Knowing When Its Time To Upgrade
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It is always amazing to me how quickly
marine electronics evolve. It seems that at
every boat show there is something new,
something better—while at the same time,
feature after feature goes from “the latest” to
obsolescence in what feels like months.
For the past year, we have been bombarded with
press releases about new gear of interest to the
cruising boat owner. One example is C-Map’s new
Max cartography, which offers a level of contentrich
chart information that promises to raise the bar
in the pilothouse. Several layers of information
provide a range from basic navigation charting to
an overload of marine facility phone numbers, land
and road details, bridge details, and all sorts of
other data combined into a region’s single NT card.
Growler ’s Furuno NavNet chart plotter is only
three years old, but—unfortunately—it can’t run the
newest C-Map product, which, in the case of
Furuno, requires the newer NavNet vx2 equipment.
I soon learned it would be no simple software
update to the computer inside the Furuno display,
but instead would require replacing the otherwise
perfectly good 10-inch display with one that looks
identical but has newer internal components. And it
would cost me roughly $3,000 to swap the display.
Replacing the C-Map NT card with the Max card
would be an additional expense.
As one who loves to try new products, I could
easily have justified the expense of such a project
under the heading of editorial research. But as a
boat owner, it struck me that here was yet another
example of a recurring question I’ve long pondered:
At what threshold or price point can an owner
justify upgrading or replacing serviceable and
reliable marine electronics and accessories for
newer products? Beyond the junkie factor of wanting the latest and greatest no matter what, is
there a reasonable process for making such a
decision? One that can be successfully defended to
one’s spouse?
Many years ago, in a lifetime distant from my
current state of being, I was an assembly language
programmer in telecommunications. As a young
and enthusiastic computer programmer, I quite
vividly recall an IBM instructor explaining the finer
points of system design. He said there was a good
yardstick by which to judge a system’s lifespan in a
changing business or application environment. He
maintained that if the percentage of code needed to
change a computer system would exceed 15
percent, no matter the application, it was better to
completely redesign the system and write a new
one than to patch changes into the current system.
That has stuck with me over the years, and I find it
somewhat helpful in wrestling with the NavNet vx2
quandary.
In order to find out what today’s version of the
15-percent factor is in the marine electronics
market, I first spoke with our technical editor, Steve
D’Antonio. Steve has customers at his yard with
20-year-old radar units that work just fine. These
folks don’t see the point in replacing reliable, wellunderstood
radar with new equipment. And Steve
never pushes his customers one way or the other,
as it is a personal decision.
Furuno’s advertising and communications
manager, Jeff Kauzlaric, was surprisingly candid
when I called him about this question. He did chafe
a bit about the use of the term “upgrade,”
however—obviously a point brought home after
many hours of booth duty at boat shows around
the country. He began by clarifying the terms of
this discussion, telling me that the term “upgrade” is really valid only for software
changes; swapping marine
hardware is considered
“replacement.” Fair enough.
Jeff explained that the change
in architecture from NavNet
(such as the plotter on Growler)
to NavNet vx2 was done to take
advantage of newer technology,
both for C-Map NT Max and
for Navionics Gold cartography.
He went on to say that
Furuno’s engineering of NavNet
vx2 was done to allow
swapping the display units only,
keeping existing radar, GPS,
and other networked
components in the system. This provides an
opportunity to make the jump in technology
without having to replace an entire networked
system of marine electronics. For a multiple-display
system on a larger boat, however, replacing all of
the displays can still be an expensive proposition.
In the case of Growler ’s single-display system, is it
worth $3,000 to get the newer technology? “You
have to look at the features,” Jeff said. “In the case
of NavNet versus NavNet vx2, the differences are
not that huge, although AIS is available on the
newer equipment.” In my case, Jeff did not see
much advantage of making the change. Maybe in a
couple of years, when the list of features expands
further, doing so may be justified.
He went on to explain that when the entire
architecture changes,
it is often a different
matter, and one can
really justify the
newer equipment
only when it is time
to buy a new boat. A
good example is
Raymarine’s HSB2
technology versus its
latest E-Series
navigation electronics.
The architecture is so
different that
transitioning to the
newer version requires replacement of the entire
system. And the newer
equipment may not fit the
available helm space, or the
holes left in the console
from removing older
displays and controls.
“Be careful to evaluate the
new features,” Jeff said. “Is
the redraw speed faster? Are
the chart detail and
information much better? Is
the fishfinding better? Are
there more options than
what I currently have? Does
this offer more flexibility for
the future?” All are excellent
questions. In the case of Growler ’s NavNet update,
an AIS receiver on a boat represents a definite
safety factor.
“Ultimately, it’s a personal decision,” Jeff
concluded. “Gadget-crazy people want the latest,
but most people don’t need to swap out perfectly
good equipment for newer, but essentially similar,
equipment.
“It’s the nature of electronics—look at cell phones
and all of the features they have today. It’s been like
this for a long time.”
ComMar’s Steve Davis, industry rep for Icom,
offered that if something isn’t broken, why replace
equipment? He did say that some things do wear
out, which may change the equation. For instance,
an Icom handheld VHF radio’s battery may only
last five or six
years, and the cost
of a replacement
battery may be
half the cost of
buying a new
radio. That may be
an instance in
which to consider
buying new.
(Fixed-mount
radios last a long
time, but Steve
told me that if a
radio is over 10
years old, it should be tested for receiver and transmitter performance.)
I also discussed the subject of electronic charting
software with Jeff Hummel. Jeff has been PMM’s
electronics editor for the last couple of years and
has recently left us to become director of sales and
marketing for Rose Point Navigation Systems. Jeff
was heavily involved with the development of
Nobeltec’s VNS and Admiral navigation systems
and is an authority on marine navigation. When it
comes to electronics and navigation systems, I’ve
met few people who are more knowledgeable than
Jeff Hummel.
“In the last couple of years, there have been
some huge advances that make it worth the cost of
updating one’s electronics,” Jeff said. “New heading
sensors, radar overlay, and AIS are all worth a
look.
“There are ‘noise level’ upgrades in navigation
software that tweak little features and fix bugs. But
when a new feature is introduced, such as AIS, I
would definitely make the investment. If you are
comfortable with your older-style radar, fine. But
with new features like ARPA and MARPA, I say go
for it.”
When it comes to paper and electronic charts,
Jeff says it is important to have the most current. “I
don’t trust charts, or any single piece of gear. I put
it all together and that’s what I trust.”
Jeff recalls the early days at Nobeltec, when
founder Jay Phillips had a rule for each new release
of Nobeltec software: There had to be three features that really knocked your socks off to justify
spending the money for the new release. Three
features that are so obvious one is simply
compelled to buy it. That’s not a bad rule for the
consumer, either.
“It’s a very good value if you spend $100 for an
upgrade that has really new and useful features,” Jeff
said. And he is certain there are many features still
out there to develop. Electronic charting isn’t done.
Jeff also mentioned that when people replace
marine electronics, it is a good thing to leave the
old equipment as backup, if there is room for it.
Redundancy is a good thing.
I’ve concluded that Growler ’s helm will stay the
same for now, although I’ll keep current on the
C-Map NT card, paper charts, and software. But I
will keep an eye on the horizon for features that
will eventually make me safer, more confident, and
a better skipper on the water. I guess it is still a
15-percent kind of thing.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2006 © Dominion Enterprises (888.487.2953) www.passagemaker.com
You are reading the text-only copy of this article. To access the article as it appeared in PassageMaker Magazine, please log in to purchase and download the PDF version of this article.