Dream Dash?

[mikehar]

I'm considering a boat project that involves replacing nearly everything on the dash. It's a clean slate. The dash is pretty standard for a trawler, with a vertical section for MFDs and such and a horizontal section for switches, autopilots, and such.

I have room for four nice-sized displays. I am considering using one monitor for a black box Furuno and two for the pc/NUC with TimeZero. What do you think I should do with the fourth monitor? So far, I'm thinking:
- put in a Mac mini and use that for a browser, which could show the Maretron MConnect page or signal or something.
- dedicated video camera display, but that seems like a waste, I can do that with TZ.
- only use three monitors and move something else up higher
- something else?

Is there something you can't live without that isn't on my list or something you've always wanted?

 

[Retriever]

Are you installing a Flir camera and searchlight sonar? I’ve found both useful at times.

When you say Furuno black box, are you talking about a recreational TZT black box, or Furuno BB radars like the FAR series? I love the FAR radars and their control panels with actual knobs for tuning. They also can be integrated with Nobeltec if you prefer to operate them that way. They are really, really good radars.

I often run with two chart scales displayed and two radar ranges. If your monitors are big enough, you can split screen, but they need to be pretty big/high res for that to work well. Split screen works on 27” monitors, but not so well on 19” monitors, at least for me.

I like having a monitor dedicated to cameras and another for Maretron, but don’t find either of them need to be front-and-center. Overhead or even at a nav station behind the helm work fine for me.

 

[Comodave]

I had custom dash panels made for my Formula. The fabricator did all the cutouts for the electronics. They are great. And he had the CAD drawings from Formula so they fit perfectly.

 

[Mac2]

You had me at fourth monitor…
As others have said, a monitor for flir, cameras, sonar, etc would be my choice. Have you chosen the monitors yet? I am in the market for a 16-19 inch monitor.

 

[mikehar]

Are you installing a Flir camera and searchlight sonar? I’ve found both useful at times.

When you say Furuno black box, are you talking about a recreational TZT black box, or Furuno BB radars like the FAR series? I love the FAR radars and their control panels with actual knobs for tuning. They also can be integrated with Nobeltec if you prefer to operate them that way. They are really, really good radars.

I often run with two chart scales displayed and two radar ranges. If your monitors are big enough, you can split screen, but they need to be pretty big/high res for that to work well. Split screen works on 27” monitors, but not so well on 19” monitors, at least for me.

I like having a monitor dedicated to cameras and another for Maretron, but don’t find either of them need to be front-and-center. Overhead or even at a nav station behind the helm work fine for me.

I have had a Searchlight sonar in the past; it was interesting. The refit for it on this boat is too much for now.

Good point on the Flir, I hadn't thought much about it, but I think I'll add it to the list. I just realized that TZ Pro can support Flir and 3 screens, so that accounts for all four screens. Damn, those things are expensive.

I also run two radars sometimes, mostly offshore. One on the TZ and one on the Furuno. I think i'll put the mac mini in the nav station.

 

[Greg QS]

I am a big fan of the night vison cameras. Starlight type. I personally like better than the flir.
I also re did my bridge on my last boat. I had a company make me new dash panes. I gave them the layout and they made me paper templates to confirm fit. Worked out perfect. I would need to look up the vendor . et me know if you need the info,

 

[mikehar]

I am a big fan of the night vison cameras. Starlight type. I personally like better than the flir.
I also re did my bridge on my last boat. I had a company make me new dash panes. I gave them the layout and they made me paper templates to confirm fit. Worked out perfect. I would need to look up the vendor . et me know if you need the info,

Please let me know the vendor name.

 

[Greg QS]

I have a Night track static night vision camera. Sees in the dark amazingly. It is fixed. I have found that if it is not on the screen I cannot hit it. Meaning if say a buoy is coming at me and drifts off the screen, I will not hit it. You can pick up navigation lights you cannot see by eye. It also has a ir blaster that works well popping out reflectors of buoys. This makes night driving much better.

When driving at night , almost every outing, I keep the night vision on a split screen or dedicated on one mfd. and use the other for all other info. A must for night driving.

This camera below I would look at also. I have not used nor seen it. I like the pan feature.

SIONYX NIGHTWAVE™ ULTRA LOW-LIGHT MARINE CAMERA​

Images I found from my camera. The second one was in the dark, a moonless night. Turned on the spot light and I could See the sea in front of me scanning for debris. At night I can see better on the screen than through the window.