Electronics

Marine Electronics Guides

Deep technical guides covering marine electronics: how each system works, how to install and integrate it, and which units actually perform offshore. For safety equipment and communications, see /gear.

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Electronics guides go deeper than gear guides. These articles cover integration, configuration, protocol-level wiring, and the technical tradeoffs that determine whether your electronics work as a system or as a collection of independent boxes. The gear section covers safety equipment, VHF radio, chartplotters, and offshore communications.
Navigation

AIS: How the Automatic Identification System Works and Why You Need It

Class A vs Class B transponders, MMSI registration, TCPA collision avoidance calculations, chartplotter integration, and why receive-only AIS is the wrong choice for offshore sailing.

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Navigation

Marine Radar: A Practical Guide for Offshore Sailors

Dome vs. open array, gain and clutter settings most sailors get wrong, MARPA target tracking, reading squall lines on radar, and why radar still matters in the AIS era.

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Integration

NMEA Networks: Wiring Your Boat's Electronics Together

NMEA 0183 vs. NMEA 2000, building an N2K backbone with proper termination and power injection, SeaTalkNG, SimNet, Ethernet on boats, and the wiring mistakes that cause intermittent failures.

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Offshore

Marine Autopilots: Tiller vs. Wheel vs. Hydraulic and How to Choose

Why an autopilot is the most important crew member on a passage. Tiller pilots, wheel pilots, hydraulic drives, linear drives, compass types, wind vane mode vs. GPS mode, and the offshore-grade units that hold a course in 20 knots and 8-foot seas.

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