and pencil. The only pieces of electronics gear on that 44-foot sailboat were a Heathkit home-built digital depth sounder and a battery-operated multi-band short wave receiver. No radio, no refrigeration, and for entertainment, we usually read books by the light of a Coleman lantern.
My, how things have changed in 45 years.
While I’m really glad I got the opportunity to experience those early days of cruising, I have never longed to go back to the “good old days.” Rather, most of my life I have been an early adopter of technology, from Loran to Sat-Nav, to GPS, to computer navigation, to iPads and navigation apps. So it just seemed right when Wayne was finding himself a bit overwhelmed with the work of ordering equipment and overseeing the build, and not finding enough time to work on our beloved Mr. Gee, that the job I could most likely help out with was in the area of electronics and networking. So I dove in to the deep end of the research pool and quickly found myself over my head. But, hey, I find it really exciting to learn new stuff, and that’s a huge part of what this building Möbius is all about for us.
Over the next few weeks and months, I hope to write several blog posts covering my journey of learning and decisions we have made about our various networks, from NMEA 2000 to ethernet, to our Victron smart management system of our batteries, chargers and solar panels. Today, I’m going to start with our decision to go all-in on PCs.
Multifunction display chart plotters, or MFD’s have become the standard on most recreational boats. When I met Wayne, he had a single Raymarine E7 chart plotter on Learnativity, the boat we sold before starting this project. He had fitted that boat out 15 years before, upgrading the original electronics. Then he upgraded again many miles later when that plotter failed. Each time, it was rip out the old and stick in new hardware.
Today’s multifunction chart plotters show radar, AIS targets, depth, fish finder graphs, sonar, and night vision cameras. Some interact with the boat’s stereo system, can switch to internet browsing, and even take control of the boat’s drones! They are amazing, but essentially, they are closed black boxes that need to get sent back to the manufacturer for repairs.
As versatile as today’s MFD’s are, there is still much they cannot do. You cannot install any other software on them. At the very least, we knew that we wanted to have a pretty big and complex Maretron monitoring system on the boat, and we would need to run N2K View software. Plus, we wanted a permanent ship’s entertainment system with all our collection of photos, music and video on a Synology NAS hard drive system. We were going to need a ship’s computer anyway.
So then we started to look at the navigation equipment we wanted to use because that would, in part, drive our decision as to the navigation software we would use. Early on, we made the decision to go with Furuno for most of our electronics on the new boat. We started with what radar we wanted and Furuno won on that count, and their customer service is very good, their equipment extremely robust. So initially, we were looking at Furuno MFDs.
But one of the problems we faced was that we wanted lots of screens to see all those different systems all the time at two different helms. And given that we both wear glasses and are not getting any younger, we wanted decent-sized screens. Each MFD chart plotter has a powerful computer inside. These days most manufacturers also sell Black Box chart plotters allowing customers to connect them to their own monitors, but the Furuno TZT2BB while it has two Windows computers inside, only allows two monitors. And the 15” TZT2 MFDs we were looking at started at an MSRP of over $5000.00 each.
In the end the main reasons we decided to forego MFDs and go as a strictly PC boat were:
1. Cost
2. Upgradability
3. Versatility
Another thing we liked about Furuno was the fact that their navigation software that runs on Furuno MFDs is also available from Maxsea Nobeltec for PCs. Today, the program is called TimeZero, and while Furuno licenses the software for their MFDs, we can also run it on a Windows 10 computer. We considered OpenCpn, a free, open-source navigation application, but we read too many posts about people having the application crash, and it only will work with some radars, not all. When we investigated the TimeZero software, we were sold. The interface is beautiful and it works with Furuno radars. TimeZero comes in two version, Navigator and Professional, and while it’s not cheap, we decided to go with the Pro for all the extras, and we bought two licenses for just over $2000.00. Yeah, ouch.
Our first plan was to have our two computers be a permanent ship’s computer and then Wayne’s laptop would stand in for the second. It would give us redundancy, and we could do planning on the laptop.
Then I went on the forums and started to research computers. There is the Trawler Forum, the Cruisers and Sailing Forum, the Facebook Group TimeZero Navigation Software User’s Group, and the Furuno Community Forum. There are also lots of blogs we have mentioned previously as our favorites. I searched and read as much as I could, and of course, there was lots of disagreement.
Some folks are adamant that the ship should have a navigation computer with no other software on it, while others use theirs to navigate AND watch movies and check email, and they’ve been doing it for years.
Some swore by powerful machines, while others were happy to run OpenCPN on Raspberry Pi computers. Some said they would never trust a home-built, hack-job, while others said that nearly everything on their boats was DIY so they could fix it when it died. Some said you could buy a computer, but you’d save lots of money if you built it yourself.
When I talked to a Furuno rep about what specs they would like to see in a computer to best run TZ, I was told, “Our standard currently is an I7 CPU, 8/16 GB ram, gtx1060/1070, and a 250gb solid state HDD.”
In the end, I decided to do a bit of all of it. We will have two ship’s computers – in addition to our laptops. For the skybridge, we will buy a fanless industrial computer that will be kept pure as a ship’s computer and will run only TimeZero and N2K View. On the more powerful one at the main helm, we will not worry about contamination, and we’ll run whatever software we want. It will be our entertainment center as well. And this Apple fangirl decided I would build this Windows 10 box myself. While you can run TZ on older i7 processors, I didn’t want our system to lag while outputting to multiple monitors and running the graphics intensive charting software. So, I decided to spend the money on the 9th generation Intel processor in part because it can support up to 4 monitors, and that is what we have planned for the lower main helm: two 15” monitors at the helm, one 43” monitor to port and a 49” TV to starboard. TimeZero Pro only supports three “workspaces,” but we will want a permanent display for Maretron N2K View.
I really enjoyed the learning for the build process. I made heavy use of the website PC Parts Picker, and I started reading the forums where the gaming guys talk shop. I built this back in December 2019, and I decided to pay for a newly released processor so we could get some years out of it. When I opted for the “small form factor,” I thought it would be smaller than it is, but it doesn’t really matter. We have room on the boat for a full-size tower.
Here’s the parts list for my final build:
Intel Core i7-9700 Coffee Lake 8-Core 3.0 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) processor $349.99
Noctua NH-U12S – Premium CPU Cooler with NF-F12 120mm Fan $59.95
Fractal Design Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case. $79.99
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz Memory kit $74.99
MSI MPG Z390M Micro ATX Motherboard $155.00
MSI Gaming GEForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS 6G OC Graphics Card $227.99
Crucial P1 1TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive. $99.00
Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-12 120mm Computer Case Fan $15.99
CORSAIR TX-M Series TX550M CP-9020133-NA 550W ATX12V Semi-Modular Power Supply. $89.99
Windows 10 Pro $129.00
Total price: $1281.89
As you can see in the photo above, I’m not sure how they get away with calling this a MicroATX Mid Tower. For someone who is used to laptops, this thing looks huge. And when I compare this to what you can buy that is similar in power and design, I’m not convinced I saved much money. But the big advantage I feel is that I learned so much, and as time goes on, I can easily increase the RAM if necessary, add a more powerful graphics card, or switch the built-in power supply from 110 to 24 volts. In the photo, you can see it is running on an AC converter since we are in Turkey with 240V and the computer currently runs on 110V. The 24V power supply I looked at was $330, and since we don’t have the batteries hooked up yet, I went with AC for now so I could actually tell if my creation worked and start up the learning curve on Time Zero Pro. Perhaps I will pop for the other power supply in the future.
This Mid Tower computer will reside in the cabinet on the port side of the main helm behind the TV in the main salon. You can see that cavernous area on the far left of the photo above. The TV will be mounted on a swinging door that can be opened to access the air handler and the computer, as well as other networking bits and pieces.
Here’s the sort of computer we intend to buy for our second computer:
Fanless PC Industrial Mini PC Windows 10 Pro 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD Intel Whiskey Lake i7-8565u, TDP 15W8M Cache, up to 4.60 GHz, Quad Core 8 threads Desktop Computer with HDMI/TPC/EDP Ports, M.2 WiFi, BT 4.0, 4K HD, RS232 / 485 COM, SATA 3.0 for 2.5 Inch HDD/SSD
Total price on Amazon: $917.00
And the size is quite different! It has an 8th generation Intel Processor, so it will still support three monitors, but that does push the price up. At the moment, we only intend to have two monitors at the upper helm, but it is nice to know we will have room to grow. 
Also, these are just basically Intel NUC computers, so I know they are expandable in terms of adding a larger SSD or more RAM.
This one will go into a cabinet that is just to port as you go down the steps into the main salon. Both computers will have dual LAN ports. Furuno is fussy about insisting that their hardware needs to be on its own isolated network. We will have a FAR 1523 radar, BBD-S1 bottom discriminating depth sounder, and the Axis camera encoder for our FLIR camera, as well as some exterior cameras on that network. All the wifi, additional cameras, Synology NAS, and other non-Furuno stuff will be on the other network.
For monitors, after a fair amount of research, we chose Litemax Navpixel marine displays. At first, I searched and searched for regular monitors, but since we only had room for two 19” displays at the lower helm, the choices were few. We didn’t really need the waterproof aspect, but I wanted them to be able to dim almost to black easily, preferably with a hard knob, and I wanted them sunlight readable, even for inside. We have so much glass in our salon, and our eyes aren’t getting any younger. By going direct to the supplier in Taiwan, we were able to get two 19” displays, two 24” displays, and one regular non-waterproof 43” monitor for about $8000.00 including shipping.
This is a photo of one of the 24” monitors from Litemax. This is a full multi-touch,1920×1080,1000 nits sunlight readable, IP65 sunlight readable Marine Display.
One 19” TZT3 ChartPlotter sells for $8,495.00. To be fair, that includes the sounder, and we will have to buy the sounder module ($500) for our TimeZero software.
In addition to the TimeZero software, we will also have Rose Point Coastal Explorer software. We will have CS on our laptops for planning purposes, and for back-up in case we lose both of the ship’s computers. In addition, we have tablets and phones. For redundancy and back-up, we feel we are covered.
In the end, we won’t know until we get out there, but we’re both pretty happy with our decision to make Möbius an all-PC boat.
We will carry very few paper charts, just a few large area ocean charts, but we will have paper pilot charts. And in the event we lose all electricity, we both have sextants, a copy of the tables, and a nautical almanac on Kindle (with a tiny portable solar panel).
If I have to break out the sextant, I think it will be just like riding a bike.
Stay safe and healthy everyone. We’re on a long passage with this Pandemic, but as Wayne and I always say to each other when things blow up on us — This too shall pass.
Fair winds,
Christine
KISS?
Ah, yes, the famous acronym KISS- Keep It Simple, Stupid. If anybody has followed my previous blogs, they would know that I have often written about the virtues of simplicity. And here this new boat is quite complicated and expensive. MÖBIUS is certainly a far cry from my old Caliber 33 TALESPINNER with my iPad in a ziplock clamped to the helm. But the way I see it, it is a use case change. Wayne and I have decided that we would like to cruise in the higher latitudes. That’s a big change from the more benign tropics. I know that some people have sailed the higher latitudes with fairly simple boats, but we are extremely fortunate to have the means to attempt to create the strongest, safest boat we can build. Now, we are building our navigation system with a much higher level of robustness as well. We have bought a big commercial Furuno radar, and we need the software to work with it, and the computers that can drive it. And we need redundancy. In the end, I think our PC route is the more simple choice when compared to a glass bridge filled with MFDs.
You are indeed amazing. I was thinking about Mobius last week and wondering how tall is her mast and how high the radar antenna will be. On Quail I could see (not surface contacts of course) the thunder boomers at fifty miles and the antenna was only at 32 feet.
Hi Bob – Thanks for the kind words. It is this boat that will be amazing. I remember 18 years ago sitting on my condo balcony looking down at your Quail on the dock and dreaming that I would someday have another boat. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be a 78-foot powerboat! (Granted, there have been a couple of other boats in between) Our radar arch on MÖBIUS will be about 25 feet off the water, so we should be able to see weather a good long way off.
Hi Christine – found you off Trawler Forum. Question: How will you interface sensors like a sounder or wind instruments? I see Rose Point offers NEMO, will you be using something similar with TZ?
Thanks so much for sharing – I look forward to updates.
Peter
Hi Peter – One of the real benefits of the NEMO box is that it can bring the devices that are still NMEA 0183 on to the NMEA 2000 bus. We bought a NEMO thinking that we might have to use it for our autopilot, but so far it doesn’t look like it. Everything from our Airmar SS60 triducer (depth, speed, sea temp) to our Airmar 220WX weather station (GPS apparent wind and true wind, barometric pressure, air temperature, Three-axis compass and accelerometer) are all native NMEA 2000. We will use the Maretron USB100 N2K to PC interface to get the NMEA 2000 data to the computer. The TimeZero software recognizes the NMEA 2000 data sentences that are relevant, and in the software settings, you can tell it where to find the data. If you have more than one source for that type of data, you can set an order for the multiple data sources. For example, we’ll rate our satellite compass as the first source for the heading info, and then our Airmar weather station as the second source for compass heading. Of course, all this is just theory until we can get all this set up. That’s going to be the real challenge!
Few random thoughts, what has worked fine for me and what I have found to be quite close to an ideal setup:
– I have a full power computer “downstairs” and a Rasberry Pi and/or a tablet as a thin client showing the screen at the helm, you can run it on VNC or RDP, I currently run RDP full screen from virtualbox and it works like charm and you really cannot tell its not running local. This way, there is no fan or much power at the helm, plus helm hardware is dirt-cheap, easily replaced / replicated.
– same session/display can be replicated on VNC/RDP to multiple additional displays to have a copy of the desktop and charting/radar etc. I have it on my tablet when I cook for example, to have an idea what is going around. But you could replicate the same session to main helm / skybridge, if you wanted to.
– I run my navigation software inside a virtual box and Windows guest, running on Linux host. This way I can take a known-to-work snapshot anytime and restore it with literally push of a button if something goes south. Also the host hardware has no “state”, in a way I have my navigation SW image on thumbdrive and I can put it up and running in minutes on any computer
– I keep the host OS 100% clean, no other SW than Virtualbox. Everything runs in guest images.
– I keep my navigation sw image 100% clean and not connected to anything but the sensors. As it is kept “airgapped”, no need to apply any updates/patches which might and do break things
– I have separate enterteinment sw image for watching movies etc and connecting to internet etc. This is not a Windows image, for obvious reasons 🙂
– my full power computer is currently a powerful Lenovo i7 laptop with two batteries, SW-configured to float at 75% SOC. This way batteries last for ever, and runtime on batteries in case of blackout is still 10+ hours. Spare batteries are like 30 USD. I also have an USB GPS dongle hooked to this laptop, so it can be used 100% standalone if needed.
– I have an older Macbook pro as a backup. It runs same virtualbox images just fine, though with slightly less performance
– I run also my radar 100% on computer. No reason not to ditch that dedicated, hard to replace radar black box.
If I was not using Windows, all the above could be done for zero sw cost.
Might sound a bit overly complicated, but really it is not, actually very KISS when you dig in. Nothing involved is complicated at all, setting up eg. Virtualbox is so well documented online than most anyone can do it in under 30 mins.
Hi Andy – Thanks for that very complete picture of your set-up. I have not yet leaped into the world of Virtual Networks or Linux, but if this quarantine keeps on going as long as some project, I just might find the time to do that. I’m also curious to dabble in the world of Signal K. I assume you are using OpenCPN chart plotter software, and what you are describing with being able to take a “known to work snapshot” is certainly one of the benefits of that free software. TimeZero licenses have to be activated, so that means if we have to wipe a drive and reload the software, or if we want to load it on a different computer, we need to deactivate the current installation and reactivate the new one. This could be problematic in the middle of the ocean. We will have an Iridium Go for satellite communications, and activation can take place via email, but still it does make one pause and think. Thankfully, we have plenty of handheld devices with charting software and we will have those two sextants collecting dust down in the basement.
Very much would encourage to look into Virtualbox, it is a very mature product and runs on most any host, can run on Windows and Mac as well, running on Linux is just an option.
I currently use various charting softwares, OpenCPN is one of them – though I have considered moving to Timezero. Running it under Virtualbox should not affect the activation – you run it and activate it 100% normal I would think. After activation you cut all the cords to outside world and just use the software like you would offline.
Then if you run into a problem, you roll back the snapshot and it is like going back in the time, everything should work like you were just freshly booted, including the activation and all. You can even have multiple snapshots, unlimited number in fact, and they take tiny amount of space on HDD thanks to clever design. Yes, this technically enables running a “backup copy” on another machine, but lets stay honest and not do that.
Also, this way if you upgrade your hardware, your SW still keeps working without knowing anything about new drivers etc. You can run ancient software like Windows 95 this way no problem.
Anyways, nowadays it is usually almost always best to have separate host OS underneath and a guest OS running on top of Virtualbox or Vmware or Parallels or some other virtualization SW, makes life so much easier, safer and more reliable. Bit like running your own servers vs cloud computing, but that is another story…
This is a comment from morganscloud:
“I suspect the main reason for not supporting virtualization is to reduce their support cost, mainly related to licensing. I have been running Timezero Navigator 3 in Parallels Desktop without any problem, except for the licensing. Each time you change the specs of the VM such as changing the amount of ram or number of processors, you run the risk of Timezero not recognizing the hardware anymore and thinking it’s a different machine, which then requires a call to support to fix.”
I take it as a confirmation that Timezero would work 100% just fine under Virtualbox, as long as you keep the VM-settings unchanged as you usually do anyway, the activation works just as expected.
Parallels Desktop is a competing product to Virtualbox, there are others, but mainly they all do the same thing in the end, let you run one OS inside another.
bonus for using a (Lenovo) laptop is that in addition to having built in UPS, you can power it:
– universal 110/230 VAC adapter (included)
– a 10-30 VDC travel adapter (cheap)
– a Lenovo powerbank (10+ hours)
– any USB-C outlet
Gives many options onboard. I currently power mine via inverter, but can power it directly from the battery as well.
Nice write-up. Thank you. What powers the fanless mini-PC. Does it come with a power supply, or did you buy something separately? I’m wondering if you went with a DC supply, if it’s possible on a 12-volt boat, or if an AC to DC supply is required. GregBrannon from TF.
Hi Greg – Thanks for the kind words. The fanless mini PC runs on 12V – it comes with a power cord with a brick adapter for AC, but you can chuck that and wire it into your 12V boat. Our boat is primarily a 24V boat, but we have some 12V stuff like our VacuFlush toilet system, so we will have a couple of DC to DC converters. There are lots of different models of these small industrial computers available on Amazon. The one I mentioned is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083HX6HPM/ We had been planning on buying it on a trip back to the US in May, so we still haven’t bought ours yet, and at this point who knows when we will, right? These small industrial computers are available here in Turkey too, but computer electronics stuff is much more expensive here due to a high VAT tax.
BTW, you plan to use the FAR radar via Timezero SW or “directly” on a dedicated display/keyboard?
I guess as it should be fully supported, would make not much of difference, though I must confess the dedicated control keyboard of FAR radars is quite nice.
The FAR radar we got is what is called a Black Box radar. It comes with a keyboard, but no screen, and it requires additional processing from a computer with TZ or a Furuno MFD to display the radar. The way they sell this Time Zero software is modular. You have to buy the different modules for things like radar, sounder, sonar, voyage data recorder. One of the reasons we went with the Pro version is that the radar module is included. Once you have the module, then it will include that as one of the “work spaces” and we could then have the navigation workspace on one screen, the radar on another if we wanted to. From the videos and tutorials I have watched, the radar display looks just the same via TZ as it would on a dedicated radar display.
Thanks for the clarification! I would for sure use the radar directly to play with that glorious FAR-keyboard, beats fiddling with a mouse anytime!
I am seriously considering Timezero as a possible potential next navigation software. In your opinion is there another reason(s) than the mentioned radar module to go with the pro-licence? I see radar module can be added to standard as well.
I’ll see about that, radar options is basically Furuno/Timezero or OpenCPN/Navico/Garmin. Those options both allow for 100% PC-navigation, without even the black box for the radar, direct ethernet connection.
I have now had a trial over the weekend on my most likely next gen navigation system:
– OpenCPN will remain hearth of the system, with radar connected to it. Next radar will most likely be Halo24. Haven’t purchased that yet, but my old 4G radar works fine.
– for charts I have chosen to go quite an unconventional way. I will be using Navionics Boating Charts for Android, but run them on an Android emulator on PC. I have tried Prime OS and it seems to work fine under Virtualbox.
This way I get everything I need and a rock solid setup that can run on any OS. Navionics seems to be among the best charting wise, and their Android prices are very reasonable, plus with same account I can run a backup on physical Android tablet which I have. Only thing missing is chart/radar overlay, which is only available on OpenCPN maps which I plan to purchase only few, but then again I prefer side by side dedicated monitors for chart and radar.
I think this setup is close to perfect, from option I have tried so far.
Forgot to mention, when running Prime OS Android under Virtualbox, obviously there will be no GPS available. This is easily solved by running Mock Geo Fix app, which can be fed NMEA data from actual GPS over network:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=github.luv.mockgeofix&hl=en
Also it makes sense to switch on “never sleep” from developer options. Other than that, everything works like charm with not much tweaking.
This is what Navionics looks like running under Prime OS under Virtualbox on my laptop, with image relayed and displayed over RDP to my Raspberry PI display:
https://i.ibb.co/jhcm8Jc/Screen-Shot-2020-04-20-at-16-28-36.png
No actual Android device involved.
Hi Andy – That is impressive that you are able to get the very inexpensive (compared to PC) Android Navionics charts to work so well for you. We used Navionics exclusively on our last boat and they were generally very good. In some places in the Pacific, like the Lau group in Fiji, they were so far off they showed us anchored on land. On this boat we are going with C-Map. I won’t have an opinion until we get a chance to use them.
Hello,
just to be aware, you can evaluate and compare CMAP and Navionics online for free – also great for passage planning:
https://letsembark.io/core/map
https://lightmarine.c-map.com/maps-online
https://webapp.navionics.com/
These have full global charts available, only thing missing is the offline and GPS support for which you have to pay the licence.
Also CMAP is available on Android for a fairly reasonable price. I plan to install it as well and purchase “alternative” charts if needed, but mainly go on Navionics for better overall coverage – at least I feel so.
I already asked, but should I want to go to TZ Navigator in future, what is the main reason to go to Pro version rather than Standard?
The main reasons we went with Pro were
1. Financial. TimeZero software comes in two versions, Navigator ($475 + $450 Radar Module = $925) and Pro ($1475). Prices are from Defender.com. We need the radar module, and it is included with Pro, but not with Navigator. Due to the screen issue below, we would have needed more Navigator Licenses and it would have cost more.
2. Screens. With Navigator you get two workstations, but each one can only display to one monitor. Navigator would have suited us just fine on our previous sailboat. But now we want to put the navigation software on 6 monitors, and that would have required three Navigator licenses. Pro licenses allow you to output to three different monitors from one licensed computer. Each monitor can display a workspace like Radar on one, Charting on another, and Bottom Discriminating Sounder on another.
3. Advanced interface allows more configurability in Pro than in Navigator.
4. Cameras. AXIS IP Cameras and Video Converter Support. Flir camera support. This is only available on Pro.
3. Alarms. We use alarms extensively on passages, and only the Pro version lets you set a safety zone around the boat with alarms to go off if radar targets or AIS targets appear.
There is a good table that compares the features of the two here: https://mytimezero.com/features-comparison
Thanks, makes perfect sense! This is exactly the type of information that is so valuable but so hard to find on the datasheets and product websites!
BTW, do you plan to purchase the World Chart Pack by CMAP for Timezero? I fail to see the price anywhere, any idea on the cost for that?
I looked at CMAP over their webviewer, overall it looks very good, but I think the coverage on the higher latitudes is somewhat lacking. I don’t know if this is just the webviewer or if that is indeed the case.
Hi Andy,
Bluewater Books in Fort Lauderdale shows the price for the C-Map world chart collection here: http://www.bluewaterweb.com/p-30969-c-map-world-chart-collection-unlock-code-mm3d.aspx. Yes, that is $5,900. But it is 13 Megawide regions which normally sell for $500 each, or $6,500. It’s not a big savings, and given that one region is Russia, well… And apparently it does not include the European Inland Waters. And then there is the issue of the annual updates on the charts. When you buy the charts all at once, you are stuck with the date at which you bought the whole shebang. Updates costs $250 each. The flip side is that you have all the charts and sometimes an out of date chart could be better than no chart. It’s a tough decision.
Just came across your site after reading about it on Trawler Forum.
Interestingly enough, I made the decision to use a TZT2 MFD as a backup because I already had a toughbook running TZPro for a WASSP multibeam.
Same as you did, purchased the extra modules required for radar and sounder and am looking for PC and Monitors, your article was most helpful in that department.
Thanks you.
Hi Peter
Glad this was helpful. Although we haven’t installed them yet (so we haven’t actually fired them up), so far these NavPixel monitors look like a pretty good deal when compared to other marine monitors. They look to be extremely well made, and Peter Hayden whom you probably know from the Trawler Forum (Twisted Tree) had them on his last Nordhvn and recommended them to us. If you haven’t seen it already, Wayne wrote about our small computer purchase here: https://mobius.world/new-arrivals-mount-up-xpm78-01-mbius-progress-update-02-06-2020/. It’s a Kingdell fanless computer I bought on Amazon here. They even have a special coupon offer for $100 off right now, and I am very pleased with this little guy. Good luck with your search for the right set up for your boat.
Christine