Furuno Navnet T2

I want to add three camera but I'm seeing all these expensive IR for crazy $$


I just want to add simple inexpensive two in engine room
one blind spot to backing up


Any suggestions whats compatible?

Axis makes some analog-to-IP camera bridges. Basically takes an analog wired camera signal and converts it into a digital H.264 type of signal. I can't recall which specific unit will be recognized by the Furuno units. But there you're trading the cost of cheaper cameras with the added cost of the bridge, the required power and video signal wires, and labor to install/configure it.

I actually use one of the AXIS products wkearney99 is talking about and love it. I have a 4 port analog camera server that outputs to a single ethernet link, and I have 3 cameras on it - two in the engine room, and one on the port side for docking.

I have a ton of cameras from various vendors, and have tried many other solutions. This one is rock-solid reliable, very easy to DIY, runs off of 12V, and works flawlessly with the Furuno TZT2 series.

The cameras aren't horribly expensive either, although you can definitely spend a lot of money there if you want. I will try to gather some of the model details later today/tomorrow.

I'm debating cameras, it's low on the to-do list. Mainly because tying into existing chartplotters is a tedious bit of fighting against obsolescence.

The Navnet3D displays I've got can take analog video, but it's directly into each display, not shared to others. So I'd have to split whatever cameras I've got out to whatever displays I'd want to show them.

The displays can use certain IP cameras, but the specs are narrow and few units are 'known' to work (and they're, of course, the spendy variants).

This then presents several questions. Do I use old-school analog, for all it's crappy video quality and deal with bridging/splitting it? Or do I go with more expensive, but likewise low-res IP cameras limited to just what the MFD12's support? Or do I go with a hybrid of cheap analog cameras into an Axis bridge and from there into the MDF12's?

To throw in another variable, I wouldn't mind having on-going recording of the camera inputs, presumably with some motion detection. For IP cameras this starts putting a higher demand on an analog-network bridge device. An entry-level bridge might not support enough simultaneous streams. That and where would motion detection happen? To have the NVR (network video recorder, or sometimes called a DVR; digital video recorder) handle motion detection requires a pricier unit. I think some Axis bridges can be configured to do this, but then there's wrinkles on how that interacts with NVR storage once motion is detected. As in, most inexpensive NVRs don't take external triggering from Axis bridges.

There's the sledgehammer approach of using a PC running BlueIris software (or other software) but that's serious overkill for this. The power consumption and heat generated by a PC powerful enough to do this is not ideal for use on a casual use recreation vessel. That and it wanders into the territory of too many fiddly bits to setup and keep configured (and backed up, etc).

Meanwhile I've put three Blink XT cameras on the boat, with motion sensing, solely for the purpose of giving me a heads-up should anyone get on board. Good enough for now.

I have several Wyze cameras on board, as well as a full set of Arlo cameras, which I wrote about a while ago. Those serve as security cameras when I am away, and are far better suited for that purpose.

I have found that those type of cameras aren't as good for real-time monitoring for a number of reasons - connectivity to the internet that might be required, frame rates, features, etc.

Nest, Arlo, Wyze, and many other manufacturers are all in a fast competition for features and money, and while I still think Arlo is probably the best choice for wireless, battery powered security cameras, Wyze's new offerings are very compelling price wise.

For my real-time camera setup, I used the following:
1x AXIS M7014 4 channel video encoder
3x Stronghold MP cameras with 25' wire harnesses and 12V power supply conditioners

I tried about 8 other cheaper cameras before selecting these, and have been very pleased with the Stronghold image quality, size, adjustment capability, and ruggedness. They are in a stainless steel enclosure and I have seen no corrosion issues with the one mounted in the engine cowling on the port side of the boat, exposed to tons of spray.

Below are some screen shots of the cameras in action on Time Zero Pro on a PC, but they look almost identical on the TZ Touch 2

Someone recomened Axis 3044 IP cameras run off network cables including power.


look like $200 each

stevemitchell said:

Below are some screen shots of the cameras in action on Time Zero Pro on a PC, but they look almost identical on the TZ Touch 2

Click to expand...

Does the one in engine room have IR illumination, or are you depending on existing lights?

lipets said:

Someone recomened Axis 3044 IP cameras run off network cables including power.

look like $200 each

Click to expand...

I chose the AXIS camera server because you can display multiple cameras simultaneously. The TZT2 is limited to one camera at a time per display when using IP cameras. Furuno has a great PDF on what cameras they have tested, and exact details on configuration as well, I just can't find the link.

wkearney99 said:

Does the one in engine room have IR illumination, or are you depending on existing lights?

Click to expand...

I have three Dr. LED engine room lights keeping the engine room lit at all times while underway. The cameras in the engine room are also linked into that light system so when it is off, they can be commanded off to save power as well. However, even in the dark they provide a decent picture.

Excellent point about the camera server. I think that's the one I picked up a while ago and then got bogged down on other to-do list items. As I recall there were some stream quantity and frames-per-second limits on it.

I also debated the idea of taking a console output from an NVR and using that with a VGA-to-composite adapter to feed it into my Navnet displays.

wkearney99 said:

Excellent point about the camera server. I think that's the one I picked up a while ago and then got bogged down on other to-do list items. As I recall there were some stream quantity and frames-per-second limits on it.

I also debated the idea of taking a console output from an NVR and using that with a VGA-to-composite adapter to feed it into my Navnet displays.

Click to expand...

There are definitely limits in terms of the resolution and FPS, but in testing the camera server vs. a few higher end cameras, you really don't notice the difference that much.

They said the cameras can show two on split screen.


that will work two under way in the engine room


backing up I only need one.


I think may work

The TZT2 can only display one video source per screen. The TZT series can display 2. I'm not sure which one you have...

I did find the link to the PDF for AXIS camera integration with the TZT series:

https://www.furunousa.com/-/media/s..._tztouch2_axis_ip_camera_setup_procedures.pdf

I'll look at the setup this weekend a bit more


thanks