The one Gadget or Piece of Equipment you would add

I thought I wanted nothing, but as I read these lists...

A whole new paint scheme works probably be number one, because it's so expensive, I would never pay that much for a non-functional item.

Having friends on board to catch tuna occasionally would also be nice and I already have the tuna door!

Money no object:

1. Water maker
2. Sat. TV
3. Freezer chest
4. High dollar remote FLIR unit

Gadgets planned

18" Garmin HD radar scanner to overlay plotter and mounted to separate pole so it can be used when mast down (RayMarine radar is on mast)

CD disk changer added to stereo

4 more solar panels added for total of 480 watts

Hummingbird side-scan sonar (have unit just need transducer)

Well i was going to say a new remote that would work on either TV. That seems too small now.

Wxx3 said:

I thought I wanted nothing, but as I read these lists...

A whole new paint scheme works probably be number one, because it's so expensive, I would never pay that much for a non-functional item.

Having friends on board to catch tuna occasionally would also be nice and I already have the tuna door!

Click to expand...

Actually Dick, that was one thing we did extend ourselves to - over an autopilot in fact - and I have to say, in retrospect, it was probably one of the best things we did. Especially now we have just placed the boat on the market. The new-looking shiny hull, which looks even better than new gelcoat, was indeed well worth the $8k it cost.

For me if I could wave a magic wand AIS for sure. Or maybe a full tank of fuel...does that count as a gadget?

Right now dinghy davits .

SCOTTEDAVIS said:

CD disk changer added to stereo

Click to expand...

FWIW, we ripped our CDs to an MP3 player. 500 CDs (so far) in approx. the size of a smartphone. And then I can play the tunes through the bridge stereo, or the saloon stereo, depending.

A bit time-intensive, but we just did a few (20x or so) at a time... Still have maybe 40-50 to go..

-Chris

hollywood8118 said:

A new helm girl to push the auto pilot button.....

But I do not think the Admiral would be pleased...

HOLLYWOOD

Click to expand...

I have one you can borrow....and she steers with her butt!!!!

ranger42c said:

FWIW, we ripped our CDs to an MP3 player. 500 CDs (so far) in approx. the size of a smartphone. And then I can play the tunes through the bridge stereo, or the saloon stereo, depending.

A bit time-intensive, but we just did a few (20x or so) at a time... Still have maybe 40-50 to go..

-Chris

Click to expand...

Really good idea, I like it. Will look into that this week

Thanks

ranger42c said:

FWIW, we ripped our CDs to an MP3 player. 500 CDs (so far) in approx. the size of a smartphone. And then I can play the tunes through the bridge stereo, or the saloon stereo, depending.

A bit time-intensive, but we just did a few (20x or so) at a time... Still have maybe 40-50 to go..

-Chris

Click to expand...

For under $100 I replaced my CD/Stereo with one that accepts SD cards and USB drives. Several CDs can be recorded on either. They take up far less space and there's no mechanical drive to break or rust.

SCOTTEDAVIS said:

Really good idea, I like it. Will look into that this week

Thanks

Click to expand...

Yep, also has the advantage of being playable through the home stereo system, either car, etc. In fact, wife's car has a built-in function for it, so we got a separate player for her and she just leaves it in there all the time... and can select albums/songs/artists/whatever from the car's built-in audio display.

That's similar to on the boat, where at least our system on the bridge will allow control of the player from the stereo's display, given input via the player's proprietary connection port to a USB end.

Our older stereos (saloon, my car, home)... well, a mini-stereo cable works from the player's earphone jack easily enough, just have to control the player from the player's own display, rather than from the stereo system.

Our players happen to be iPod Classics, controlled by iTunes on one of our main computers... but I expect many brands/models can work...

-Chris

ranger42c said:

FWIW, we ripped our CDs to an MP3 player. 500 CDs (so far) in approx. the size of a smartphone. And then I can play the tunes through the bridge stereo, or the saloon stereo, depending.

Click to expand...

I did this as well. The only problem I have is that my stereo (older but does have a USB outlet) doesn't seem to play all the selections. It probably gives me a couple gigs of music and then repeats.

Yes, I have tried random and also with Random off. It still doesn't seem to work. But it's still lots better than having a stack of CDs aboard. I have used Thumb drives, SIM cards and even a spare SATA drive with the music. None play all for some reason.

So I swap out the music on flash drives and call it good. It works and that's what is important to me. I think I'm in love with Dean Martin. (sigh)

rwidman said:

For under $100 I replaced my CD/Stereo with one that accepts SD cards and USB drives. Several CDs can be recorded on either. They take up far less space and there's no mechanical drive to break or rust.

Click to expand...

Ron: The reason I have my stereo is a guy was throwing it away. The problem was he'd bought a car radio with a place to plug in his iPod. What happened was that outlet eventually gave up the ghost. He upgraded to a new one.

To solve that problem (or prevent another) I opted to use an USB extension. That way I can plug and unplug at will with that thing without worrying about the connection at the radio.

We went with a TuneLink Bluetooth adapter on both our home and boat stereos with iPod and android device interface to give us wireless access to our private music library on mp3 and internet music via Pandora or similar.

Love the flexibility and variety it provides. Plus, no need for a major replacement of older components to gain the BlueTooth capability.

Yep. Bluetooth is the way to go. all of my music is on my phone. Bluetooth it to the stereo and there you go. Y'all are carrying around way too much hardware...

Oh and my stereo has an internal iPod dock. I play off of that...dedicated iPod to boat...and then use the Bluetooth for things like Pandora.

Fusion 700 series

When the old Sony radio/cd player that was on our boat died we replaced it with a car stereo for AM/FM and then bought a Boze Sound Dock for the boat. All our music--- from our big collection of CDs and my even bigger collection of vinyl going back through the 1970s, plus the music we are always pulling in from iTunes-- is on our iPods (we used a USB converter on one of our turntables to digitize the records). The Boze can be used anywhere inside or outside the boat, and has fabulous sound.

Baker said:

Yep. Bluetooth is the way to go. all of my music is on my phone. Bluetooth it to the stereo and there you go. Y'all are carrying around way too much hardware...

Click to expand...

John, do you mean I will not need to carry my Victrola?

New doors and windows. I'm full up on electronics. The wood is the problem.

Moonstruck said:

John, do you mean I will not need to carry my Victrola?

Click to expand...

Wifey B: Funny, we had all these CD's we no longer used, but we just got a Juke Box for our recreation room and it uses them.

Even today's modern jukeboxes are going streaming music on demand. Internet streaming and mp3 files are so much simpler to deal with than CDs, tapes and records.

FlyWright said:

Even today's modern jukeboxes are going streaming music on demand. Internet streaming and mp3 files are so much simpler to deal with than CDs, tapes and records.

Click to expand...

Wifey B: I know. But we got a Wurlitzer One More Time with CD's and info cards. Some of the others are iPad jukeboxes and all digital, but most at least have capacity for some CD's. Ours holds 100 actual plus 40 on cards. Pretty retro but we sort of got carried away with some retro things for our recreation room. Actually my hubby got carried away. Ms. Pac-man, Donkey Kong old restored machines.

And otherwise we don't use CD's ever. Especially on the boat where all books and music is digital. Well, except for like chart books and waterway guides that don't come digital.

Electric Magnus effect rotary stabilizers, suitably sized...or paravanes.

WHAT HAPPENED TO HI FIDELITY..?
All that music hardware you guys are describing is treating the music like Music Macca's..!
It's all compressed. You lose quite a lot of quality. Call me old-fashioned, but if I play a recording I like it to be an occasion, not just a quick music takeaway…just background noise, without the sense of occasion.

However, I respect your right to consume music anyway you want. I guess the artists don't mind so much as long as it's paid for.

Peter B said:

WHAT HAPPENED TO HI FIDELITY..?
All that music hardware you guys are describing is treating the music like Music Macca's..!
It's all compressed. You lose quite a lot of quality. Call me old-fashioned, but if I play a recording I like it to be an occasion, not just a quick music takeaway…just background noise, without the sense of occasion.

However, I respect your right to consume music anyway you want. I guess the artists don't mind so much as long as it's paid for.

Click to expand...

We consume lots of music. We spent three hours just singing in our music room this evening. A lot of the music we do listen to is music we enjoy singing ourselves. And we don't use it as background (ok, the recreation room we do). But on the boat we'll typically listen to music late in the day when just sitting in the salon or even at night in bed. Every day can be an occasion thought. We do have a keyboard and background music with us on the boat too.

Damn my reel to reel machine just went to good will!

You're allowed damn, Bob. Which post do you want to keep..?

Peter B said:

Actually Dick, that was one thing we did extend ourselves to - over an autopilot in fact - and I have to say, in retrospect, it was probably one of the best things we did. Especially now we have just placed the boat on the market. The new-looking shiny hull, which looks even better than new gelcoat, was indeed well worth the $8k it cost.

Click to expand...

Selling your boat Pete. upsizing, downsizing or a sideways flit?

More a case of one son and family in UK already. Other son thinking of also going there. Need to travel. Retiring, travel, and boating do not all compute. Not on my budget anyway.

At the top of my list...

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