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Old 10-10-2011, 03:23 PM   #2
Conrad
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City: Campbell River
Vessel Name: Blue Sky
Vessel Model: Nordic Tugs 42 Hull #001
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,972
RE: One Chartplotter, Two Stations

We had a setup (Lowrance) that just used the depth sounder and GPS with a single chartplotter display that we moved up and down. Wiring wise it was not a big deal, but we did not have radar or autopilot functionality.

I will say that it was a pain moving the display head up and down if you tend to move back and forth between stations while underway.

This summer we upgraded to a system (Furuno) with depth sounder, GPS/chartplotter, radar, and autopilot., c/w a 7" lower display and a 10.4" upper display. We stayed in the NMEA 0183 world which may be different than the NMEA 2000 world so my following comments may not be applicable.*

We have the lower unit wired to be the server, so all sensor info goes to it first and then up to the upper unit. Meaning that the lower unit must always be connected and turned on for the upper unit to work. There is a hub but it has minimal utility in that it doesn't handle all duties as a normal hub would.

I will say that having two complete station units is MUCH better than sharing one display unit.*

As I say, your setup might have different requirements but this is what worked for us.
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