Marine Electronics Archives - Page 6 of 10

Galvanic corrosion is caused by a chemical reaction between boat engines’ metals when dunked in water, and be expensive if ignored.

Preventing engine cancer

August 27, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Galvanic corrosion can make your boat engine’s lower unit look like you ordered the special zombie edition. Here’s why it happens and how you can prevent it. […]

Electronics have become important parts of our fishing experiences, but the units can become dirty or cluttered over time.

Clean your displays inside and out

July 30, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Who hasn’t mistaken the shadow of a water spot on an LCD screen for a fish, waypoint or radar target? Or was it a smear of sunscreen lotion or insect repellent left by a fingertip? Hopefully it wasn’t a permanent scratch, crack, craze or other scar.

And the growing popularity of touch screens in marine electronics is increasing the hand-screen contact problem. […]

The hybrid Bad Boy Buggies Ambush is designed for rough terrain while providing economical operation.

Off-road hybrids

June 30, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Anybody who runs a boat with a gas engine on the back and an electric motor on the front is familiar with the gas-electric hybrid concept. When you want to be silent and not breathe engine exhaust, you run the electric motor. […]

Never lose your dog again by equiping it with Garmin’s Astro tracking system.

Dog tracking made easy

May 1, 2012 Allan Tarvid

A few years back I had a scare I don’t ever want to repeat. I was hunting pheasants with Brit, a Brittany I acquired through the PAWS rescue group in Austin, Texas, when she disappeared. […]

The new StructureMap feature on Lowrance Gen2 HDS units can overlay sonar readings on charts to give you incredibly accurate mapping information you can view in real time as you record it or later, off the water, as you plan your next fishing trip.

Seat-of-your-pants orientation rules

April 1, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Once upon a time, one of the most tedious things we boaters and fishermen attempted was to figure out exactly where we were on a lake map or chart. Few freshwater fishermen bothered to mount a compass on their boat and just used shoreline sightings and depth soundings to figure out where they were. […]

You can customize multi-windowed screen layouts, choose different display colors and select different sonar frequencies for clear, sharp sonar views like this Lowrance HDS-8 screen capture, once you understand the when, where, why and how factors well enough to set it up.

When familiarity breeds content

March 1, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Whoever said that familiarity breeds contempt was not talking about their marine electronics. The plain and simple truth is that the better you know your electronics, the more they can do for you. As a “for instance,” I’m still learning about the side- and down-scanning features on the newer Humminbird and Lowrance sonar units. […]

Cameras have always been great teaching tools ready to captivate kids with real-time views of the underwater world.

Underwater eyes

February 1, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Underwater video cameras have been around for decades without gaining the popularity they deserve. They have always delivered decent picture detail, but the older cathode ray tube (CRT) screens used by earlier models suffered visibility problems from glare and grayed out in bright sunlight. […]

The head unit for the GOST Phantom looks more like an entertainment center than the control panel for a wireless security and monitoring system. It can be your boat’s best friend in an emergency.

Midnight at the marina

January 1, 2012 Allan Tarvid

It is midnight at the marina where your boat is moored, and water is slowly rising in its bilge. The float switch turns on your automatic bilge pump, but it can’t stay ahead of the leak and the water level creeps upward. By the time you return to the slip, your boat will be hanging by its mooring lines — if you’re lucky! […]

A high-quality onboard smart charger can handle short- or long-term battery storage 24/7.

Off-season battery care

December 1, 2011 Allan Tarvid

Fishing and boating tend to slow down during the winter months, but letting your battery maintenance slow down can be expensive. […]

This screen view shows Simrad’s BSM-2 CHIRP sonar module at work clearly tracking the 3,993-foot bottom.

First pings, now chirps?

November 1, 2011 Allan Tarvid

Keeping up with developments in sonar, radar and GPS over the last few decades hasn’t been easy, and the evolution of marine electronics seems to be speeding up. […]

The difference between conventional sonar (left) and the new high-detail Humminbird Down Imaging sonar (right) is instantly obvious when you set a unit to show both views side by side.

Out with old, in with new: Modern fish-finders tough to resist

September 27, 2011 Allan Tarvid

Sonar’s job is to show us the depth, composition and shape of the bottom below our boats and reveal suspended objects like fish. The basic principles governing how sonar works don’t change, but manufacturers keep developing neat, new ways to manipulate them that make units easier to operate and bring picture-like displays to screens that even new users can understand at a glance.
[…]

The author leaves the larger cases locked in his truck after mounting his electronics, but he carries a small case onboard to keep his wallet, keys and cell phone dry.

Protect your electronics investment

August 31, 2011 Allan Tarvid

There is a list of risks I won’t take with my electronics, and it starts with leaving them installed while trailering to and from the launching ramp. I started removing my fishfinders back in the days when a paper chart recorder weighed about 8 pounds and a friend at a repair center warned me that neither the units nor their mounting systems were designed to take the kind of shock loads they can get while trailering down a pot-holed highway. […]