The Bullet points with background below:
-Autohelm ST6000 autopilot 75% installed by p/o (4 yrs??) I assume it works.
-ST50s for speed & wind
-Datamarine fathom & knotlog
-Standard Horizon VHF-FM radio
-Leave possibility for future radar
-On southern shore of Chesapeake Bay
**Want to integrate these systems with a chart plotter w/o going broke**
*What do you loose using NEMA?
Right now we are day sailors, with ambitions of short overnights, maybe a week long. We came up from Corpus Christi, TX where I just used the depth sounder and a standard wind vain until a bird took it. The bay was fairly consistent depth wise, no currents to build real shoals, so we'd just go out willy-nilly and come in when we got bored. Now I'm unsure of the depth profiles, area, ext. So the chart-plotter will mostly be to help keep me off the bottom; however, since I have the above, I might as well get it all up and running. :dance:
Raymarine would be the easiest choice, as it can plug into the seatalk, but it's more then I want to spend. I know I can connect using NEMA, but I wonder what are the consequences - how much integration do I loose?? I'd like to have just the one console at the helm, the datamarine units are built into the cockpit and could be turned on in the event of a system failure. I also don't want to have to start over again if we decide to go on a real trip and decide to get radar, AIS, ext.
Thanks for your help, I know this is a common topic.
-Kevin
-Autohelm ST6000 autopilot 75% installed by p/o (4 yrs??) I assume it works.
-ST50s for speed & wind
-Datamarine fathom & knotlog
-Standard Horizon VHF-FM radio
-Leave possibility for future radar
-On southern shore of Chesapeake Bay
**Want to integrate these systems with a chart plotter w/o going broke**
*What do you loose using NEMA?
Right now we are day sailors, with ambitions of short overnights, maybe a week long. We came up from Corpus Christi, TX where I just used the depth sounder and a standard wind vain until a bird took it. The bay was fairly consistent depth wise, no currents to build real shoals, so we'd just go out willy-nilly and come in when we got bored. Now I'm unsure of the depth profiles, area, ext. So the chart-plotter will mostly be to help keep me off the bottom; however, since I have the above, I might as well get it all up and running. :dance:
Raymarine would be the easiest choice, as it can plug into the seatalk, but it's more then I want to spend. I know I can connect using NEMA, but I wonder what are the consequences - how much integration do I loose?? I'd like to have just the one console at the helm, the datamarine units are built into the cockpit and could be turned on in the event of a system failure. I also don't want to have to start over again if we decide to go on a real trip and decide to get radar, AIS, ext.
Thanks for your help, I know this is a common topic.
-Kevin
